The Electoral College People" (I.E., the "Popular" Vote) Is Intended to Be Represented by the Legislative Branch Via the House of Representatives
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
The Electoral College people" (i.e., the "popular" vote) is intended to be represented by the Legislative Branch via the House of Representatives. by Darren Hamilton Unfortunately, our culture has - more and more - turned almost everything into a popularity contest with the race for President There have been a lot of being the penultimate challenge. But that's beside the point. complaints about the Electoral College over the past few What is also unfortunate is that the selection of electors - and decades. Those complaints how to apportion them - was left to the individual states to typically die down after each decide (this point will become important in a few moments). Presidential election cycle, but You probably remember that each state has the same count of always seem to be resurrected electors as they have members in Congress (both every four years. Those Representatives and Senators). The original idea of the complaints range from "it's Electoral College was that each congressional district would too complex" (it really isn't) to select an elector that represented the Presidential candidate "it doesn't represent the that won the vote IN THEIR DISTRICT, with two "at large" popular vote" (it did once, a electors casting their electoral votes for the candidate who won long time ago) and, my the state as a whole. The idea here is that the election of the personal favorite, "it doesn't president (as a federal administrator) would be a reflection of allow for the possibility of a third-party candidate to win" (it BOTH "the will of the people" and "the will of the state" (as would if we could make a few minor adjustments). an individual entity). This system worked pretty well for about 30 years. However, around 1820-1830, political party bigwigs in some of the northern states realized that they could give an advantage to their party's candidate if they instituted a "winner-take-all" strategy of awarding their electoral votes, Electoral votes allocated to each state and to the i.e., whoever won the state would be granted District of Columbia for the 2012, 2016 and 2020 ALL of that state's presidential elections, based on populations from the electoral votes. And 2010 Census (Total: 538) since the awarding and apportionment of Some background: the SOLE purpose of the Electoral College electors was left to the is to select the heads of the Executive Branch, the president states to decide, the and vice-president. There is no other reason for its existence, only thing that these political bigwigs had to do was pass a and it has no other effect in ANY area of government. Within state law in a few of the more populated states to guarantee the Constitution, by design, the president is intended to be that their candidate would become president. The remaining simply an administrator of the federal government, and is states, realizing that one state awarding all of its electoral intended to be directly responsible to the collection of states votes to a candidate could swing the election away from (as individual entities), NOT to the people. The "will of the THEIR chosen candidate, followed suit to try to balance out Page 1 Libertarian Party of Dallas County, Texas September 2020 the electoral vote count from one of the more populous states campaign for the seat. This not only effectively eliminates any (like New York) with several less populous states (like possibility of a third-party candidate acceding to the seat, but Virginia and both Carolinas). also serves to perpetuate political power into the current two- party system. By eliminating the 270 vote threshold, the Let me cite an example using 2016 election information. candidate who accumulates the greatest number of votes after Currently, Virginia has 13 electoral votes, meaning that they all of the votes are tallied would be declared the winner. If have 11 congressional district votes plus 2 "at large" state there is a tie for the top vote-receiver, then the current rules votes. In 2016, Donald Trump won 6 of those 11 congressional could be applied: the tickets of the top three vote-receivers districts (almost a tie). If the electoral votes had been awarded would be sent to the House of Representatives who would by who won the district, Trump would have received 8 vote until one ticket came out as the clear winner. electoral votes (6 districts plus the 2 "at large" for winning the state), and Hillary Clinton would have received 5 electoral The Electoral College is actually a pretty well-designed votes. That may not seem like a lot, but those few districts that system, but it isn't perfect and a lot of people realize that. voted Clinton MIGHT have ended up swinging the total However, because of how it was set up and has been electoral college tally to the Democrats. This is the kind of implemented, the cost of trying to change it (or abolish it - an thinking that those political bigwigs had back in the 1820s. idea with which I DON'T agree) seems nearly insurmountable, And as a political party bigwig, you don't really care too much but it's not impossible, and a couple of simple reforms would about disenfranchising some of your state's voters as long as address most of the issues presented against it. you can guarantee that your candidate wins and "the will of the people" be damned! That's kind of where we are now. Because of the "winner-take- LPDC Membership Program! all" system of awarding electoral votes, conservative voters in states like California and liberal voters in states like Texas, as Want to help out the LPDC and at the same time get some well as independent and third-party voters all over the country cool libertarian swag? Check out our contributor have become disenfranchised. Believing that their votes don't membership program! matter, many of them are likely to stay home on election day and not vote at all. From Suffrage to Sublime by Amber Jewell In 1814, the first convention for women’s rights was held in Seneca Falls, New York. 68 women and 32 men signed a “Declaration of Sentiments” which demanded that women receive the right to vote. This year marks 100 As a candidate, I have two relatively simple ideas about years since the first reforming the Electoral College that I believe would address women were legally most of the issues presented against it. First, return the able to vote in the distribution of electoral votes back to the congressional district United States, though model. Two states have already done that (Maine and the removal of Nebraska). Returning the electoral vote distribution to a discrimination for voting based on “race, color, or national representative vote based on congressional districts would go origin” did not come until 1965. a long way to address the disenfranchisement felt by a large majority of voters all over the country. Because of this centennial occasion, it thrills me that our own Libertarian presidential candidate, Jo Jorgensen, is female. And second, eliminate the 270 electoral votes to win This country has come a long way since 1814 with women threshold. Requiring 270 electoral votes (50.4%) to win the becoming more involved in political matters and even running presidency presumes, on its face, that only two candidates can for positions both big and small. The backing received by Page 2 Libertarian Party of Dallas County, Texas September 2020 Jorgensen has been just as encouraging. Some people don’t see a difference in her being a woman and are standing by her side. Others clearly see and acknowledge her gender and support her anyway. Social Media Committee! Are you a social media guru? Do you enjoy being on the computer and/or smartphone constantly, checking in on what people are saying, and making tons of posts of all types? Want to help promote libertarianism and our county party events? Help us with a Social Media Committee! We need people interested in social media leadership for our county Libertarian party to help with regular posts and cross-platform organization. Help direct our social presence online, and have a hand in the party's messaging! Interested? Send an e-mail to the LPDC Chair! Yet we still live in a time of discrimination, sexual harassment, and judgement. Particularly for women in politics, our voices Where Are All the Libertarian Women? are often silenced. We are told that we’re not enough – not Right Where They’ve Always Been! smart enough, not involved enough, not loud enough, not quiet enough, not good enough. Our ideas are shushed and by Garry Reed leadership roles are denied. Some even still lay claim that a A question that has been woman will never be fit as president because she will lose all hanging around on social control during “that time of the month” – an asinine thought, media for several years has to say the least. been “Where are all the libertarian women?” with no real meaningful answers. A scan of Google searches shows that this was a big question in 2013 or so all the way up to 2017 and then practically disappears from the social media menu. Other than reporting that Jo Jorgensen is the first woman nominated to run for president on the Libertarian Party ticket in 2020 the question of “Where are all the libertarian Jo Jorgensen, 2020 LP Presidential Candidate women?” seems no longer to be an important question. So does that mean there is now parity or near-parity of male and female libertarians? This November, keep in mind that women in power do not have to be a threat.