Popular vote better than Electoral College, Stanford scholars say

The Electoral College distorts presidential campaigns, disenfranchises voters and drives partisanship, Stanford scholars say. They suggest constitutional reforms to adopt a single national popular vote where the one-person, one-vote concept applies. It is time to abolish the Electoral College in favor of a single national popular vote where all votes count equally, Stanford political experts say. The Electoral College is responsible for disenfranchising, in effect, huge swaths of American voters, said Doug McAdam , a professor of sociology who studies American politics. A single national popular or "constituency" vote would determine the president based on who won the most votes total across the country. Otherwise, McAdam said, "The great majority of American voters exercise no real political voice in the outcome of presidential elections." Under the U.S. Constitution, the Electoral College determines who is the U.S. president, based on vote totals in each state. The candidate who receives a majority of electoral votes (270) wins the presidency.