1ºRob Swanson First, states shouldn't be electing presidents, people should be electing presidents. The president is not for this or that state, it is for all the people and each person should have an equal vote wherever they live, why should someone's vote count 4 times more than someone else's because of where they live? Second, all the electoral college does in practice is make most of the country irrelevant. Most states are reliably blue or red regardless of the fact that they may have large populations who vote the other way - those votes count for nothing. What presidential campaigns fight for is to win the relatively small number of "battleground states." So those states get all the attention and campaigning and end up deciding the presidency. Nobody else really matters. If we ran it democratically so that everyone's vote counts the same and the candidate with the most votes wins, that would force every candidate to equally campaign everywhere and take every state into consideration because they have voters EVERYWHERE and each one counts equally, not how it is now where they only really care about the voters in battleground states. This system is ridiculous and it was not put in place to give small states more clout, it was put in place to create a buffer between the voters and the presidency because they founders did not trust the people.
2ºRuss Trenkamp But EC votes are still given based on the number of senators and representatives, which is based on population. Democrats want it changed because they have lost 2 lately while winning the popular vote. Republicans were pretty up for in the late 60's when California was a red state. Everyone wants to win, and most have a sense of fairness, even if they won't express it for fear of losing power. I personally think the EC is just a slavery holdover that adds no value to our elections. People who live in big cities should not be punished for living there. Land doesn't vote, people do.
3ºSteve Robinson that is not how the electoral college works, or technically does not work anymore. The framers explicitly rejected a popular vote for president because they did not trust voters to make a wise choice. At a time when many people were not well-educated, they wanted a body of wise men who would deliberate over leading contenders and choose the best man for the presidency, that no longer applies. The U.S. Constitution created the Electoral College but did not spell out how the votes get awarded to presidential candidates. That vagueness has allowed some states to reject “winner-take-all” at the state level and instead allocate votes at the congressional district level. The Constitution’s lack of specificity also presents the opportunity that states could allocate their Electoral College votes through some other means and some have. Then add contested elections and the faithless elector problem and you have a complete disaster. That a presidential candidate lost by 3 million votes could be propelled to winning, is insane. That example alone makes the EC dysfunctional, it must be abolished.
4ºMy 2 cents:
It was heartbreaking to see the Capitol building stormed by a horde of thugs that claim to be patriots. Their action was perverse and in total contrast to our Constitution. People died during the raid on our capitol but let's give credit where credit is due. A mob stormed our capital building and the police could have gotten itchy and started pulling triggers setting off a wave of massacre and death. I've heard some stating that if it where a horde of another race then certain retaliatory clamp down measures would have been exponentially tougher. I can't explain or be prophetic on that hypothetical but what actually happened was an exemplary display of police professionalism. They pushed them back systematically rounded em up like a sheep and ushered the mob back. I'm sure some isolated problems occurred that we don't know about but by watching the whole thing essentially while it happened...it was amazing to see. DC cops and National Guard did a great job after the fact. However I'm not impressed by the preparation for the protest as they literally fell back like dominos by the pressure of the horde. I suppose that's why many top commanders have resigned. They failed. On another note to blame Trump for this is yet another example of an intellectually lazy left argument. Should we blame all the summer riots on the democrat party for the millions of dollars of damage done to business and people's property? No the responsibility falls at the feet of the perpetrator and no one else. Trumps message was one of protest not of a coup. Yet the intellectually lazy and dishonest left will hang that notion until it's totally worn out. So you have. Even now in defeat the obsessive left wants to impeach the president calling him unhinged and unfit for presidency. The same president they deemed a war monger was the only president since Eisenhower to NOT start a foreign war. In fact he reduced the troop deployments for our soldiers all around the world. The truth and the delusion could not be further apart. When will you learn that the Trump Supporters are supporters for life because we know who he is through the 4 plus years of steadfast resistance from the opposition he accomplished more than Biden in 47 years.
The diamond in the rough is now the Democrats are no longer arm chair hagglers. Now the Democrats must govern and you have control of the presidency and congress. One thing they will not have is an excuse. I am not a traitor and will not claim that Biden is not my president like you other traitors. He won and Trumps legal objections were defeated. I will support Biden as our president and I will sit back in my chair and watch this country become a Chinese satellite nation. They have infiltrated our government and bought many of our politicians already. So in the next 2 years Dems you have all the control, the ball is in your court. You have social media on your side, China on your side and the blanket of rampant corruption veiled by your colleagues. You have indisputable power by which you must avoid falling on your own sword. Remember one thing, Trump Supporters will not dissapear and we are watching. Always watching.
5ºGene Burrows It's got nothing to do with state's rights. All the electoral college does in practice is make all the people in most states completely irrelevant, whether large states or small states. The only votes that matter to candidates are ones in closely divided "battleground states." Nobody else matters to them and nobody else makes any difference to who is elected. Candidates ignore most states or pay them nothing but courtesy calls because they don't want to waste money on states that the current "winner takes all" system (which is NOT part of the Constitution, by the way) has already determined is entirely theirs. If we did not have a winner takes all system then every state would be in play because a voter in Delaware, which is today ignored regardless of who they may be persuaded to vote for because the state is reliably going to give all its electors to the Democratic candidate, would be just as sought after as a voter in Georgia which is a battleground state where small changes in votes one way or the other can decide the presidency. Imagine if every vote everywhere counted equally and not just voters in the handful of battleground states (which are not the small states, by the way).
6ºKaren Berman and yet republicans rely on the easy way cause they haven’t won a popular vote election in 30 years.
Why do you think trump and his republicans were trying to “find votes”? Why did they want to vote against the certification on Jan 6? To kick it back the states reps and out of the peoples hands. To give trump our house against our wishes.
Who didn’t pay attention in civics class? I don’t like embarrassing people so I’ll leave you be. I suggest getting on the right side of history cause it will be merciless to the anti American Trump republicans.
7ºAs an alternative to dismantling the electoral college, it does need to be reformed. George Washington abhored political parties, but our system of government has been vulnerable to the 2 political party system. We have for the majority of our time had 2 functioning parties at 1 time, be it the dems, gop, federalists or whigs. What seems to screw up the electoral college is when a significant portion of the electorate is pissed and wants neither. They pick someone else, but the Plurality and majority opinions lose. Thats how we got trump and bush. Ranked choice, or a top 2 runoff election might help with that.
8ºKaren Degon Do you not know how the Electoral college works? Larger states population gives them more electoral votes and likewise smaller states get less EV. The candidates have to campaign to all the states to win the popular vote in those states (which is why California is such a prize). The way it’s set up is giving all of the states and their opinion on the direction of the country a voice. Making it where a handful of Large cites get to decide takes the voice from all those smaller states. There can (and should be) a way to ensure that the proper ratio of EV to population is achieved.
9ºDave Messier You do not understand the system. EVERY state votes on the electoral college system per the Constitution. 2 states allow split electoral college votes, the rest have a winner take all system but they ALL have a number of electoral college votes which is based on the number of senators and congressmen in that state. The electoral college facilitates the winner takes all system which would not otherwise be possible. The reason it doesn't make sense is because, as I have said several times now, if a candidate wins the state, they win the entire state. We know that the vast majority of states are reliably red or blue, they don't switch back and forth for the most part, meaning they are not in play in elections. If you ever listen to analysts and strategists this becomes very apparent very quickly. Only a handful of states matter.
10ºVivian Malta But--let's give this a MODERN twist. (Since it is an issue for the last few years.) If we go strictly by MAJORITY. Only 5% of US is LBGT. Only 13% is black. Asian is 6%---let's call them these "SMALL STATES"---if we go by majority alone, there are more heterosexuals, therefore the LBGT should have no say , nor should blacks, nor should Asians.
Letting JUST THE MAJORITY play into the issue is wolves and sheep, let's let the 5 Wolves, out vote the 3 sheep (by majority) as to what they ALL will have for supper. WHERE does that leave the sheep?
Or the gays that you would think were the MAJORITY of the world by their PUSHED "in you face" agenda---but they're a "little state" so their rights or wishes don't matter to the majority.
California is a big state, NY is a populist state--- So by the sheer number of people who want to live in those two areas, for some unknown reason or misfortune of being born there and can't escape, get to choose, what the REST of us DON'T want.
I deplore EVERYTHING about Caifornia--I truly wish it would split off and become an island off the coast, and secede from the union like THEY WANTED TO a few years back. Bye bye, good riddance.
So how do you think smaller states feel when THEY who live a totally different climate, wage rate, etc etc gets to choose how the rest of the nation lives. The little states don't WANT what California WANTS---they don't WANT the outrageous taxes and rules and regulations and government's fingers in everything, and the outrageous cost of living that Californians take for granted.
NO, the MAJORITY doesn't get to speak for EVERYONE.
Small states live here, too. Just as Blacks and Asians and Indians, and hispanics (legal ones) have rights and wishes, also.
Persoally I think the LARGE states should be cut into SECTIONS because just like NY---upstate NY is a whole different, calmer, sane world than Manhatten Island, the Bronx and that madness. I'm sure Northern California is nothing like Southern California. Most of VA is more rural, mountainous not at ALL like Northern VA--but because all the politicians, foreigners and transplants (very few actual Virginians) live there--and they're packed in like sardines---THEY get to choose what the REST of the state has to do. The rest of the state would like for Northern VA to just call itself DC, vote with them, keep the traffic and all the crime and dirt but get the hell OUT of VA. And let the rest of them VOTE for THEIR way of life.
Te majority is never right. And seldom sane.