[Road Glide]

“If the GOP forces Romney upon us (and no Independent candidate is worthy), there’s a good chance Cain will be my write-in.”

In another life and time, I’ve written about this before, but you CAN’T “write in” the name of a presidential candidate on the ballot and expect to have it taken seriously.

Why not?, you’re thinking.

Being a Freeper, you’re something of a “Constitutionalist”, are you not? If that’s case, who in reality are you casting a ballot for in the presidential election in your state (same rules apply in all fifty states)?

You ARE NOT casting you’re vote for the candidate himself (or herself). Rather, you are voting for a “slate of electors” for that candidate.

This is because the statewide election IS NOT a popular vote contest for a [single person] candidate. If it were, it would be exactly what the left wants (i.e., the abolishment of the electoral college).

Because of the Electoral College, it’s the responsibility for each candidate to submit a slate of electors who are pledged to represent him/her when the Electoral College convenes after the election. So…. when you vote “for a presidential candidate”, you are in truth voting for a group of electors who will later vote for that candidate in the EC.

The only way a “write in vote” for Herman Cain would be a “valid” vote (as disinguished from a throw-away or joke vote) would be if you actually wrote in the names of each and every “elector” for Mr. Cain. And, because there are none, there would be no one to write in.

That’s the way it works, like it or not. You can write in Mickey Mouse, and it would be as “valid” and meaningful a vote as would be a write-in for Mr. Cain, or for Sarah Palin, for that matter. Which is to say, it would be no vote at all.

Which is why I chuckle every time I see a Freeper exclaim that in protest he is going to write in the candidate of his choice instead. It’s meaningless, and worse, it’s totally a waste of time, because the vote has no meaning and CAN’T BE COUNTED.

That’s the way it is, and if we want to keep our Constitution, that’s the way it should stay.

[eastforker]

So true yet sometimes it’s like talking to a brick wall. A write in candidate would be the same as not voting at all. The Palinist and the Caininites are in love with them and feel that a vote for anyone else is an act of disloyalty or some crap. Those are the ones that will help Obama get reelected.

[so_real]

I understand. And I am not an advocate for the popular vote in lieu of the electoral college as I fear pursuing so would polarize candidates to favor the wants of large cities over less densely populated areas. So I will continue to give you chuckles on this board and every other board we share. The bottom line is simple. Neither Romney nor Obama are worthy of my vote; I value it too much to throw it like pearls before swine. So rather than doing so, I will name another on the ballot -- so it may be counted and made public in the tally for all to see. And if enough of us follow suit, the republicans with a shred of intelligence will scratch their heads and wonder what they did to cause such rebellion. And you may well consider me a fool, and when you are done chuckling you may well curse me for costing your candidate the election. I accept your laughter and your barbs. But at the end of the day, you had better learn to choose better candidates. Because if you do not improve your game, I will not help you to win it.