During MSNBC’s election coverage on Tuesday, MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell argued that the prospects of Democratic down-ballot candidates in Texas are harmed because “the Electoral College locks down a voter suppression system that is better than anything anyone’s come up with in the modern day” because millions of people “do not vote in Texas because they know the Electoral College outcome of every presidential election.”
While the panel was discussing Texas after NBC projected Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) winning re-election, O’Donnell stated that it isn’t surprising that Texas went Republican, it’s a matter of if Democrats make progress with the margin, but it might vote Democrat next time.
Later, he said, “I’ll only say this one more time: And there are 7 million people who do not vote in Texas because they know the Electoral College outcome of every presidential election. And so, within that 7 million who don’t vote, there’s a possibility that we will never get to because the Electoral College locks down a voter suppression system that is better than anything anyone’s come up with in the modern day.”
Fellow host Joy Reid added, “Yeah, and in Florida, it’s about 5 million people who did not vote in this election. They just don’t vote.”
Fellow host Jen Psaki then expressed hope that people still vote in states that aren’t competitive in presidential races due to congressional races.
Later in the segment, O’Donnell and Reid agreed with fellow host Rachel Maddow that people can change policy in Texas by voting in local races.
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