This just in:
Newsflash: We do not live in a Democracy! So, please stop complaining that we don't run our government like one. The government that was established by our founding fathers is a Representational Republic. We vote for representatives who vote on our behalf. This is true for the appointing of judges, passing of laws, and electing of Presidents. The "hiatus-ed" lead singer for System of a Down, Serj Tankian, has set up a website calling for the abolition of the electoral college saying that when the popular vote is "overruled" by the electoral college "that's not a Democracy." Well, Mr. Tankian, you are absolutely right. It's not a Democracy. Truth be told: I don't have time to vote on every bill, every law, and every budget. I'm glad we don't live in a Democracy. With just a hint of hyperbole, this is akin to saying "Why do we have a Congress balancing what the President does? That's not a Dictatorship!" So, please write this down: The government of the United States of America is a Representative Republic!
Newsflash: The electoral college was not "a convenient way of reversing the popular votes of earlier immigrant settlers who were in lots of cases indentured servants and laborers" as Mr. Tankian's website claims. Our forefathers reversed the votes of such people by simply making it a law that one had to be a white male land-owner in order to cast a vote. (All non-land-owning white males had the vote by 1850, African Americans legally in 1870 but not without discrimination until 1965, women got the vote in 1920, Native Americans were allowed citizenship and the vote in 1924, and residents of DC were finally allowed to vote in Presidential Elections in 1961.). So when the electoral college was designed only 10%-18% of the US population could vote! The electoral college was instituted to give fair election power to smaller states as well as larger so that Virginia, New York, and Pennsylvania (at the time; Texas and California now) didn't pick the President every four years. The hurdles put in place to prevent the immigrants from voting were literacy tests (first put in place by those wonderfully tolerant states of CT and MA in 1855 and 1857 respectively). The electoral college is a useful and brilliant solution to the debate that raged during the construction of the Constitution. Some signers wanted the popular election to decide who resided in the Oval Office (which is an anachronism because there was no Oval Office when they were debating this.) Others wanted only the State Legislatures to cast their vote. How upset would we be if the latter won? This call for the abolition of the electoral college is simply because people feel that their vote didn't count. It doesn't matter what method we use, a large number of voters will feel that they cast their vote to the wind because their candidate didn't win.
This was originally going to be a multi-subject post but after checking Mr. Tankian's website I couldn't let him spew his false information. Thanks for reading!
2 comments:
No one is asking you to vote on every bill and every law. That is what our congressional representatives are there to do. But we ought to vote for the president, and when we do, the result ought to reflect the popular vote. You said yourself that we'd all be upstate if the legislature decided who became president.
The way the electoral college works now is a result of states trying to maximize their influence by using a winner-take-all means of allocating their electoral votes. The result is a race to the bottom in which only battleground states matter.
Safe states like Massachusetts have no impact on the campaign process nor on the election outcome. We get no campaign visits or ads and our electoral votes are taken for granted.
Instituting a national popular vote would make everyone's vote count equally. It would make our votes in Massachusetts just as important as those in Ohio and in other swing states.
Thanks, Laura.
A "republican" form of government means that the voters do not make laws themselves but, instead, delegate the job to periodically elected officials (Congressmen, Senators, and the President). The United States has a "republican" form of government regardless of whether popular votes for presidential electors are tallied at the state-level (as is currently the case in 48 states) or at district-level (as is currently the case in Maine and Nebraska) or at 50-state-level (as under the National Popular Vote bill).
If a "republican" form of government means that the presidential electors exercise independent judgment (like the College of Cardinals that elects the Pope), we have had a "democratic" method of electing presidential electors since 1796 (the first contested presidential election). Ever since 1796, presidential candidates have been nominated by a central authority (originally congressional caucuses, and now party conventions) and electors are reliable rubberstamps for the voters of the district or state that elected them.
The National Popular Vote bill would guarantee the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states (and DC). The bill would take effect only when enacted, in identical form, by states possessing a majority of the electoral votes—that is, enough electoral votes to elect a President (270 of 538). When the bill comes into effect, all the electoral votes from those states would be awarded to the presidential candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states (and DC).
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.
To be involved in the National Popular Vote bill effort . . .
Check the status of the bill in your state at http://www.NationalPopularVote.com/pages/statesactivity.php
If it's still in play in your state, let your legislator(s) know what you think. If you need help to identify and/or contact your state representatives, senators, and/or governor about National Popular Vote, you can search by your zip code using online sites such as http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home .
Sign up to get email updates - http://www.NationalPopularVote.com/pages/getemailupdates.php
Help get the word out and show your support.
Tell a friend- http://www.NationalPopularVote.com/pages/tellafriend.php
Distribute literature at political, civic, or other meeting, convention, or conference.
Post on discussion groups.
Write letters to editors, OpEds, and/or blog.
Responses to many common misinformed critiques are at http://nationalpopularvote.com/pages/faq.php
Up-to-date information and materials are at http://www.NationalPopularVote.com/pages/explanation.php
Post a Comment