Politics Electoral College

When did I find it hard to acknowledge? I am all for states for local government, I also all for having the split congress (house / senate) to protect local interests in federal laws - I am against inequality between people based on their location for votes to the presidency.

Also, the 5 cities stuff is nonsense, the 5 largest cities in the US together have less than 20 million residents out of 325 million us residents it is not even 10% of the popular vote - so, this is another stupid argument that is not backed by any data.

Also - the idea that everyone in say California votes one way is absurd, 33% of the state voted for the Republican ticket - in a popular vote their vote will count the same as the vote of the ones that voted Democrat and likewise, 40% of Louisiana voted Democrat. With a popular vote - everyone's vote is worth the same.

 

The electoral college didn't matter at all in the Obama election.

Obama garnered over 69 million votes. The most ever.

That said, I don't believe in the push to rid ourselves of it.

You'd have no reason to campaign in all states. Candidates would simply campaign in the most populated areas of the country.

 

Whether it makes sense or not isn't really the point. The main point is that the EC is a political fact. Given the process required to amend the Constitution, there is absolutely no way that it's ever going to be changed. States that would otherwise have no political power are not going to support removing the EC.

 

That's a great point. Getting rid of the Electoral College would make things easier for candidates by allowing them to keep expenses down by campaigning only in the most populous areas of the country. The views and needs of those living in the fly-over states would be totally ignored.

 

You are probably right. At least without some kind of a conflict.

 

Your numbers are skewed.

Less than half of the population votes. Also how many of the 329 million aren't 18 yet?

The voting populace was at its largest in 2008.

129,446,839 votes were cast in that election.

 

Your vote is worth the same as any other. It seems you do not understand that the election for President is not conducted to be a direct vote of the people.
It is intended for the States to elect the President. As it is done, in each State, by a vote of the residents of the State, to guide the States representative in their vote. Nothing about it was done you make you feel unequal, or even short changed.

 

You are right, but I did not want to devote the time to research the voting population - by assuming that the ratio is not dramatically different around the country.

 

I understand it perfectly fine - and I believe that the way it is done is relevant to 18 century reality, not 21st century.

 

Just looked up the process to refresh my memory:

"The Constitution provides that an amendment may be proposed either by the Congress with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate or by a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of the State legislatures. None of the 27 amendments to the Constitution have been proposed by constitutional convention. The Congress proposes an amendment in the form of a joint resolution. Since the President does not have a constitutional role in the amendment process, the joint resolution does not go to the White House for signature or approval. The original document is forwarded directly to NARA's Office of the Federal Register (OFR) for processing and publication. The OFR adds legislative history notes to the joint resolution and publishes it in slip law format. The OFR also assembles an information package for the States which includes formal "red-line" copies of the joint resolution, copies of the joint resolution in slip law format, and the statutory procedure for ratification under 1 U.S.C. 106b.

The Archivist submits the proposed amendment to the States for their consideration by sending a letter of notification to each Governor along with the informational material prepared by the OFR. The Governors then formally submit the amendment to their State legislatures or the state calls for a convention, depending on what Congress has specified. In the past, some State legislatures have not waited to receive official notice before taking action on a proposed amendment. When a State ratifies a proposed amendment, it sends the Archivist an original or certified copy of the State action, which is immediately conveyed to the Director of the Federal Register. The OFR examines ratification documents for facial legal sufficiency and an authenticating signature. If the documents are found to be in good order, the Director acknowledges receipt and maintains custody of them. The OFR retains these documents until an amendment is adopted or fails, and then transfers the records to the National Archives for preservation.

A proposed amendment becomes part of the Constitution as soon as it is ratified by three-fourths of the States (38 of 50 States). "

Yeah, that's not happening.

 

It took me 2 minutes to Google "2008 election" and do simple addition.

 

So - what is the percent of the voting population in the 5 biggest cities from the total voting population in the country?

 

We're congenitally stupid around here, so you have to take that into account.

 

Ha!

Yes, I see. It was alright for 224 years, and then it became irrelevant to this Century. I suspect it will be very relevant for the most of this Century.

 

I will ask again, are you for removing the rights of women to vote? Are you for racial discrimination?

 

Don't be lazy. You have access to the same search engines as I.

The bottom line is you're wrong.

325 million isn't even HALF of the voting populace and you didn't even consider our citizens under 18.

So instead of answering your silly question that you can research on your own, answer my good one:

If we rid ourselves of the electoral college how much time do you think politicians would spend campaigning in Oregon?

You know the place that has the same population statewide as San Francisco metro area.

 

I noticed this question earlier. You did notice I chose to ignore it. Any answer I might have seems to have nothing to do with the question at hand.