Colorado governor will sign bill aimed at bypassing Electoral College

The Hill ^ | February 25, 2019

[NobleFree]

But red states like Arkansas, Arizona and Oklahoma [...] have passed the measure through at least one legislative chamber controlled by Republicans

Now, that's worrisome. What were they thinking?

[Lurkinanloomin]

Art. II Sec. 1 also specifies that the President must be a natural born citizen.

Obama is not a natural born citizen.
He was born a British subject and a Kenyan national.
Natural born citizens are naturally citizens because they cannot be anything else and have only ONE nationality.

[NorthMountain]

but this is an agreement with other states for political purposes, and requires the approval of Congress

Good point.

[Sirius Lee]

Way to disenfranchise your entire state CO.

[ConchKarl]

So you have no background in the field of constitutional law. Imagine that

[Valpal1]

States have the power to decide how to apportion their electors either proportionally or winner take all.

I’m not sure if apportioning them to “national popular vote winner” qualifies as a form of winner take all because it does open the possibility that the state could vote by a majority for one candidate while the electors are assigned to a different candidate who won the national popular vote (which isn’t a thing, constitutionally speaking).

There is also the guarantee clause specifying a republican form of government and that may disallow for direct election of the president or a national popular vote unless they amend the constitution.

[Ford4000]

There’s another problem: it encourages Democrat states to allow noncitizens to vote. The more, the better....

[married21]

So, if everybody in your state totally hates the national front-runner, you will negate all their votes and give them to the popular vote winner anyway? Their votes meant nothing? No way!

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Unfortunately, you WILL have to wait until the affected EV’s hit 270, for only then will certain states be negatively affected (and perhaps different ones in each Presidential election) and thus have standing to sue.

[jjotto]

U.S. Constitution - Article 1 Section 10

"No State shall, without the Consent of Congress... enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay."

[NorthMountain]

And your background in Constitutional Law is ...

What?

Do you have anything useful to say?

[Buckeye McFrog]

But the Constitution does basically leave it to the State Legislatures to determine how a state’s EV’s will be cast.
I’m afraid that they just might get away with this.

[Buckeye McFrog]

"No State shall, without the Consent of Congress... enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay."

States are engaged in all kinds of compacts right now. Agreements to respect each other's suspensions of driving or hunting licenses, etc. Here in Pennsylvania we have a tax compact with all surrounding states except New York that says if you live in PA but work in a surrounding state you'll be taxed here (and vice-versa).

If SCOTUS were to invoke this they'd have to toss them all.

[Buckeye McFrog]

Depends on what your definition of the word “republican” is.

And my fear is that John Roberts just might define it as a tax.

[NobleFree]

So the compact is unconstitutional until and unless approved by Congress.

[hanamizu]

Way to disenfranchise your entire state CO.

---

Don’t be silly. CO would only be disenfranchised if a Republican won the popular vote nation-wide and lost in CO, in which case the legislature would rescind the legislation and put those electoral votes in the Democrat column where they belong. The same thing would happen in every red state that is pushing this nonsense. Like California’s Jungle Primary system it is all being done to insure that democrats cannot lose.

[jjotto]

First, many of the agreements DO have Congressional approval, and second, there is case law. Agreements that affect the balance of power between federal and state governments requre Congressional approval.

[ImpBill]

Very true, but the rich and the powerful can spend the money to cover up little issues like birth certificates, eh?

[Political Junkie Too]

It doesn't "bypass the Electoral College" because the state still votes its Electoral College votes.

What it does is bypass the will of Colorado voters.

-PJ

[kaehurowing]

A president “elected” in violation of the Constitution would not be president.