The Democratic presidential hopefuls, prodded by a frustrated base, are pushing fundamental changes to the American political system. Here's what they're saying.
By Chelsea Janes Chelsea Janes Reporter covering the 2020 presidential campaign Email Bio Follow April 1 at 10:00 AM Pete Buttigieg wants to abolish the electoral college. Sen. Elizabeth Warren hopes to ban gerrymandering. Sen. Cory Booker talks about limiting terms for Supreme Court justices. Beto O’Rourke is weighing an expansion of the high court.
Trump’s willingness to flout long-standing rules has prompted Democrats to look for their own ways to reshape the system. Democrats and Republicans are also waging a state-by-state battle over voting logistics, including what kind of ID to require and when to purge electoral rolls. Democrats accuse Republicans of suppressing votes; GOP leaders say Democrats are protecting electoral fraud.
Republicans say the electoral college rightly preserves the influence of small states; Democrats warn that if presidents regularly win with a minority of the vote, Americans will reject the system as unfair. Democrats have also become increasingly impatient with partisan gerrymandering, the process of redrawing district lines to benefit one party. It’s a practice both parties have used to their advantage, but Republicans have benefited more in recent years with majority control of more state governments.
Other ideas abound, such as lowering the voting age to 16, a proposal supported by Rep. Tulsi Gabbard , among others. “I don’t think we’re going to change the electoral college. I don’t think we’re going to pack the courts. That’s not going to happen,” Dorgan said. “So it’s interesting to hear the discussion, but I think it detracts from the message that matters most.”“I think President Trump is going to take full advantage of these ideas as examples of being too far to the left and being too far out of the mainstream,” Daschle said. “Ironically, him making that charge would be — interesting.
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