How Should We Elect the President?

We the People

National Constitution Center

History, News Commentary, News

4.6 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 31 October 2024

⏱️ 59 minutes

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Summary

On the eve of the 2024 presidential election, Jesse Wegman, member of The New York Times editorial board and author of Let the People Pick the President: The Case for Abolishing the Electoral College, and Robert Hardaway, professor at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law and author of Saving the Electoral College: Why the National Popular Vote Would Undermine Democracy, join Jeffrey Rosen to debate the Electoral College and preview potential legal challenges that might arise in the aftermath of the election. This program was originally streamed live as part of the NCC’s America’s Town Hall series on October 29, 2024. Resources: Robert Hardaway, Saving the Electoral College Why the National Popular Vote Would Undermine Democracy (2019) Jesse Wegman, Let the People Pick the President: The Case for Abolishing the Electoral College (2020) Electoral College, Article II, Section 1, Clauses 2 and 3, Interactive Constitution National Popular Vote Ranked Choice Voting Article I, Section III, The Senate, Interactive Constitution Cass Sunstein, “On Jan. 6, Will Vice President Harris Certify the Election?,” Wall Street Journal, Oct. 25, 2024 Gary Lawson and Jack Beerman, “Congressional Meddling In Presidential Elections: Still Unconstitutional After All These Years; A Comment On Sunstein,” April 2023 “The Very Real Scenario Where Trump Loses and Takes Power Anyway,” Politico, Oct. 20, 2024 Moore v. Harper (2023) Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at [email protected] Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube. Support our important work. Donate

Transcript

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0:00.0	As we approach the 2024 presidential election, the NCC convened a debate about the Electoral College.
0:07.0	Hello friends, I'm Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center,
0:14.7	and welcome to We The People, a weekly show of constitutional debate.
0:18.2	The National Constitution Center is a nonpartisan nonprofit chartered by Congress to increase awareness and understanding of the Constitution
0:25.8	among the American people.
0:27.5	In this episode, two leading writers debate the Electoral College versus a national popular vote and anticipate possible legal challenges that might arise from a contested election.
0:39.0	Jesse Weggman is a member of the New York Times Editorial board and author of Let the People Pick the President
0:44.7	the case for abolishing the Electoral College. And Robert Hardaway is a professor at the University of
0:50.3	Denver Stern College of Law and author of saving the Electoral College
0:54.4	why the national popular vote would undermine democracy.
0:58.1	Thank you so much for joining Robert Hardway and Jesse Weggman.
1:03.9	Let's begin with an important question
1:06.2	that both of you have written books on taking opposite positions.
1:12.1	Should we abolish the Electoral College
1:14.6	and have a national popular vote or not?
1:17.0	And after we've dug into that important question,
1:19.8	we can broaden out to some unresolved issues that may possibly arise in the next election.
1:26.1	So Jesse Weggman, your book states the case as clearly as possible.
1:31.3	Let the people pick the president president the case for abolishing
1:33.7	the electoral college what is the case and why should we have a national popular vote?
1:38.1	Hi Jeff thanks so much for having me and for hosting this debate.
1:43.9	You know, the quickest answer, and I think the cleanest answer to that question is that a modern
	...

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