In state capitols across the country on Monday, the 538 members of the Electoral College will almost certainly formalize President-elect Trump’s win. This, despite an attempt by Democrats to persuade Republican electors to change their vote—a move a new poll shows there’s little support for.
According to a Politico/Morning Consult survey, a plurality of voters—46 percent—say electors should be bound to vote for the candidate that won their state, while 34 percent think electors shouldn’t have to vote for the winning candidate if they have significant concerns about doing so.
Not surprisingly, voters were split along partisan lines, with 50 percecnt of Democrats and 52 percent of Clinton backers saying electors shouldn’t be bound. Among both Republican and Trump voters, 64 percent said electors should be bound.
That polarization extends to whether the system should be overhauled in the future to elect the candidate who receives the largest share of the national popular vote.
A plurality, 46 percent, favors amending the Constitution to replace the Electoral College with the popular vote, the poll shows, more than the 40 percent who would keep the Electoral College in place. But more than two-thirds of self-identified Democrats, 69 percent, want to replace the Electoral College, and 62 percent of Republicans want to keep it.
Similarly, 71 percent of voters who said they backed Clinton supported abolishing the Electoral College, while 62 percent of Trump voters want to keep the current system.
"Not surprisingly, Democrats are four times more likely to want to get rid of the Electoral College than Republicans," said Kyle Dropp, Morning Consult co-founder and Chief Research Officer.
If all electors vote for the candidate that won their state, Trump will walk away with 306 votes, well above the 270 needed to win.
The poll of 2,000 registered voters was conducted December 15-17, and has a margin of error of 2 percentage points.
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