--- description: For the fifth time in history, the U.S. elected a president who did not win the popular vote. title: Why It's Hard to End the Electoral College image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5d7b4f982ddb825b/6988b27c524fc00124dfa7dc/gettyimages-628833304.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Why It's Hard to End the Electoral College by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 10, 2016 4:15 AM CUT by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 10, 2016 4:15 AM CUT For the fifth time in history, the U.S. elected a president who did not win the popular vote. That’s led to calls to dismantle the Electoral College, the constitutional system that apportions votes to presidential candidates based on their wins in each state. But opponents have an uphill climb. Here’s a look at how to end the Electoral College—and why it’s not as simple as it sounds. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4597227/electoral-college-donald-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4597227/electoral-college-donald-trump/"},"headline":"Why It's Hard to End the Electoral College","datePublished":"2016-12-10T04:15:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-06-24T06:56:58.423Z","description":"For the fifth time in history, the U.S. elected a president who did not win the popular vote.","url":"https://time.com/4597227/electoral-college-donald-trump/","keywords":["2016 Election topic","Donald Trump","electoral college"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5d7b4f982ddb825b/6988b27c524fc00124dfa7dc/gettyimages-628833304.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ryan Teague Beckwith","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5d7b4f982ddb825b/6988b27c524fc00124dfa7dc/gettyimages-628833304.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President-elect Donald Trump speaks at the DeltaPlex Arena, December 9, 2016 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.","caption":"President-elect Donald Trump speaks at the DeltaPlex Arena, December 9, 2016 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.","creditText":"Drew Angerer—2016 Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4597227/electoral-college-donald-trump/","name":"Why It's Hard to End the Electoral College"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"This Video Is No Longer Available","description":"For the fifth time in history, the U.S. elected a president who did not win the popular vote.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/fKodeUO6/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2026-06-23T15:00:44.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fKodeUO6.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4597227/electoral-college-donald-trump/","duration":"PT10S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4597227/electoral-college-donald-trump/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```