Voting and the Electoral College

[shoot2much]

So, folks. I know this can be a highly controversial topic. With that said, my intent here is NOT to start an opinion battle, but to spark an adult discussion regarding the popular vote and what it means (or doesn't mean) to the actual presidential election.

Anyone heard of the Electoral College? If so, do you know what its purpose is? If so, do you agree that the popular vote means absolutely nothing and is simply a way to spark political drama among the population of our country?

I think my view is decently clear. If I'm wrong, in your opinion, why so?

 

[Marine Cpl]

All I know is that I'm glad there is an electoral college or else NYC, LA, and Chicago will dictate who wins every single time.

 

[shoot2much]

All I know is that I'm glad there is an electoral college or else NYC, LA, and Chicago will dictate who wins every single time.

Do you vote?

 

[Marine Cpl]

Of course.

 

[shoot2much]

Of course.

So do you really know what the electoral college is? I could very well have a very large misunderstanding of the purpose and the function of the EC, but to me it seems that the popular vote doesn't matter...

 

[Marine Cpl]

I don't know the exact specifics but each state is given a certain amount of points to balance things out so they can have equal say.

If that weren't the case, only urban issues would be the only issues that matter and rural issues would always be ignored.

We suffer from that disenfranchisement here in the state level where NYC dictates everything for us.

 

[BerettaGuy]

Put it to you this way. We have 50 States. Each state has representation based on the population of each state.
It is called a republic. If the majority of voters in the state vote for Candidate B then the Representatives of that stated cast their votes for Candidate B in the Electoral vote. So to say the popular vote doesn't matter is both right and WRONG!

50 men on a posse vote whether or not to Hang you for a crime. That is democracy.
Republic's follow a Rule of Law - Democracy is mob rule of the majority.

 

[shoot2much]

Actually, the electors aren't obligated to cast their vote to align with the popular vote, as far as I'm aware. So yes they typically do cast their vote to align with the popular state-level vote, but they can do the opposite.

Faithless Elector: Faithless elector - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[BerettaGuy]

Actually, the electors aren't obligated to cast their vote to align with the popular vote, as far as I'm aware. So yes they typically do cast their vote to align with the popular state-level vote, but they can do the opposite.

Faithless Elector: Faithless elector - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You are correct, but there would be hell to pay for such an action I think.

 

[dsdmmat]

Actually, the electors aren't obligated to cast their vote to align with the popular vote, as far as I'm aware. So yes they typically do cast their vote to align with the popular state-level vote, but they can do the opposite.

Faithless Elector: Faithless elector - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If I am not mistaken, some states have electorial college vote is bound by law to the popular vote. Some even split their EC votes by percentage of the popular vote. It would be nice if all of them did that. Then you would not have 6-10 states deciding the outcome all the time.

 

[BerettaGuy]

Here is the bottom line: If the election is close and lets say that Clinton wins the Electoral Votes then the electoral system will be hailed as genius by her media allies. Lets say she wins the populous vote but the Electoral votes go to Trump, then the media will start bitching about the Electoral system.
The dead are already voting in early and absentee voting states.
Either don't vote and let others decide your future or simply vote and really piss off the other side.

 

[Eddie Gunks]

I thought I did not like the EC.

But in the last New York governor election changed my mind. If every county had a representative that voted for the governor in New York , cum hole would never won. He only won because of the popular vote, from the big major cities in a few outlying counties.

 

[shoot2much]

Call me a naysayer, but in my opinion, anyone who thinks their vote matters is sadly mistaken. Again, my opinion. I am not personally attacking anyone and you're of course free to disagree.

 

[tirwin1]

The founders feared a mob mentality. That's why we have the system of checks and balances. For example two legislative bodies - the senate and the house of representatives. Every member of the house is up for election every 2 years. Senators have a 6 year term - a longer horizon to check against sudden changes.

The electoral college is based on the same principle of checks and balances. In practice we don't vote for candidates but for the electors pledged to the candidates. In theory if the members of the electoral college got together the night before the actual vote, had a drunken bender and all voted for some guy off the street the results would be legal. There would be hell to pay, but the results would be legal. Because the electors tend to be long term party loyalists the chances of them going off the reservation are very remote.

There have been all sorts of ideas about what would happen if the winning candidate or both the winner and his/her VP died in between the vote in november and the meeting of the electoral college. Thus far it's all been speculation. In my mind the greater risk in this day and age is blackmail. What happens if the NSA decides to collect every last thing about each elector and then blackmail them to vote a certain way. There are only 538 electors, not much of a problem for a large intelligence agency to keep track of. There were rumors that supreme court chief justice John Roberts was blackmailed before the famous vote on the legitimacy of obamacare. Nothing was ever proven and the rumors gained validity because his vote in favor of obamacare seemed to be at odds with what was known about his views of government. You never know. Gotta go readjust my tinfoil hat.