Poll: Americans Want to Dump Electoral College

Almost two-thirds of Americans are in favor of abolishing the Electoral College system in favor of one where the national popular vote winner is elected president, according to a Gallup poll released Monday.

The poll, commissioned with the same question periodically since the contested 2000 presidential contest, found that a record 62 percent of Americans want the system changed.

It also marks the first time since Gallup has been asking the Electoral College question that a majority of Republicans expressed support for moving to a popular vote system. In 2000—the year Democrat Al Gore lost to George W. Bush, despite winning the popular vote—just 41 percent of Republicans expressed support for replacing the Electoral College.

Today, 53 percent of Republicans want to chuck the Electoral College vote.

Democratic and independent support for electoral changes has remained steady. Support amongst Democrats waned by four points to 71 percent, while independent support ticked upward slightly to 61 percent.  

A series of Gallup polls taken between 1967 and 1980 show dissatisfaction in the Electoral College system isn’t a modern phenomenon—it existed long before Bush v. Gore. Between those years, support for the popular vote system tracked as high as 80 percent.

The most recent numbers are from a Gallup poll conducted Oct. 6-9, which surveyed 1,005 adults and has a margin of error of ±4 percentage points.