Kamala Harris’s running mate urges popular vote system but campaign says issue is not part of Democrats’ agenda

Tim Walz, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, has called for the electoral college system of electing US presidents to be abolished and replaced with a popular vote principle, as operates in most democracies.

His comments – to an audience of party fundraisers – chime with the sentiments of a majority of American voters but risk destabilising the campaign of Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, who has not adopted a position on the matter, despite having previously voiced similar views.

“I think all of us know, the electoral college needs to go,” Walz told donors at a gathering at the home of the California governor, Gavin Newsom. “We need a national popular vote. We need to be able to go into York, Pennsylvania, and win. We need to be in western Wisconsin and win. We need to be in Reno, Nevada, and win.”


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  • Veedem@lemmy.world
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    2 hours ago

    While I agree with him, it’s also a stupid thing to say out loud during the election when they’re CLEARLY trying to sway moderate and uneasy right leaning voters.

  • steventhedev@lemmy.world
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    42 minutes ago

    The electoral college is good for one thing and one thing only: boosting confidence that election fraud in one place won’t impact the result of the election.

    Winner takes all was always stupid and needs to be replaced with proportional allocation, preferably with a more direct ratio to the actual population of votes. Basically, everyone doing what Nebraska and Maine do.

    • stewie3128@lemmy.ml
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      38 minutes ago

      It’s also really good for making sure that whoever wins the most acres of land gets a huge electoral boost. Because that’s important.

  • Steve@communick.news
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    1 hour ago

    I wish Walz was at the top of the ticket.
    I’d eagerly vote for him, as opposed to skeptically voting for Harris.

  • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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    2 hours ago

    Don’t worry. As soon as Waltz said an overwhelmingly positive thing, Kamala distanced herself from it.