Comments on: President Pelosi? Not so fast.

By: steveegg

steveegg — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 17:50:36 +0000

I hope Susan didn’t leave yet, because there’s some history to be taught.

The federal government is a construct of the various states. While the states have (stupidly, in my opinion) reduced their role in the business of the federal government, they have not entirely removed it. For example, each and every state has 2 Senators, regardless of population.

The Electoral College was designed so that no one region, or no one type of citizen, could easily elect the President over the objections of the rest of the nation. I personally disagree with the “statewide winner-take-all” method employed by most of the states, but I see the plan used by Nebraska and Maine as a viable one.

I am not a lawyer, but as I see it, the National Popular Vote method is deficient on at least one front, and quite possibly a second. It is, both in word and in practice, a compact as it does not go into effect until and unless a sufficient number of states ratify it. I seem to recall the Constitution prohibiting compacts between the states without Congressional approval, and I don’t recall Congress authorizing the compact.

If the organization were bolder, it would invite those states to implement it now, without the guarantee of 270 electoral votes. Of course, judging by the states that have ratified the compact, that would involve the possibility of giving the Republican candidate the electoral votes of a state that voted for the Democrat, something I don’t believe either the organization or its supporters have in mind.

That brings me to the second deficiency; the voiding of the will of the people of the various states. The litigation in state courts and ultimately federal courts will be extremely messy.

By: Shoebox

Shoebox — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 02:21:58 +0000

go away Susan. You forget this is a Republic and as such the voting was put together as it is. Banana Republics get to pick thier “President” by having a simple majority of the electorate bought…not so here!

PS, Tell Al he really did lose!

By: susan

susan — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 20:08:23 +0000

Under the National Popular Vote bill, one presidential candidate is guaranteed to get a majority of the nation’s electoral votes. Under the bill, all of the state’s electoral votes would be awarded to the presidential candidate who gets the most popular votes in all 50 states and DC. The legislation would take effect only when enacted, in identical form, by states possessing a majority of the electoral votes (270 of 538). So, the winning candidate will always get at least 270 electoral votes. Therefore will never be a tie in the electoral votes and never be a situation in which no candidate gets a majority of the electoral votes. Hence the election of the President would never be thrown into the U.S. House (with each state casting one vote) and the election of the Vice President would never be thrown into the U.S. Senate.

The National Popular Vote bill has been approved by 20 legislative chambers (one house in Colorado, Arkansas, Maine, Massachusetts, North Carolina, and Washington, and two houses in Maryland, Illinois, Hawaii, California, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Vermont). It has been enacted into law in Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, and Maryland. These states have 50 (19%) of the 270 electoral votes needed to bring this legislation into effect.

See http://www.NationalPopularVote.com

susan

By: TexasFred

TexasFred — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 01:28:24 +0000

Damn shame it can’t be pistols at 20 paces, and a national audience…