----- Original Message -----
From: "Darryl Shannon" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Tuesday, December 19, 2000 5:27 PM
Subject: Electoral Reform
> OK, the electoral college was instituted 200 years ago, when the United
> States were much more like the European Union is now...a collection of
> semi-independent sovreign states who agreed to political union. So the
> Constitution has many guarantees that the large states like Virgina
> (France) and New York (Germany) couldn't unilaterally impose their will
> on the small states like Delaware (Netherlands) and Rhode Island
> (Luxemburg).
>
> So there was a compromise.
>
> But now there is no way to change it. In order for the electoral
> college to be abolished it would take a constitutional amendment. And
> that takes ratification by 2/3 of the house, 2/3 of the senate, and 3/4
> of the state legislatures. Even if you could get 66% of congress to
> vote for it, it would take only 13 holdout state legislatures to block
> it. And since the small states would be cutting their own throats if
> they approved it, getting rid of the electoral college is a dead issue
> before it even starts.
>
> A more possible solution would be for the states to apportion their
> electoral votes instead of "winner-take-all". But, this is controlled
> by the states, Maine and Nebraska do it already. If you really think
> this is unfair, you can get your state legislature to change things,
> but it can only be done on a state-by-state basis. A constitutional
> amendment that changes the balance of power will not happen.
>
I think a close examination of the actual role the Electoral College has
played in previous elections could be informative enough to change many
minds.
It has only differed from the popular vote in a few cases, and only once in
the last century.
As a consequence of the changes in populations over the last two centuries
the EC now disenfranchises voters who live in populous states.
Candidates spend more time courting states with many electoral votes anyway.
The rest is all photo ops.
Television and radio reach almost everyone making the ECs aim somewhat
superfluous.
IMHO most people want to elect the president themselves rather than having
the states elect the president. You do not have a constitutional right to
vote for the president.
EC electors (in most states) are not required by law to vote for the
candidate chosen in their state.
xponent
rob
