• Home
  • Opinion
  • Quizzes
  • Redistricting
  • Sections
  • About Us
  • Voting
  • Events
  • Civic Ed
  • Campaign Finance
  • Directory
  • Election Dissection
  • Fact Check
  • Glossary
  • Independent Voter News
  • News
  • Analysis
  • Subscriptions
  • Log in
Leveraging Our Differences
  • news & opinion
    • Big Picture
      • Civic Ed
      • Ethics
      • Leadership
      • Leveraging big ideas
      • Media
    • Business & Democracy
      • Corporate Responsibility
      • Impact Investment
      • Innovation & Incubation
      • Small Businesses
      • Stakeholder Capitalism
    • Elections
      • Campaign Finance
      • Independent Voter News
      • Redistricting
      • Voting
    • Government
      • Balance of Power
      • Budgeting
      • Congress
      • Judicial
      • Local
      • State
      • White House
    • Justice
      • Accountability
      • Anti-corruption
      • Budget equity
    • Columns
      • Beyond Right and Left
      • Civic Soul
      • Congress at a Crossroads
      • Cross-Partisan Visions
      • Democracy Pie
      • Our Freedom
  • Pop Culture
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
  • events
  • About
      • Mission
      • Advisory Board
      • Staff
      • Contact Us
Sign Up
  1. Home>
  2. Voting>
  3. voting>

View of Electoral College splits on partisan lines

Our Staff
May 06, 2019

A clear majority of Americans would do away with the Electoral College, the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds, but predictably the idea of relying on the popular vote to decide the presidency is much more popular with Democrats than Republicans.

Overall, 53 percent would ditch the Electoral College and 43 percent would keep it. But an overwhelming 78 percent of Hillary Clinton voters and 79 percent of Democrats would use the popular vote and an equally lopsided 74 percent of both Trump voters and Republicans would keep things as they are. (Remember that she won 3 million more votes in 2016 but he secured the presidency with a 74-electoral-vote margin.)


Among independents, it's a statistical tie given the poll's margin of error: 44 percent support the current system, 49 percent back a switch.

The view of the Electoral College also varied significantly based on where people live. Rural residents, who in general have more power under the current system, favored keeping it by 6 points. But city dwellers, whose power is somewhat diluted by the Electoral College, favored getting rid of it by 23 points.

Related Articles Around the Web
  • Poll: Democrats want to abolish Electoral College, Republicans ... ›
  • Americans would prefer picking the president with the popular vote ... ›
  • Poll: Voters prefer popular vote over Electoral College - POLITICO ›
voting

Want to write
for The Fulcrum?

If you have something to say about ways to protect or repair our American democracy, we want to hear from you.

Submit
Get some Leverage Sign up for The Fulcrum Newsletter
Follow
Contributors

Reform in 2023: Leadership worth celebrating

Layla Zaidane

Two technology balancing acts

Dave Anderson

Reform in 2023: It’s time for the civil rights community to embrace independent voters

Jeremy Gruber

Congress’ fix to presidential votes lights the way for broader election reform

Kevin Johnson

Democrats and Republicans want the status quo, but we need to move Forward

Christine Todd Whitman

Reform in 2023: Building a beacon of hope in Boston

Henry Santana
Jerren Chang
latest News

Moving beyond passing the torch: Bridging the age gap to rebuild democracy

Dairanys Grullon-Virgil
2h

Why are we afraid of conversation?

Jerren Chang
2h

Podcast: Risky business: More bank collapses ahead?

Our Staff
2h

Ask Joe: The hope for a new global unity

Joe Weston
24 March

Using bridging tools to improve workplace productivity and retention

Joan Blades
24 March

Podcast: Talkin' Politics & Religion Without Killin' Each Other: Barbara McQuade

Our Staff
24 March
Videos

Video: Ted Lasso cast at the White House press briefing

Our Staff

Video: The hidden stories in the U.S. Census

Our Staff

Video: We asked conservatives at CPAC what woke means

Our Staff

Video: DeSantis, 18 states to push back against Biden ESG agenda

Our Staff

Video: A conversation with Tiahna Pantovich

Our Staff

Video: What would happen if Trump was a third-party candidate in 2024?

Our Staff
Podcasts

Podcast: Risky business: More bank collapses ahead?

Our Staff
2h

Podcast: Talkin' Politics & Religion Without Killin' Each Other: Barbara McQuade

Our Staff
24 March

Podcast: Redefining conservatism for millennials

Our Staff
23 March

Podcast: Break out of your bubble: Talk to a stranger

Our Staff
22 March
Recommended
Moving beyond passing the torch: Bridging the age gap to rebuild democracy

Moving beyond passing the torch: Bridging the age gap to rebuild democracy

Civic Ed
Why are we afraid of conversation?

Why are we afraid of conversation?

Big Picture
Podcast: Risky business: More bank collapses ahead?

Podcast: Risky business: More bank collapses ahead?

Podcasts
Video: Ted Lasso cast at the White House press briefing

Video: Ted Lasso cast at the White House press briefing

Comedy
Ask Joe: The hope for a new global unity

Ask Joe: The hope for a new global unity

Pop Culture
Using bridging tools to improve workplace productivity and retention

Using bridging tools to improve workplace productivity and retention

Big Picture