SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
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: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 13 2020, @05:14PM (11 children)
No. I don't. Just like I don't think the Senate is fundamentally flawed because every state, regardless of size, has 2 votes via 2 Senators.
More to the point. The votes are equal. 1 vote in CA is the same as 1 vote in WY in that it can affect their respective elections. They are participating in different elections.
There is also equity argument to be made. The E.C. makes the government more equitable to a minority.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 13 2020, @05:28PM (8 children)
"Equitable to a minority"? I'm all for "majority rule with minority rights", but the EC makes it "minority rule". The way the Constitution sets up the Senate, the minority doesn't make policy but if enough of them ally they can block policy. That makes sense, that's brilliant - the minority doesn't call the shots, but they can obstruct the majority.
But for the president, this is something else. The minority made the decision in 2000 and 2016, and it happened earlier too with Presidents Rutherford B Hayes and Benjamin Harrison. In this case, the minority is dictating policy and the majority has no means to obstruct until the next election. That's wrong, and everyone crowing about the value of the Electoral College today would be screaming if the exact same system had let someone they didn't support beat out their candidate that won the popular vote.
I know people also bring up the argument about protecting elections from the stupidity of the common many. That relies upon the idea that the voters for the minority candidate must be smarter than the general unwashed masses voting for the popular candidate. Again, that lets the people supporting the less popular candidate walk around with a smug sense of superiority - "we protected the country from the more popular candidate of the stupid people". But there's no evidence that the supporters of the candidate that won the electoral college are smarter. The results of the election are skewed, but not skewed for any good reason.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday July 13 2020, @05:33PM (1 child)
Untrue. I didn't vote for Trump and support the EC.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 13 2020, @09:40PM
Ok deplorable.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 13 2020, @05:41PM
>the EC makes it "minority rule"
5 times in the entirety of 232 years of US history. 5 out of 56 elections since 1788. "minority rule" is a stretch. More often than not, popular vote can predict the election. But. there are times when the minority gets an equitable outcome. Like Affirmative action.
What has happened more often is that the candidates campaign in smaller states and at least pretend to care about small state issues.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Monday July 13 2020, @05:44PM (4 children)
You're not winning any points in this argument.
Every single election cycle in my lifetime, has been decided by a minority. Don't believe me? Look at the history - rarely does more than 25, maybe 30% of the eligible voting body even bother to GET OUT AND VOTE!!
Like any other poorly designed, faulty poll, this poll FAILS because only self-selecting people respond.
In every single election cycle in my lifetime, the MAJORITY VOTED FOR NONE OF THE ABOVE!!!
So, ultimately, you're just whining that your minority may have been infinitesimally larger than the other minority. If you want "fair elections", you need to mandate that all eligible voters get off their phat couch potato asses, and VOTE!
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 2) by legont on Monday July 13 2020, @06:34PM
None of the above definitely should be an option and if it wins, all the candidates on the list should be prohibited from participating in the next few cycles. This would bring most of the folks to vote.
Without, our democracy is a farce not worse participating in.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Monday July 13 2020, @07:23PM (2 children)
Only if you died in 1800 [electproject.org]. Actual numbers in recent elections are more like 60% for presidential elections, and 40% for mid-term congressional elections.
The really low numbers are for local elections - understandable, because at least where I am frequently there aren't many contested elections.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday July 13 2020, @09:50PM (1 child)
Hmmm - voting is roughly double what I said. And, I can't figure out how I arrived at my numbers. OK, thinking . . .
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Monday July 13 2020, @10:06PM
Well, given that 75.8% of statistics are just made up on the spot by somebody trying to push an opinion without doing research, I think that question answers itself.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday July 13 2020, @05:29PM
It's no good taking that tack. He only likes minorities when they do as they're told.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by SpockLogic on Monday July 13 2020, @11:03PM
Get rid of it. I'm not voting for the president of Florida, I'm voting for the President of the United States and my vote should count just the same as any other vote for the President of the United States, no more or no less.
Overreacting is one thing, sticking your head up your ass hoping the problem goes away is another - edIII