Poll: Majority of Democrats want to ditch Electoral College
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A majority of Democrats are in favor of abolishing the Electoral College, according to an online poll released Thursday.
The Huffington Post/YouGov poll finds 66 percent of Democrats favor scrapping the Electoral College for a popular vote system to elect the president, while 14 percent want to keep the current system.
Most Republicans, 67 percent, are in favor of keeping the Electoral College, with just 13 percent saying Congress should amend the Constitution so the candidate who receives the most total votes nationwide wins the election.
Overall, 41 percent of Americans support relying on the popular vote total to elect a president, while 34 percent prefer the current system and 25 percent are unsure. 
Democrats have lashed out at the Electoral College system after their nominee Hillary Clinton won the popular vote last week but lost the Electoral College to GOP rival Donald Trump.
Clinton is the fifth presidential candidate in U.S. history to win the popular vote but lose the election and the second Democrat in 16 years to do so, after Al Gore's electoral loss to George W. Bush in 2000.
Several Democrats, including 2016 presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders, have called on Congress to review the Electoral College. 
Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) has introduced legislation to abolish the Electoral College. Even if passed by the GOP-led Congress, it would need approval from three-fourths of states to take effect.
"In my lifetime, I have seen two elections where the winner of the general election did not win the popular vote," Boxer said Tuesday, calling the Electoral College "outdated" and "undemocratic."
The poll released Thursday also suggests Trump may have a ways to go in uniting the country after a divisive campaign.
While 78 percent of Americans considered Trump's win legitimate, 40 percent of Democrats say they won't accept Trump as the legitimate president and 42 percent said they believe the election was "rigged." 
The survey of 1,000 U.S. adults was conducted Nov. 11-14 using an opt-in online panel.