--- title: Al Gore is in Favor of Eliminating Electoral College description: Says he was for it even after his 2000 loss. Now, he believes our "democracy is being hacked" canonical: https://time.com/4586164/al-gore-electoral-college/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-11-30T16:39:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:45:16.462Z article:section: Politics og:title: Al Gore Calls for Ending the Electoral College og:description: "It's pathetic how our system is not working today." og:url: https://time.com/4586164/al-gore-electoral-college/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b5d541dd87de7b0/6988b015ab6d776a656ac197/gettyimages-451526006.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: 2014 Aspen Ideas Festival og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Al Gore Calls for Ending the Electoral College twitter:description: "It's pathetic how our system is not working today." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b5d541dd87de7b0/6988b015ab6d776a656ac197/gettyimages-451526006.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Former Vice President Al Gore Is Over the Electoral College > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Nov 30, 2016 4:39 PM UTC  Al Gore speaks at Afternoon of Conversation during the 2014 Aspen Ideas Festival at the Aspen Institute on June 30, 2014 in Aspen, Colorado. Leigh Vogel—Getty Images Al Gore speaks at Afternoon of Conversation during the 2014 Aspen Ideas Festival at the Aspen Institute on June 30, 2014 in Aspen, Colorado. Leigh Vogel—Getty Images Leigh Vogel—Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Nov 30, 2016 4:39 PM UTC In the wake of the[ 2016 presidential election](http://time.com/tag/2016-election/), former Vice President Al Gore said he now believes the Electoral College should be eliminated, marking a reversal of opinion for the one-time presidential candidate who famously lost in it while winning the popular vote. “I do think that it should be eliminated,” he said, [according to NBC News](http://time.com/tag/2016-election/). Although Gore was in favor of the Electoral College in spite of his loss in the 2000 presidential election to President George W. Bush, he thinks a popular vote system would do more to get Americans engaged in the electoral process. “I think moving to a popular vote system is not without peril, it’s not without problems,” Gore said. “It’s a balancing act, but I think the balance has shifted, in my mind at least.” Gore’s comments come at a inflection point for Democrats, who are still recovering from the unexpected defeat of former[ Secretary of State Hillary Clinton](http://time.com/4563685/donald-trump-wins/). Like Gore, Clinton won the popular vote in the election—by over 2 million votes, no less—but didn’t win the electoral votes needed to take the presidency. Gore believes getting rid of the Electoral College would “stimulate public participation in the democratic process like nothing else that we could possibly do.” “We’ve got to get back to harvesting the wisdom of crowds in the United States. We’ve got to get back to the kind of conversation of democracy that allows good ideas to rise to the surface,” he said. “Our democracy has been hacked now. It’s pathetic how our system is not working today.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4586164/al-gore-electoral-college/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4586164/al-gore-electoral-college/"},"headline":"Former Vice President Al Gore Is Over the Electoral College","datePublished":"2016-11-30T16:39:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:45:16.462Z","description":"Gore says he was for it even after his 2000 loss. 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