Absurdity of the Electoral College:
Here's one nice thing we can now say about the Electoral College: it's slightly less harmful to our democracy than it was just days ago. In a 9-0 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that states have the right to "bind" their electors, requiring them to support whichever presidential candidate wins the popular vote in their state. Justice Elena Kagan's opinion was a blow to so-called "faithless electors," but a win for self-government. "Here," she wrote, "the People rule."
Yet while we can all breathe a sigh of relief that rogue electors won't choose (or be coerced) into derailing the 2020 presidential contest, the Court's unanimous ruling is a helpful reminder that our two-step electoral process provides America with no tangible benefits and near-limitless possibilities for disaster. To put it more bluntly, the Electoral College is a terrible idea. And thanks to the Justices' decision, getting rid of it has never been easier.
[...] The Electoral College, in other words, serves no useful purpose, other than to intermittently and randomly override the people's will. It's the appendix of our body politic. Most of the time we don't notice it, and then every so often it flares up and nearly kills us.
[...] Justice Kagan's words – "Here, the People rule" – are stirring. But today, they are still more aspiration than declaration. By declining to make the Electoral College an even great threat to our democracy, the Court did its job. Now it's up to us. If you live in a state that hasn't joined the interstate compact, you can urge your state legislators and your governor to sign on. And no matter where you're from, you can dispel the myths about the Electoral College and who it really helps, myths that still lead some people to support it despite its total lack of redeeming qualities.
More than 215 years after the Electoral College was last reformed with the 12th Amendment, we once again have the opportunity to protect our presidential-election process and reassert the people's will. Regardless of who wins the White House in 2020, it's a chance we should take.
Would you get rid of the Electoral College? Why or why not?
Also at:
Supremes Signal a Brave New World of Popular Presidential Elections
Supreme Court Rules State 'Faithless Elector' Laws Constitutional
U.S. Supreme Court curbs 'faithless electors' in presidential voting
Supreme Court rules states can remove 'faithless electors'
(Score: 2, Troll) by hemocyanin on Monday July 13 2020, @05:59PM (2 children)
Without the EC, there would be no US. You are jumping into this thing in the middle. Go to the beginning -- you would have ZERO say over what happens in Montana without the EC because Montana would not be part of the US at all. And you bitch about having a substantial but not 100% power over Montana?
Anyone who wants to abandon the EC, must in fairness provide for the peaceful voluntary secession of states. Otherwise you are just colonizing those less populous states and breaking treaties. Do you really want to be a colonizing treaty breaker??
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 13 2020, @08:52PM
Montana, the eastern half, anyway, was part of the Louisiana Purchase, so if Tommy Jefferson had not gotten a "going out of business" deal from Napolean, Montana would be French. Mon Deiu! Or Piegan and Absarokee, and Shosone, and Salish. And Gros Ventre, and Cheyanne.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Reziac on Tuesday July 14 2020, @03:53AM
"Do you really want to be a colonizing treaty breaker??"
Actually, I think that's *exactly* what the anti-EC forces want to be. They may frame it differently, but that's what it boils down to. "There's more of us than there are of you, so bend over."
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.