Why is electoral vote used to determine the outcome of the presidential election when the popular vote more closely represents the will of the people, all the people, of the USA? And why are attempts to restrict voting tolerated? Land of the free or land of the privileged?
Regarding the first part of your question, simple. This country is a constitutional republic and not a democracy- [amp.democratandchronicle.com]
What exactly do you mean by attempting to restrict voting being tolerated? Oddly enough, no one hardly complained about such while Obama was President...
Obama again? Aren't there other presidents you can refer to who aren't African? Wow...
@Cutiebeauty Surely... no one much complained about the Electoral College during the Clinton or Carter years either. Beyond that I cannot tell, as the other presidents in my lifetime were Republican aside from the two mentioned above.
@Cutiebeauty Additionally, not sure why you involved race into this? If I'm not mistaken, doesn't Mr Obama have some caucasian ethnicity as well?
@SpikeTalon yeah... Whatever... Seems like conservatives refer to Obama as their goto quite frequently... I just wonder if it's motivated by racism... Seems like it to me...
@Cutiebeauty Or could it be perhaps because he was the last former President and his Administration is still fresh in the minds of many Americans?
@SpikeTalon I've no idea... It just seems like Obama and Hilary are used to justify trumps horrible behavior but never is mentioned white males who were president...
@SpikeTalon and if Obama is part white... Proof please... Not that it makes a difference.. Remember Pocahontas...
@SpikeTalon not many Americans... Conservatives... That's what I'm seeing...
@Cutiebeauty I stand corrected, Mr Obama's mother was caucasian- [en.m.wikipedia.org]
Personally, I didn't care for the last six or so presidents, peas from the same pod, and I'm fed up with the two party system.
@SpikeTalon I don't like the two party system either... Ugh...
To those who defend the useless electoral college by saying that it's in the constitution and it protects the rights of people who live in states where nobody lives, I say we only use the electoral college to elect a President, not to elect congressmen or senators, so it is a fallacy to say that mid-westerners would be basically forgotten if we let the "majority" elect a President. They will still have equal representation with Senators (2 per state, regardless of the population) and Congressmen (based on districts) who are the ones to represent their interests in writing and passing legislation, the President is there to execute, that is why it is the Executive Power and not the Legislative Power, so please spare me that stupid argument. The electoral college is totally unnecessary, anachronistic and should be abolished, period.
Here we go from their site and just so that it’s known he won in the right states there was no trickery just the other party assumed that they had it locked down and if I remember right HRC herself said that he’d win the popular vote but she’d carry the electoral.
So once again for those of you crying foul about the popular vote if she had carried the electoral y’all would be singing different fucking song now wouldn’t you!? So ????
You make assumptions frequently......
@48thRonin You are correct about that my friend. We wouldn't be hearing about this nonsense had Clinton gotten elected president.
@Cutiebeauty And if you believe that I was directing that at you then you have made an assumption as well
The story of the electoral college is the story of slavery in america. When the founders we're trying to round up the colonies to sign on to the Constitution some of the states we're in fear that the new Union would outlaw slavery. Some of these states had more slaves than 'free men' In order to protect the right to slavery, the slave states got concessions that included counting slaves as 3/5 of a person for the purposes of representation. Also as the second amendment protected state malitias so these states could police their slaves without federal interferance. Since slaves could not vote, the electoral college gave population counts a way of giving slave states more leverage.
The electoral college is not necessarily the problem but the way their votes are distributed is the problem - winner takes all, is the problem.
"In all but Nebraska and Maine, all electoral votes go to the candidate who wins the state’s popular vote. Thus, a candidate who wins by one vote in a state gets the same number of that state’s electoral votes – all of them – as a candidate who wins by millions of votes."
If we fix this - divide each states EC into districts and then each candidate gets the EC vote from that districts.
My personal example - NC has 15 EC votes which tRump received yet many areas in NC are liberal. If those 15 EC votes were split in districts then we would have had a different outcome.
Not sure I am typing this so it is understandable but I hope you get my meaning.
It was once thought to be the only fair way to differentiate in a fair way to distribute power among the states. This system is old hat and must go the way of the Dodo bird.
The answer to the first question is that the Electoral College was formed so that the southern states could have equal representation with the northern, since the black population in those states could not vote.The answer to the second question is when Republicans are in power they gerrymander in order that they will prevail in elections as they are in the minority. If the gerrymandering is outrageous enough the Supreme Court will disallow it by finding the state statute unconstitutional. Otherwise, when your party is in power you make the rules. That is why it is so important that we take over state legislatures. When I say we I mean anyone but a Republican (I am an independent).
Good question, I understood totally different in civic class in high school, and I may be wrong here but if I am correct me. I thought it had to do more with at the time very few people were educated, our founding fathers were very educated men and were worried that if it was left up to one person one vote that the mass group of uneducated people would elected someone not qualified for the job. This was a way to protect from that, you had to be an educated male of a certain age to become a elector. You have to remember at the time access to information and education was very limited across the nation, not like today.
yes the founders were afraid that the people would vote for someone who would say whatever to get elected. They believed it would be harder for a candidate to sway the majority of the educated electors of the college. Remember US Senators also were not originally elected by voters.
Power, it's all about power nowadays. It is not to serve the people or the good of the country.
its not even a new concept
Electoral college undermines popular vote and penalizes those who choose to live in a state with high population. It is insurance for the survival of unpopular parties. It is for self-preservation of the system of governance. Unfortunately, this means the will of the people is thrown to the wayside.
It was a compromise between the big states and the small states at the time the Constitution was ratified. If they did everything by popular vote, the states with small populations would have very little influence in our national government. The same is true today. If they went by popular vote, California, Texas, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Illinois would control most of our nations politics.
You are correct. But, regardless of where a citizen chooses to live, one citizen, one vote, that is how it should be. Electoral college undermines the will of the populous. It is to protect the two party system, because without electoral college, Republicans wouldn't stand a chance as Florida, California, and New York would determine every election as Democrat or other liberal parties. I would be okay with the Republican party falling, as it would give rise to another prominent party to oppose the Democrats and ensure checks and balances remain. Electoral college is a constitutional guarantee to ensure the survival of antiquated parties. Both the Republican and Democratic parties need to fall, and give birth to new parties. I would like a 5 party system myself, with 5 very prominent parties.
CB only a few hundred people in the US elect the president. Trump lost by about 3M votes...
Be a use it’s the easiest and best way to rig the system in favor of the people that really run and own this country. Sad but true. And yet everybody is arguing and hating each other over politics these days. Start judging thing people on what they do and not what they believe and we will have a much better society. Stepping off soap box.