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What constitutional steps would be required to abolish the Electoral College?
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Electoral College
A certificate from Alabama showing the signatures of the state's electors in 2000. The nine electors voted for George W. Bush and his running mate Dick Cheney.
To abolish the Electoral College, the United States must undergo the formal process of amending the U.S. Constitution, as established in Article V.1
The constitutional steps required for such an amendment are as follows:
- Proposal: An amendment must be proposed by a two-thirds vote in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, or by a constitutional convention called for by the legislatures of two-thirds of the states.123
- Ratification: Once proposed, the amendment must be ratified by three-fourths of the states (currently 38 of 50 states). Congress determines whether this ratification is conducted by state legislatures or by state ratifying conventions.132
Because the Electoral College is embedded within the Constitution, this rigorous process is the only legal method to eliminate it. Due to the high threshold for approval and the concerns of smaller states regarding a potential loss of political influence, achieving such an amendment is considered difficult and unlikely.14