Delaware gov signs bill awarding electoral votes to winner of national popular vote

[livingston]

Delaware gov signs bill awarding electoral votes to winner of national popular vote
Delaware Gov. John Carney

John Charles CarneyDelaware gov signs bill awarding electoral votes to winner of national popular voteDelaware House passes bill to give state's Electoral College votes to popular vote winner Delaware bans gay conversion therapyMORE (D) signed a bill that would give the state's presidential electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote, according to The Associated Press.

In signing the bill, Delaware became the 13th state to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact.


States that belong to the compact would award their electoral votes to whomever wins the popular vote nationally, regardless of the results in those individual states.

With the addition of Delaware, states that belong to the compact hold 184 electoral votes, still well short of the 270 needed for a candidate to ascend to the White House — which is also the threshold at which the pact takes effect.

The compact has so far been adopted by blue states, after Democrats won the popular vote but lost the Electoral College votes in 2000 and 2016.

Opponents of using the popular vote to elect presidents argue it would result in candidates catering to large cities and large states, which tend to have a bigger share of Democratic voters, ignoring smaller or rural areas.

this month voiced his opposition to using the popular vote to elect presidents, tweeting that "campaigning for the Popular Vote is much easier & different than campaigning for the Electoral College."

He added that "Cities would end up running the Country" without the Electoral College and that the current system "is far better for the U.S.A."
Delaware gov signs bill awarding electoral votes to winner of national popular vote

 

[SomeSoldier]

Ummm can they actually do that?

 

[GOYABEAN]

 

[livingston]

The popular vote could decide the 2020 presidential election, if these states get their way
Colorado is set to become the latest member of a group of states banding together to bypass the electoral college system.

The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact — which already has 11 states and the District of Columbia on board — would hand the 2020 presidential election to whoever wins the popular vote. But it would only take effect if states representing at least 270 electoral college votes pass the law.

Under the Constitution, states have the power to determine how they award their electoral votes in national elections. Today, many states have winner-take-all laws, which award all of its electoral votes to the presidential candidate who receives the most votes within the state.

Most states swing either Democrat or Republican, making the winner of a given election in the majority of jurisdictions a foregone conclusion. Candidates don’t need to focus on issues concerning those voters and, as a result, winner-take-all statutes have created a handful of “battleground” states that candidates focus their attention and policies on.


[The Trump campaign loved NDAs. An ex-staffer wants to nullify them with a class action.]

“If candidates are behind in a state, they ignore it because they won’t be able to flip it during a three-month campaign. If they’re ahead in a state, they don’t pay attention because they won’t lose it,” said John R. Koza, chairman of National Popular Vote, a movement advocating state legislation for the compact.

Currently, the compact has 172 electoral votes from the 12 states that have enacted the legislation: Rhode Island, Vermont, Hawaii, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Washington, New Jersey, New York, Illinois, California and the District of Columbia.

Colorado’s House and Senate passed the bill, which is ready for Gov. Jared Polis (D) to sign, bringing the count to 181. New Mexico, whose House has passed the bill, too, is viewed as the next state to join on.


“When we hit 270, all these bills take effect simultaneously. Then there’s a pool of 270 electoral votes that’s going to go to whomever gets the most votes in all 50 states,” Koza added.

[Harry Reid once called George W. Bush the worst president ever. Then Trump came along.]

But not everyone is as hopeful as Koza.

“The problem with the compact is getting another dozen states to sign on,”
states to sign on,” said Reed Hundt, chairman and co-founder of Making Every Vote Count. The remaining states where it may pass are smaller and left-leaning. “Republican states haven’t embraced it yet.”

According to Hundt, who previously served as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, for the first time in American history, in reasonably close, non-landslide elections, 1 in every 3 presidential candidates who wins the popular vote will lose the Electoral College.
Five presidents have taken office without winning the national popular vote, most recently in 2000 and 2016. The 2004 election was also a close call. If Sen. John F. Kerry had 60,000 additional votes in Ohio, he would have won the election, even though President George W. Bush was 3 million votes ahead in the popular vote.

“It didn’t happen between 1888 and 2000; it didn’t happen in the 20th century. Then, there were contests over very many states,” Hundt said, citing the Kennedy-Nixon election, where there was a close margin in about half of the states.


Due to changes in state demographics, elections are now fought in a tiny number of swing states, Hundt said. In the 2012, 2016 and 2020 elections, nearly 40 states, with about 80 percent of the country’s population, were or will be ignored by both candidates, he said.
More at ...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...-states-get-their-way/?utm_term=.2f5066963ce6

 

[prambo]

The article states "...national popular vote". The electoral college is delineated in Article II, Section 1, Clause 2 of the Constitution. Further in the 12th Amendment.

IMHO, and INAL, but all 50 states, DC, PR and anyone else could vote for this and it's a moot point. The states can only change the Constitution via a Constitutional Convention (these may be what the American Nazi Party - AKA DemonRats - are looking for).

And then there's the disenfranchisement argument (actually it's a fact); how can a state unilaterally nullify the votes in their state, of those who voted for the candidate that did NOT win the NATIONAL popular vote?

Sounds patently unconstitutional and illegal to me. Where are the law suits?

As usual, the loons are running loose in the streets, howling at the moon. This country is redefining the meanings of "full retard" and "clusterfuck" on a daily basis.

 

[BDinPutnam]

Ummm can they actually do that?

I'm going to jailhouse lawyer for a second here and please someone tell me I'm wrong.

Yes, they can. Each of those states could change their current state laws and do it now if they wanted to.

 

[SomeSoldier]

Why not just change the law to just always give your electoral votes to the Dems?

 

[Apeman]

I'm going to jailhouse lawyer for a second here and please someone tell me I'm wrong.

Yes, they can. Each of those states could change their current state laws and do it now if they wanted to.

I could be wrong but I don't think they even need to change their state law to allow this.

I read a story on this during the last election. If I remember correctly there is 1 person in each state that casts their electoral ballot after the voting is finalized. That person doesn't have to vote the way the state does. Apparently a couple of these individuals considered going against their states choice but did the right thing in the end.

 

[gun_slinger_boy]

How sweet it would be for Trump to win the popular vote this time around. Then the Dems would be screaming that we need an electoral college!

 

[kev74]

Why not just change the law to just always give your electoral votes to the Dems?

That's what they're trying to do.

 

[Celt]

If this costs an election i could see serious degradation of society happening.

I dont see how they can do this for federal elections.

 

[GOPerfect]

Ummm can they actually do that?

I do not believe this is lawful. I will research this tonight.

 

[Phazer]

They CAN do this. It IS legal.

States decide how to cast their electoral votes. If they want to give all votes to the candidate that wins their state, they can (and usually do). If they want to divide their electoral votes proportionally among candidates based on their state vote totals, they (and some already do). So...they CAN give their electoral votes to the candidate that wins the national popular vote.

This is, still, an end-run around the U.S. constitutionally proscribed electoral college system without amending the constitution.

 

[Steal2B]

SCOTUS could likely intervene if this manipulation subverts the Constitutional basis of the electoral college.

 

[Cooolone]

Not sure how a State can change how the Federal, errr, Presidential election is conducted.

Not sure how a State, can nullify it's citizens votes by assigning them to what occurs in another State!?

Seems to me, that this is an attempt to circumvent the Constitution!

 

[Shadow2]

Only 2 states split the vote Nebraska and Maine its a none issue when all the other states give all electoral to the states winner. How many Republican States signed up for this? I suspect none so its essentially moot. It would be a pisser to see trump win popular and take blue states.

 

[BDinPutnam]

They CAN do this. It IS legal.

States decide how to cast their electoral votes. If they want to give all votes to the candidate that wins their state, they can (and usually do). If they want to divide their electoral votes proportionally among candidates based on their state vote totals, they (and some already do). So...they CAN give their electoral votes to the candidate that wins the national popular vote.

This is, still, an end-run around the U.S. constitutionally proscribed electoral college system without amending the constitution.

How do you figure your last point?

It follows constitutional law, no?

Its fucked up and anti-federalist to deny the (in-state) popular vote in favor of the (national) popular vote, but I'm pretty sure its legal.

 

[Marine Cpl]

It's only a matter of time. Rome will fall.