Posted on 01/16/2007 4:57:38 PM PST by LC HOGHEAD
It runs up against at least three Constitutional challenges. First, it is a de facto abolition of the Electoral College in all but name. It is an intentional end run.
Second, "No State shall... enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State... "
Third, "The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, " which, if its electors are going to a candidate that the state's citizens did not arguably vote for, could be said to be in violation.
That said, the argument is far from a slam dunk. Not something I'd want Ruth Buzzy Ginsberg voting on.
NORTH DAKOTA should look back to the Sen Mundt bill...
Yes.
If more people were aware of just what the EC was, how it worked and why it was introduced
we wouldnt have this discussion every few years.
I didnt even know that the EC even existed until I was in college. Heard it mentioned by a friend, got curious, researched on my own and realized just what a great gift our founding fathers gave us.
If my own curiosity had not gotten the better of me, I would still not be fully aware of what the EC was all about.
Well, our fearless (GOP) leader is promoting democracy around the world. Have you heard him refer to the US as a republic?
Like some of us do now. They do a touch-and-go in Fargo and call it having 'campaigned in the Dakotas'.
Pretty much sums up why the GOP is a rubber check anymore. This moron "republican" doesn't even know what "republic" means. If this movement makes headway, we all are goners.
Just great, now we have devolved to some actually wanting mob rule and tossing individual rights out the window.
You can bet the leftist papers have not carried a word of this. Got help my rep if I can find him.
The bottom line - as we have seen recently - is that those 3-5 Electoral votes in your state can change an election, while 100,000-500,000 votes would have much less effect if a candidate can win California or Texas by 5-10 million votes.
I guess North Dakota republicans just like peace and quiet, because if this movement succeeds, they will never see in their state a presidential candidate again, and never will their interests be protected by a presidential candidate again. Strange.
the media are masters of "Censorship by omission".
Since not many dead people vote up here, it is one way to offset the voting practices of places like Baltimore...
A Republic, if we can keep it, indeed.
Great idea!!! I think the time has come.
1) All voter rolls are purged
2) Every person has to reregister and be fingerprinted
3) Votes will be done by fingerprint and then your voting finger is stamped so it cannot vote for 72 hours.
4) Military will vote by fingerprint.
5) You can vote from anywhere. The vote matches up to your residence, so if you are on a cruise, go to the information kiosk on deck 3, bring up the voting software and vote.
All registrations will be applied to the national census and congress will be reconfigured based on the new census.
Now watch the liberals....
How very true the entire discussion is a result of the poor education that the average citizen receives, particularly concerning American History and government.
Every few people, even the college educated realize how fundamental the Electoral College is to the form of government.
Without the EC we would be like Britain with dozens of small Political Parties running around forming and reforming coalitions.
The Electoral College directly led to the two party system because it forced permanent coalitions to form in order to get the required number of electoral votes to win a Presidential contest.
Do away with the EC and we may end up with the Green Party and the Libertarian Party having a great deal more influence in National affairs than they do today because they are the biggest small players existing now.
But most likely those who are unhappy with the two big parties today will break off from them and join the small parties or form new parties. There will be chaos for a time.
But the government educated majority has never considered these ideas and likely never will.
That would get them into a big hissy fit in a hurry.
The biggest reason I have for opposing the abolishment of the EC is that it would make it TOO easy for an election to be stolen. Currently, cheating in Chicago or St. Louis or Philly is kept within the state's own election and not counted in a national vote. Without the EC it becomes open season for votor fraud - even more than it is now.
True enough, but it is not why the EC was instituted. The purpose of the EC was the same as the provision for Senators to be picked by State legislatures: The President was NOT intended to be answerable to the undifferentiated mass of people, but to the States. And in fact, as late as 1824 there were States which chose their electors in the state legislature, without a popular vote for president at all. It is all a part of the federal design of the republic. The senate and the Presidency were to be responsive to the needs of the several States, only the House was to be a public assembly representing the people directly. Remember, the President was supposed to be much less important than he is today, because he merely presided over a limited federal government which was intended to be much less powerful than it is today.
Excellent points.
Oh, and there are no longer absentee ballots, write ins or provisionals. Everything is done by computer.
Put a voting machine in unemployment offices, nursing homes, post offices, welfare offices, DMV and Aunt Sadie's BBQ Pit. Doesn't matter.
It also gets rid of exit polls.
Since a fingerprint database is the most accurate way to determine who is who, fraud goes out the window.
Now, I know this probably violates every constitutional right we have as well as infringes on our privacy. However, if you want a one person one vote system that covers over 150 million people, this is the only way to do it and do it fairly.
Remember, if the liberals can't cheat, they can't win. Doing this takes the cheating out of the election, and if we did this, I think Republicans would never lose an election again. No Philly, Milwaukee, Seattle, St Louis, Chicago fraud. Take that away and the RATS wouldn't win those states.
No matter, he's still an idiot and poorly educated about the Constitution of the United States.
Stuff like this is more proof that political stupidity isn't limited to Washington.
I'm way past the point of thinking that there are more than a half dozen real statesmen left in National or State governments.
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