I already know it’s not right, but I have yet to see any clear case of how this national popular vote initiative somehow violates the federal constitution. I would hope that someone could point out the plain language in the constitution.
The constitution leaves it to the states to decide how they distribute their electors. If a states citizens are foolish enough to give their electors to the winner of the ‘national popular vote’ then they will get what they deserve. And also take into account that there’s no constitutional basis to force an elector to vote for a particular candidate. They could be a faithless elector. I just don’t want to pretend like this national popular vote initiative is somehow unconstitutional. Because while i wish it was, i dont believe it is.
People on "our side" need to pay close attention to this trend. As bad of an idea as it is for our republic, there is nothing unconstitutional about it.
Are there restrictions on who the Electors can vote for?
There is no Constitutional provision or Federal law that requires Electors to vote according to the results of the popular vote in their states. Some states, however, require Electors to cast their votes according to the popular vote. These pledges fall into two categories—Electors bound by state law and those bound by pledges to political parties.
The U.S. Supreme Court has held that the Constitution does not require that Electors be completely free to act as they choose and therefore, political parties may extract pledges from electors to vote for the parties' nominees. Some state laws provide that so-called "faithless Electors" may be subject to fines or may be disqualified for casting an invalid vote and be replaced by a substitute elector. The Supreme Court has not specifically ruled on the question of whether pledges and penalties for failure to vote as pledged may be enforced under the Constitution. No Elector has ever been prosecuted for failing to vote as pledged.
Today, it is rare for Electors to disregard the popular vote by casting their electoral vote for someone other than their party's candidate. Electors generally hold a leadership position in their party or were chosen to recognize years of loyal service to the party. Throughout our history as a nation, more than 99 percent of Electors have voted as pledged.
The National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) has compiled a brief summary of state laws about the various procedures, which vary from state to state, for selecting slates of potential electors and for conducting the meeting of the electors. The document, Summary: State Laws Regarding Presidential Electors, can be downloaded from the resources/elections menu on the NASS website.
https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/electors.html#restrictions