Popular Vote vs. Electoral College To Determine U.S. President (illegal aliens, Clinton)
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I think that a majority of voters would determine who our next President would be. Where they live is unimportant. This business about the "cities determining who the next President will be" is largely "code" for saying "I don't think minorities should be able to determine who the next President is". Those are the city voters that some groups seem so afraid of.
*My replies are in bold type.
Not only that, but when you think about it, generally the states with the biggest cities generally have the most electoral votes, and the states with the fewest significant cities have least electoral votes.
I don't think the public is more educated at all. Yes, there is a percentage that is indeed educated, but considering just under half the population didn't even vote, this shows that half the population isn't educated at all because if they were, they would have voted because they would have understood the importance of voting.
As for the EC, it is a tough one. You remove the EC and chances are, the election will be decided by NY and CA just because of their population size and that they generally leans democratic. The flip side is that if you are a republican in NYC, the EC is preventing your voice from being heard and your vote is basically worthless because most lean democratic which means the EC votes will go towards the democrat nominee. The same could be said if you are a democrat living in Oklahoma. The chance of Oklahoma ever voting for a democrat nominee is very slim, so a democrat vote is worthless at the end of the day.
The EC is not practically modifiable. The 13 small states can easily defeat any attempt to modify it.
However the adoption of state laws in states with more than 270 EC votes can fix the situation. Basically a state law that says the state electoral votes will go to the winner of the popular vote. Once in effect in states with more than 270 votes the popular vote winner gets the EC vote. The law as implemented today requires that states with more than 270 votes agree before it takes effect.
So we may see a solution without a Constitutional change.
How many of you have read the Constitution, how many of you have read the Federalist Papers, how many of you have researched as to why our Constitution was written they it is?
1) Why is it the the POTUS and VP are elected via the electors (electoral college)?
2) Why is it that Representatives are elected via popular vote of the State they represent?
3) Why were Senators appointed by the State, that is up until the 12th amendment?
The Constitution is an agreement between the Federal Government and the Union. The States are the Union and the people of those states make up the Union. The POTUS is a representative for the Union and not the people, the people speak for the Union on behalf of their state via the Senate. The powers of the President are very limited, Article 2, section 2 defines the powers of the President.
This is why the President and VP are elected via the electoral system, it is the will of the Union as to who becomes POTUS. The office of the President must reflect the desire of the Union, not the desire of the people.
Representatives are elected via popular vote of the people in their State, why, because they represent the People and not the Union, this is why we have a House of Representatives. The House of Representatives has the most power of any of the branches of the government, and this is why a representative only has a term of 2 years. This is how We the People make our voice known.
The Senate represents the States issues with the Union, was working great until the 12th amendment, then the State lost it's voice in the Federal government. Now they are elected via popular vote which puts them in a political party, so now it's the political parties interest they represent instead of the States.
Actually, 17th Amendment, not 12th. But otherwise....big agree on this whole post.
What is needed is for the Electors themselves to be known quantities. It was supposed to be a forum of a sober "second look" at the election results. I am a political junkie and co uld not kname a single elector that has ever served in the Electoral College.
The 13 Electors for Virginia in 2016 are Bethany J. Rowland, Debra Stevens Fitzgerald, James Harold Allen Boyd, Jasper L. Hendricks III, Jeanette C. Sarver, K. James O'Connor Jr., Kathy Stewart Shupe, Keith A. Scarborough, Lashrecse D. Aird, Susan Johnson Rowland, Terry C. Frye, Virginia L. Peters, and Vivian J. Paige.
And while we're at it, getting rid of of the Electoral vote, let's get rid of State borders, because in a round about way that is what you are doing. You say we have a more educated public, I'll bet you that 60% of the people in this country has no idea of how this government is suppose to work, or why the Constitution is written the way it is. The masses follow what their party tell them to do or believe the promises made by those running for office. If you read and study the Constitution, do a little research on why it was written the way it is, and what the founding members meant when the wrote this document, you'll understand why we have an Electoral college in the first place. You'll understand why Representatives are voted in by popular vote, and the POTUS is voted in by indirect vote.
Representatives speak for the People, the POTUS does not. Read Article 2 Section 2 of the Constitution, which defines the power of the President, nowhere in the Constitution does it say the President represents the people. The POTUS represents the Federal Government period, and the Federal government is not the States. The Constitution clearly defines this, however, you have uneducated mass that believe the Federal government is all powerful, when it is not. The Federal government exist for one reason, to serve the Union and the people of the Union.
It very clear that a lot of people need to take a course on Constitution 101.
I find no correlation in getting rid of state borders to getting rid of the electoral college. I am for getting rid of the electoral college. It is not needed anymore.
I believe getting rid of the electoral college will make people feel like there vote counts. I mean, we should do it to encourage our population to participate in our politics by voting.
If you live in a small west coast state like Hawaii, voting seems useless since most presidential elections are decided before their poles close.
As for education, there is unprecedented access to education, conversation and debate. I will only agree that many many people do not have the incredibly important support from a mentor.
Good mentorship is lacking.
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