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States Fighting Electoral College

States Fighting Electoral College

Submitted by politicalWinters on Fri, 06/13/2008 - 7:54am.

  Some states are moving to ensure future presidents are elected by winning a majority of the popular vote, and basically bypassing the Electoral College.

  Maryland is the latest to take up the cause, which would mandate that all its state electoral votes be assigned to the candidate who wins the country's popular vote. The plan is known as a "national popular vote compact."

  At least seven other states have passed or are considering similar bills.

  Quote: These bills do nothing on their own and would take effect only when states that collectively have at least 270 electoral votes pass identical measures, since a candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win the presidency.

Anonymous

LM   It's about

Submitted by LM on Fri, 06/13/2008 - 4:45pm.

LM

 

It's about time!!!!!

 

wjones

Protecting the minority

Submitted by wjones on Fri, 06/13/2008 - 9:52am.

The Electoral College was designed to protect the minority from having its voice swamped by the majority. It primarily protects small states, but it also has the effect of safeguarding against the Northeast and West Coast from dominating presidential elections.

The states with the largest populations already get the most seats in the House of Representatives. If they also controlled presidential power, how much attention would the concerns of the Farm Belt or the Southeast garner in Washington?

Walter Jones is the director of Morris News Service and has been covering politics since 1998.

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