California senator files long-shot bill to abolish the Electoral College

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) filed legislation Tuesday to abolish the Electoral College system, calling it "outdated" and "undemocratic," the Los Angeles Times reports. Boxer's bill calls for an amendment to the Constitution, and faces long-shot odds due to the fact that Republicans hold control of both chambers. Should the amendment pass through Congress, it would then need three-fourths of the states to ratify it for it to become law.

The Electoral College has been criticized across the political spectrum, including by Donald Trump, who reversed his opinion on the system after winning the 2016 election:

The electoral college is a disaster for a democracy.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 7, 2012

The Electoral College is actually genius in that it brings all states, including the smaller ones, into play. Campaigning is much different!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 15, 2016

Boxer, who is set to retire next year, likely expects the bill to be more of a statement of frustration and discontent than a passable law. Trump won the Electoral College but is behind by nearly 800,000 votes nationally; the 2016 election was only the fourth time in history that a nominee won the popular vote but lost the Electoral College. "In my lifetime, I have seen two elections where the winner of the general election did not win the popular vote," Boxer said in a statement. In addition to Trump's victory over Hillary Clinton despite losing the popular vote, George W. Bush defeated Al Gore for the presidency in 2000 despite the fact that Gore won more than 500,000 more votes nationally than Bush did.

"The Electoral College is an outdated, undemocratic system that does not reflect our modern society, and it needs to change immediately," she went on. "Every American should be guaranteed that their vote counts."