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Democrats move to eliminate the Electoral College (1 Viewer)

We should have had, now, 26 years of Democratic presidents in a row, instead of some archaic system that has held our country back in the 21st century. Civil Rights have taken a back seat in the name of money. The world laughs while we bury ourselves. Trillions for a military complex that is not needed instead of education and infrastructure. Shameful. 

 
It doesn't have to be removed...simply allocated the % of the EC votes according to the % of the vote won in each state....problem solved.

ETA:  Though, you should probably find a more legit source before going down this path.  Is there a link to the actual bill proposal?  TIA.

 
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The do away with the electoral college movement seems to be gaining steam with the Democratic candidates   

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/senate-dems-introduce-bill-to-abolish-electoral-college
Good, and Trump supports it.

Lesley Stahl: Now, for months, you were running around saying that the system is rigged, the whole thing was rigged. You tweeted once that the Electoral College is a disaster for democracy.

Donald Trump: I do.

Lesley Stahl: So do you still think it's rigged?

Donald Trump: Well, I think the electoral ca-- look, I won with the Electoral College.

Lesley Stahl: Exactly.But do you think--

Donald Trump: You know, it's--

Lesley Stahl: --it's rigged?

Donald Trump: Yeah, some of the election locations are. Some of the system is. I hated--

Lesley Stahl: Even though you won you're saying that--

Donald Trump: I hated-- well, you know, I'm not going to change my mind just because I won. But I would rather see it where you went with simple votes. You know, you get 100 million votes and somebody else gets 90 million votes and you win. There's a reason for doing this because it brings all the states into play. Electoral College and there's something very good about that. But this is a different system. But I respect it. I do respect the system.

 
Ugh..Why do the democrats insist on wasting time?   Why.....They cant stop embarrassing themselves
The EC isn't going anywhere. The electoral college, after all, is enshrined in our Constitution, which means getting rid of it requires a constitutional amendment. That's a two-thirds vote in both the House and the Senate and the ratification of three-fourths (38) of the 50 states.  Having said that, I hear AOC is trying to get a degree from the Electoral College.

 
The EC isn't going anywhere. The electoral college, after all, is enshrined in our Constitution, which means getting rid of it requires a constitutional amendment. That's a two-thirds vote in both the House and the Senate and the ratification of three-fourths (38) of the 50 states.  Having said that, I hear AOC is trying to get a degree from the Electoral College.
"The Electoral College is a disaster for democracy" - Donald Trump, Nov. 6, 2012

 
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The EC isn't going anywhere. The electoral college, after all, is enshrined in our Constitution, which means getting rid of it requires a constitutional amendment. That's a two-thirds vote in both the House and the Senate and the ratification of three-fourths (38) of the 50 states.  Having said that, I hear AOC is trying to get a degree from the Electoral College.
The landowners ceding their political  power to the clustered masses on the coasts seems to be the premise to some dystopian science fiction movies over the years.  

 
Interesting.  Some might argue that absent that provision of the Constitution that the document would not originally have been ratified.  Some might argue that this was an essential provision, consideration as it were, for them joining the Union.  Will this give momentum to a new push for succession by some States?  (I do not believe such would ever be successful, but will it create a new push?)  

 
The Presidency has been won with a minority of the popular vote only 5 times in US history.  Two of those were the last 2 GOP presidents. The last Republican president to win in his first term with the popular vote was George H.W. Bush.

 
i don't want to ruin it for you but the results are not pretty
As long as my people aren’t turned into soylent green, strapped into the matrix, fed to aliens, slaughterd by replicants, forced to build a Death Star, enslaved by apes or forced to send our kids to fight in Hunger Games, we can try to make it work.  

 
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Interesting.  Some might argue that absent that provision of the Constitution that the document would not originally have been ratified.  Some might argue that this was an essential provision, consideration as it were, for them joining the Union.  Will this give momentum to a new push for succession by some States?  (I do not believe such would ever be successful, but will it create a new push?)  
It clearly was necessary for the ratification of the Constitution, as it was put in for the slave states to get credit for their non-vote eligible population. 

I think there is more danger the other way if it isn’t fixed though. Imagine a scenario where a President is elected while losing the popular vote by 5 million votes or 10 million votes. At some point that becomes unsustainable. Not that I think any secession is likely, but if it becomes increasingly clear that the will of a substantial majority is being under-represented or overturned it’ll be problematic. 

 
Much worse than the EC is the Senate. Right now people in Wyoming, a state with less population than San Francisco, have as much power as the entire state of California. It means their votes for Senate carry 65 times the weight of a California vote. That isn't a level playing field. I'm not saying take their 2 I'm saying give California and Texas for that matter more.

 
Much worse than the EC is the Senate. Right now people in Wyoming, a state with less population than San Francisco, have as much power as the entire state of California. It means their votes for Senate carry 65 times the weight of a California vote. That isn't a level playing field. I'm not saying take their 2 I'm saying give California and Texas for that matter more.
I like some tempering of straight majority rule as I believe the majority of my fellow citizens to be functional idiots completely devoid of any foresight.  I believe un-tempered majority rule will lead to oppression by the ignorant.  We will be subject to the avarice jealousies of the lazy.  It takes very little intelligence to form collations of interest that are destructive of education, production, and attainment.  True there are collar abuses potentially and actually working in counterposing fashion right now, but the one appears to me to be the greater danger than the other.  Living together is hard.  Balancing interests, needs, and whims thought to be needs is hard.  It always will be.

 
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Much worse than the EC is the Senate. Right now people in Wyoming, a state with less population than San Francisco, have as much power as the entire state of California. It means their votes for Senate carry 65 times the weight of a California vote. That isn't a level playing field. I'm not saying take their 2 I'm saying give California and Texas for that matter more.
Isn't that what the house of representatives is for?

 
I like some tempering of straight majority rule as I believe the majority of my fellow citizens to be functional idiots completely devoid of any foresight.
Well certainly but this goes well beyond that. I just used Wyoming because I happen to know the numbers. We could talk Vermont a little bigger than Wyoming at around 600k compared to Texas with a population of almost 29 million. Vermont senate voters have roughly 57 times the power of Texas senate voters.

 
Isn't that what the house of representatives is for?
Not unless we do away with the gerrymandering. And really I think we need more congressional representation as well. You have millions of people that due to where they live never get a representative that actually represents them. In some districts it's 100s of thousands of voters and it's on both sides of the aisle.

 
Well certainly but this goes well beyond that. I just used Wyoming because I happen to know the numbers. We could talk Vermont a little bigger than Wyoming at around 600k compared to Texas with a population of almost 29 million. Vermont senate voters have roughly 57 times the power of Texas senate voters.
No doubt a case can be made that there are inequities in that one part of the system.  Also, I am not arguing for the status quo, I am raising the issue of matters that should be considered because even if well considered there will be unintended consequences.  If ill-considered in a rush to appease the mob which is power hungry for who knows what reason but certainly not all benevolent, so much the worse.  

I know this, I would like good and thoughtful folks like you working on this long before I would want the Senate or House to do so at this juncture of our history where they have been driven nearly mad by the occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

 
No doubt a case can be made that there are inequities in that one part of the system.  Also, I am not arguing for the status quo, I am raising the issue of matters that should be considered because even if well considered there will be unintended consequences.  If ill-considered in a rush to appease the mob which is power hungry for who knows what reason but certainly not all benevolent, so much the worse.  

I know this, I would like good and thoughtful folks like you working on this long before I would want the Senate or House to do so at this juncture of our history where they have been driven nearly mad by the occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
As always you make very valid points my friend. 

 
It pleases me to believe this to be true. 
Believe it sir. You are one of the folks here I haven't met IRL that I would certainly like to. I think we could sit down over a nice steak, a drink or two and have one heck of good time talking about pretty much anything. I always look forward to what you have to say.

 
I'll say it again....it doesn't need to go away.  All they need to do is divy up the votes the states have based on what % of the vote each won in the state...problem solved.  But, if this is true, it might be in trouble given Trump's vocal support of getting rid of it prior to being in office.  Can you imagine him and the Democrats working together on something!?!?!?!?!

 
I'll say it again....it doesn't need to go away.  All they need to do is divy up the votes the states have based on what % of the vote each won in the state...problem solved.  But, if this is true, it might be in trouble given Trump's vocal support of getting rid of it prior to being in office.  Can you imagine him and the Democrats working together on something!?!?!?!?!
He's on record supporting it in 2012 via a tweet, but he also supported the popular vote in the 60 Minutes interview with Leslie Stahl in November of '16 as then President-Elect, even though he's president *because* of the EC.

 
When it comes to electing the President, one person, one vote is how it should be. 
The founding fathers disagrees with you and they were pretty smart.  It prevents mob rule and in modern times, that means the President would get elected by high populated urban areas, specifically the west coast and northeast coast, all democrat controlled..  The low populated states might as well not even vote.  It doesn't matter, because it would never pass.  3/4 in both houses and 3/4 of all states (38) would have to be on board.  That simply isn't going to happen in my lifetime. 

 
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He's on record supporting it in 2012 via a tweet, but he also supported the popular vote in the 60 Minutes interview with Leslie Stahl in November of '16 as then President-Elect, even though he's president *because* of the EC.
He believes he would have won a popular vote if that’s what he needed to do.  He didn’t focus at all on California, NY, and Illinois.  He just campaigned to secure the key swing states.  Also, he said the illegals votes in aforementioned states distorted the popular vote.  We should standardize the voting process nationwide before we get to a popular vote for President so we all play by same rules.  

 
The founding fathers disagrees with you and they were pretty smart.  It prevents mob rule and in modern times, that means the President would get elected by high populated urban areas, specifically the west coast and northeast coast.  The low populdated states might as well not even vote.  It doesn't matter, because it would never pass.  3/4 in both houses and 3/4 of all states (38) would have to be on board.  That simply isn't going to happen in my lifetime. 
They also thought people should be treated as property.  

 
He believes he would have won a popular vote if that’s what he needed to do.  He didn’t focus at all on California, NY, and Illinois.  He just campaigned to secure the key swing states.  Also, he said the illegals votes in aforementioned states distorted the popular vote.  We should standardize the voting process nationwide before we get to a popular vote for President so we all play by same rules.  
I'm not implying he shouldn't have won; just stating that he wasn't going to abandon his position that the EC is a disaster for democracy just because he benefited from it.  His words. The fact remains, Trump is a believer in the popular vote even today.

 
Much worse than the EC is the Senate. Right now people in Wyoming, a state with less population than San Francisco, have as much power as the entire state of California. It means their votes for Senate carry 65 times the weight of a California vote. That isn't a level playing field. I'm not saying take their 2 I'm saying give California and Texas for that matter more.
Figuring out ways to give California more power doesn't seem like a good way to go about things. 

 
They also thought people should be treated as property.  
Yes, I've only heard that one about 100 times in this forum, along with all your other liberal buddies.   

ETA:  by the way, those owning that people property were democrats ;)

 
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Replacing the electoral college with a popular vote would be a good idea if it were a snap to make happen.

But if it takes any effort at all, which it would, I think that effort would be better spent elsewhere. Put it into (a) increasing voter turnout by making it easier for everyone (who is eligible) to vote, and (b) reducing gerrymandering.

 
Much worse than the EC is the Senate. Right now people in Wyoming, a state with less population than San Francisco, have as much power as the entire state of California. It means their votes for Senate carry 65 times the weight of a California vote. That isn't a level playing field. I'm not saying take their 2 I'm saying give California and Texas for that matter more.
Isn’t this the entire point of the Senate?  The same cannot be said for the EC, but is thrown around as a reason to keep it 

 
Much worse than the EC is the Senate. Right now people in Wyoming, a state with less population than San Francisco, have as much power as the entire state of California. It means their votes for Senate carry 65 times the weight of a California vote. That isn't a level playing field. I'm not saying take their 2 I'm saying give California and Texas for that matter more.
There’s nothing we can do about this short of violently overthrowing the government. The provision for amending the Constitution specifically says that this aspect can’t be amended.

 
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The founding fathers disagrees with you and they were pretty smart.  It prevents mob rule and in modern times, that means the President would get elected by high populated urban areas, specifically the west coast and northeast coast, all democrat controlled..  The low populated states might as well not even vote.  It doesn't matter, because it would never pass.  3/4 in both houses and 3/4 of all states (38) would have to be on board.  That simply isn't going to happen in my lifetime. 
Yes, there were really smart...didn't allowed women the right to vote, Senators were not elected by the voters of their states, slavery was allowed and blacks counted as 3/5ths of a person. Geniuses these founding fathers were!

 
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The EC isn't going anywhere. The electoral college, after all, is enshrined in our Constitution, which means getting rid of it requires a constitutional amendment. That's a two-thirds vote in both the House and the Senate and the ratification of three-fourths (38) of the 50 states.  Having said that, I hear AOC is trying to get a degree from the Electoral College.
Thank goodness!

 
Yes, there were really smart...didn't allowed women the right to vote, Senators were not elected by the voters of their states, slavery was allowed and blacks counted as 3/5ths of a person. Geniuses these founding fathers were!
Different time.  Besides those slave owners were predominately democrats :)

 
When it comes to electing the President, one person, one vote is how it should be. 
The founding fathers disagrees with you and they were pretty smart.
First off, you're the last person in this forum who should be pontificating about how the Founding Fathers related to the Electoral College.

Second, the founding fathers were not very smart when it came to the electoral college, because A) their original system was scrapped 17 years after it was written, and B) the system ultimately contributed to the Civil War and still has reverberations in our country's north/south divide to this day.

Imagine if someone were to propose that California should get more electoral votes because they have a higher proportion of non-citizen residents who work within the state. Would you say that such a proposal is a terrible idea?

Well, the founding fathers would disagree with you.

 
The founding fathers disagrees with you and they were pretty smart.  It prevents mob rule and in modern times, that means the President would get elected by high populated urban areas, specifically the west coast and northeast coast.  The low populdated states might as well not even vote.  It doesn't matter, because it would never pass.  3/4 in both houses and 3/4 of all states (38) would have to be on board.  That simply isn't going to happen in my lifetime. 
The Founding Fathers were pretty smart, but the electoral college is partly a vestige of a compromise over slavery. The south would get outvoted by the north on a single vote basis because the greater percentage of the population was in the north. So, the south would not go along with it.  They included the 3/5ths clause to include slaves as part of the population, and then provided for the electoral college to allocate votes, so as to give the South a bit more of a leg-up than they would have had otherwise.

 
Could some of these issues be fixed by increasing the number of representatives and electoral votes? I seem to recall reading an article recently that the number of reps hasn't grown at all with the rising population.

 
First off, you're the last person in this forum who should be pontificating about how the Founding Fathers related to the Electoral College.

Second, the founding fathers were not very smart when it came to the electoral college, because A) their original system was scrapped 17 years after it was written, and B) the system ultimately contributed to the Civil War and still has reverberations in our country's north/south divide to this day.

Imagine if someone were to propose that California should get more electoral votes because they have a higher proportion of non-citizen residents who work within the state. Would you say that such a proposal is a terrible idea?

Well, the founding fathers would disagree with you.
Ok, then, those shortly after the founding fathers were pretty smart.  The EC was brilliant with regards to our national election. It doesn't matter anyway, it's here and not going anywhere.

 
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