Do you want to eliminate the electoral college?

A man from this site was on Air America today. He's collecting signatures through the website for a constitutional amendment eliminating the electoral college. If you want to sign, you need to complete the info & then respond to an e-mail confirmation.

http://onevoteronevote.org/

but it will NEVER be abolished. Let's not even waste time trying. There's no way on earth you can get the majority of small states to give up their power.

immediate instinct says, "hell yeah, it allows something like the debacle of 2000 to happen." But on the other hand, the federal system is important, and the ability of the states to send their electors helps preserve this.

The deck is stacked in the favor of small population, right-wing rural states. The nation is more diverse, urban, and democratic but the EV prevents this from being a reality of policy. It must go.

of electoral votes, to go along with the popular vote.

i live in Illinois and my vote doesn't matter! I'm getting tired of people in ohio and florida choosing the president for me!

I thought this was especially funny last week when my son called that my daughter-in-law and her father (both repigs) were freaking out after the first debate. They were afraid Bush would lose the EC, but win in the PV. He told them that was exactly what happened to Gore in 2000. They refused to believe him until he Googled the results and showed them in black and white.

because I live in Colorado, I get to decide whether to divide up the state's electoral votes to reflect the popular vote. I'm stumped!

No, simple fact is that the electoral college favors Democrats. 4 of the six biggest states are pretty Democratic, one (Florida) is the ubder swing-state and another (Texas) is solidly Republican. Republicans have to sweep the table to win presidential elections now. If Bush loses one medium sized state, or two small states, from those he won in 2000, he's been defeated.

The big states get SCREWED. People in WY get 1 EV for each 150,000 people in the state. The same 1 EV in CA is shared by over 600,000 people. If the EC were abolished or expanded to better represent population, DEMS WOULD WIN!

273 votes disregarding the need to round to whole numbers



Electoral votes
Gore,
Popular %
vote
Alabama 692,611 42.00 9 3.78
Alaska 79,004 28.00 3 0.84
Arizona 685,341 45.00 8 3.6
Arkansas 422,768 46.00 6 2.76
California 5,861,203 53.00 54 28.62
Colorado 738,227 42.00 8 3.36
Connecticut 816,015 56.00 8 4.48
Delaware 180,068 55.00 3 1.65
DC 171,923 85.00 21 17.85
Florida 2,912,253 49.00 25 12.25
Georgia 1,116,230 43.00 13 5.59
Hawaii 205,286 56.00 4 2.24
Idaho 138,637 28.00 4 1.12
Illinois 2,589,026 55.00 22 12.1
Indiana 901,980 41.00 12 4.92
Iowa 638,517 49.00 7 3.43
Kansas 399,276 37.00 6 2.22
Kentucky 638,898 41.00 8 3.28
Louisiana 792,344 45.00 9 4.05
Maine 319,951 49.00 4 1.96
Maryland 1,145,782 56.00 10 5.6
Massachusetts 1,616,487 60.00 12 7.2
Michigan 2,170,418 51.00 18 9.18
Minnesota 1,168,266 48.00 10 4.8
Mississippi 404,614 41.00 7 2.87
Missouri 1,111,138 47.00 11 5.17
Montana 137,126 33.00 3 0.99
Nebraska 231,780 33.00 5 1.65
Nevada 279,978 46.00 4 1.84
New Hampshire 266,348 47.00 4 1.88
New Jersey 1,788,850 56.00 15 8.4
New Mexico 286,783 48.00 5 2.4
New York 4,107,697 60.00 33 19.8
North Carolina 1,257,692 43.00 14 6.02
North Dakota 95,284 33.00 3 0.99
Ohio 2,186,190 46.00 21 9.66
Oklahoma 474,276 38.00 8 3.04
Oregon 720,342 47.00 7 3.29
Pennsylvania 2,485,967 51.00 23 11.73
Rhode Island 249,508 61.00 4 2.44
South Carolina 565,561 41.00 8 3.28
South Dakota 118,804 38.00 3 1.14
Tennessee 981,720 47.00 11 5.17
Texas 2,433,746 38.00 32 12.16
Utah 203,053 26.00 5 1.3
Vermont 149,022 51.00 3 1.53
Virginia 1,217,290 44.00 13 5.72
Washington 1,247,652 50.00 11 5.5
West Virginia 295,497 46.00 5 2.3
Wisconsin 1,242,987 48.00 11 5.28
Wyoming 60,481 28.00 3 0.84
Total 50,999,897 48.38 538 273.27

I'd like to see an elimination of winner takes all. This can be done on the state level, but few implemented or considered it since it decreases their leverage and favors the party in control.

n/t

which completely disenfranchises voters from the minority party in states that consistently lean one way or the other.

The arguments FOR the Electoral College are bogus, especially the crap about the small states losing power or not being attended to during presidential campaigns. The original reason for the Electoral College was that the framers of the Constitution were aristocratic types who distrusted "the mob" and wanted government by the "rich, well-born, and able." Voting was limited not merely to white males, but to white males who owned land until the 1830s or so. There is no requirement in the Constitution that the Electors be selected through the popular vote, either.

As it stands, the swing states get all the attention, and the reliably red or reliably blue states get little time from the candidates. When was the last time candidates fought hard for Utah or Massachusetts?

In a pure popular vote setup, all votes count equally, and candidates have to play to the whole country. The vote of a Utah resident for the Democratic candidate now counts, as does the vote of a Massachusetts resident for the Republican candidate.

A pure popular vote also thwarts candidates who want to claim a "landslide" simply because they won more acreage than their opponent, even though the popular vote was fairly close.

pretty good problem solver. Let em keep their archaic garbage, we need to implement bottom up democracy, not spin wheels and bang the wall with our heads. Use energy wisely.

I want him to win, but if he can't win I want her to win, but if she can't win I wan't him to win...At some point people have to decide who is the best person for the job and vote for them. IRV just gives you the second choice of everybody.

Perhaps you can make a clearer argument?

The electoral college has outlived its usefulness, as the 2000 (s)election proved beyond a shadow of a doubt.

And eliminating the E.C. would not be unprecedented. Hell, the U.S. didn't even have the direct election of senators until something like 1912!

College is no longer valid, it should go like all other outdated institutions should go. I also don't think the President should select the Supreme Court justices anymore either. Another more democratic way, that reflects the will of the people, should replace the Presidential appointments.

ruling everything?

Maybe the states who vote for whoever the Jesus people tell them to vote for would have some benefits sent their way in exchange for their tax money. Since liberals are more numerous than conservatives we might get this country on tract as a true democracy. Of course the conservatives don't like it. It won't be so easy for them to steal from the U. S. Treasury anymore.

While states may be predominantly R or D, no state is made up entirely of members of one party. Wyoming may be predominantly Republican, but there ARE Democrats there, and under the current system, their vote for president doesn't count at all.

States would be irrelevant in the national election, just as counties are irrelevant in a gubernatorial election. All votes from all states would count equally.

Besides, regions are more important than size. Rhode Island has more in common with New York politically than it does with Wyoming.

On examination, the "small states would be swamped" argument doesn't hold water. Would you say that having statewide elections for governors and Senators disenfranchises small counties?

their vote should count for less?

Eh?

Sure I could print this and go door to door, but the petition isn't organized to serve this propose.

If a form was available on this site that could be used to collect the necessary information and multiple signatures, I would print it in a heartbeat. I would make copies of this form, and email the form's link to fellow students interested in collecting signatures at Pratt.

Ohh well, this doesn't stop me from signing it. :wtf:

I live in Texas and so my vote means nothing, although I would never not vote.

The best time to discuss this will be after November 2. There are so many problems with our electoral system we will need the best minds working full-time to solve them.

If Bush & Co. successfully rig the upcoming election we need not worry about reforming the system, as that power will no longer be in our hands.

It's terribly hard to be optimistic after the last election. Sorry.