Mxrdad wrote:And it all boils down to the Electoral votes. Does anybody else think this "Electoral Vote" system needs to be reassessed? It may have made sense in the old days but now, with the ease of access to voting methods, does it make sense any more? Its hard for me to understand why the Popular Vote doesnt take precedence these days. Dunno, maybe its just me?
Because if the electoral college goes away, then states with smaller populations will lose any influence in presidential elections. THAT was the reason for the electoral college to begin with - to level the playing field a bit between states with large populations, and states with small populations, in the selection of a president. The population of the US is 321,418,820 people, as of 07/01/2015. In order of population size, the states of California, Texas, Florida, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Georgia, and North Carolina make up 51% of the population of the country. In three of those ten states, California, New York, and Illinois, you can count the number of republicans on your fingers and toes - and they are in the top 5 for population. (
SOURCE)
Of those 10 states,
here is the 2014 partisan split:
- D - California voters split 43.3% democrat to 28.1% republican
- R - Texas voters split 41% Republican to 37% democrat (only a 4% advantage for republicans)
- D - Florida voters split 38.8% Democrat to 35% republican
- D - New York voters split 49.4% Democrat to 23.9% republican
- D - Illinois voters split 47% Democrat to 35% republican
- D - Pennsylvania voters split 49.5% Democrat to 36.7% republican
- R - Ohio voters split 42% Republican to 41% democrat (only a 1% advantage for republicans)
- R - Georgia voters split 43% Republican to 39% democrat (only a 4% advantage for republicans)
- D - North Carolina voters split 41.7% Democrat to 30.4% republican
You might note that of the top 10 states, which make up 51% of the nation's population,
INCLUDING TEXAS, republicans are barely holding on in the states where they have majorities, but the democrats are doing just fine in the states where they have majorities. Democrats are working hard to flip Texas......they're only 4% behind. Would you rather have ALL of Texas's electoral college votes go to the not-democrat, or would you rather have the 37% of Texans who are democrats vote
directly for Clinton?
Now, let's take a look at the bottom 10 states by population, with their partisan splits...........
The bottom 10 states by population, in descending order are:
- R - New Hampshire, population 1,330,608, 30.1% Republican to 27.2% democrat (only a 2.9% advantage for republicans)
- D - Maine, population 1,329,328, 31.9% democrat to 27.1% republican
- D - Rhode Island, population 1,056,298, 41.5% democrat to 10.9% republican
- R - Montana, population 1,032,949, 51% republican to 33% democrat
- D - Delaware, population 945,934, 47.5% democrat to 28% republican
- R - South Dakota, population 858,469, 46.2% republican to 33.8% democrat
- R - North Dakota, population 756,927, 47% republican to 36% democrat
- R - Alaska, population 738,432, 26.7% republican to 13.8% democrat
- D - Vermont, population 626,042, 47% democrat to 31% republican
- R - Wyoming, population 586,107, 66.7% republican to 19.8% democrat
The fact is, eliminating the electoral college will most favor those voters who want to eliminate significant parts of the Bill of Rights, turn this country irrevocably into a socialist "paradise", and who don't care much if the country survives as a nation or not, because they hate the country. Further, the states are not likely to willingly give up their sovereignty in the matter.
- Article II - The Executive Branch
- Section 1 - The President
The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice-President chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows:
Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.
(The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not lie an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each; which List they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted. The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole Number of Electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such Majority, and have an equal Number of Votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately chuse by Ballot one of them for President; and if no Person have a Majority, then from the five highest on the List the said House shall in like Manner chuse the President. But in chusing the President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the Representation from each State having one Vote; a quorum for this Purpose shall consist of a Member or Members from two-thirds of the States, and a Majority of all the States shall be necessary to a Choice. In every Case, after the Choice of the President, the Person having the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal Votes, the Senate shall chuse from them by Ballot the Vice-President.) (This clause in parentheses was superseded by the 12th Amendment.)
The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States.
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Amendment 12 - Choosing the President, Vice-President. Ratified 6/15/1804.
The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate;
The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted;
The person having the greatest Number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in the case of the death or other constitutional disability of the President.
The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.
To get rid of the electoral college (even if it were a good idea, which it isn't), you'd have to pass a constitutional amendment which reverses both Article II, Section 1, and the 12th Amendment. And once the individual voter realizes that there are no more dampening influences between him, and any kind of foolhardy largess he votes for himself, this nation is finished as a Constitutional republic, and all state sovereignty will vanish.
It's a
horrible idea. Fortunately, not only where the Founders more wise than most people today, including most politicians and the majority of voters, but they made it deliberately difficult for opportunists to alter the text of the Constitution. We still exist today as a nation because of that wisdom.
“Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And, weak men create hard times.”
― G. Michael Hopf, "Those Who Remain"
#TINVOWOOT
Now where did I put that Dunce hat??? I admit I never was interested in the mechanics of how it works but as I aged, that changed thankfully. 
