[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 175 (Tuesday, November 7, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H11809]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               CALLING FOR ABOLITION OF ELECTORAL COLLEGE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from West Virginia [Mr. Wise] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. WISE. Mr. Speaker, 1 year from now, 1 year from this week, the 
entire Nation will be watching the results of the 1996 presidential 
election. As 1992 had a lot of suspense to it, including three 
candidates, 1996 could be a real roller coaster ride.
  That is why I am introducing legislation today that would amend the 
Constitution of the United States to do away with the Electoral College 
and the winner-take-all system that says that a presidential candidate 
who wins even by 1 percent of the votes in a State therefore takes all 
the electoral votes in that State.
  The reason I am calling to do away with the Electoral College is 
because I think 1 year from today we should not have the kind of 
possible suspenseful outcome that could happen. Because, Mr. Speaker, 1 
year from today, as I read the newspapers and as I look at the tea 
leaves, we could have as many as four presidential candidates on the 
ballot.
  We could have the Democratic nominee, presumably William Clinton. We 
could have the Republican nominee. We could have the Independent United 
We Stand nominee, Ross Perot or someone else. I have heard talk of 
Jesse Jackson running as an Independent candidate. And who knows who 
else that may be running and winning a significant number of votes? As 
the system stands, if there is no one that is a clear winner in the 
Electoral College, then that election comes to the House of 
Representatives.

  In 1992, if that had been the outcome, I suspect that the Republican 
candidate would have been concerned about coming into the House of 
Representatives, which was controlled by the Democratic Party. And so 
in 1996 it is fair to say the Democratic candidate may have some 
hesitation about coming to the House of Representatives controlled by 
the Republican Party. But I will tell you who really ought to be upset, 
would be an Independent candidate who has to come to a House that they 
do not have any votes, Republican or Democrat, in.
  Why do we not end this anachronism, this vestige of the past, this 
Electoral College, by simply saying that the candidate that gets over 
40 percent of the vote, the popular vote, is the winner. And indeed, if 
no candidate gets 40 percent of the vote, then the top two vote-getters 
have a runoff until one wins. That is what the American people deserve.
  Some will say, well, if you do away with the Electoral College, this 
winner-take-all system whereby, if a presidential candidate gets 1 more 
vote in the State of West Virginia than the other candidates, that 
presidential candidate takes all 5 of our State's electoral votes, or 
if they get 1 more vote of the popular vote in the State of California, 
they get all 54 of those electoral votes, some say that small States 
may lose out on this. I do not buy that.
  First of all, to be honest with you, presidential candidates do not 
drop in a great deal on us small States. They may fly through 
occasionally, have a tarmac press conference at the airport, but they 
are not spending a lot of time. They are going after the big populous 
States.
  But the second thing is this. Why is it that if I vote and I vote for 
the winning candidate in West Virginia, my vote in effect is multiplied 
times five? My vote equals five electoral votes. But somebody with the 
winning candidate in California, their vote is multiplied by 54, the 
number of electors from California.
  So for these reasons, I think it is essential that we make sure that 
the American public feels secure about the election process, and 
understands that it cannot be taken away and that the person who gets 
the most votes is the person who ends up being elected President; not 
the person getting the most votes, perhaps getting outdone and 
politically outmaneuvered in the House in a later election.
  That is why I hope that we can pass this constitutional amendment to 
do away with the Electoral College once and for all. This is a college 
that ought to lose its certification.

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