Democratic elector in WA intends to be a faithless elector

[KingsGambit]

...and he says that others are considering joining him.

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-...e-for-clinton/

It remains to be seen whether he'll actually follow through, but given that this guy was reached while protesting at Standing Rock, he may well be serious.

[Starlight]

I'm fairly sympathetic to his cause so long as he doesn't actually turn out to be the swing vote in the election (obviously he himself will be able to tell that before he casts his vote).

Basically everyone agrees that the electoral college is a stupid system, which distorts politics in favor of certain 'swing' states and wastes money via an unnecessarily complex process of having the electoral college. A catalyst for real and meaningful reform is generally someone bringing to the public's attention an indisputable problem with the system. So I am cautiously optimistic that his actions might lead to genuine change for the better in the US electoral system, either by a constitutional amendment to remove the electoral college and replace it simply with the popular vote, or cause another 5 or so states to sign on to the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact thus circumventing the constitution by leaving the electoral college in tact but selecting electors based on the popular vote.

[demi-conservative]

Democratic elector in WA intends to be a faithless elector...and he says that others are considering joining him.

Why not??

'This is republic, not democracy', right???

[Cow Poke]

[Mountain Man]

Basically everyone agrees that the electoral college is a stupid system...

No, everyone does NOT agree with that, dumbass. The only people who agree are clueless morons who don't understand why the electoral college was instituted in the first place. The system as it stands today could use some tweaking (get rid of the gerrymandering that has locked some states into one party or another), but it's still vastly superior to the mob-rule of a straight popular vote.

Seriously, I get so tired of hearing somene as ignorant as you prattle on about US politics.

[Roy]

No, everyone does NOT agree with that, dumbass. The only people who agree are clueless morons who don't understand why the electoral college was instituted in the first place. The system as it stands today could use some tweaking (get rid of the gerrymandering that has locked some states into one party or another), but it's still vastly superior to the mob-rule of a straight popular vote.

It can't be "vastly superior" if it almost always produces the same result.

[Mountain Man]

It can't be "vastly superior" if it almost always produces the same result.

Add I say, the problem is with gerrymandering in certain states and not with the electoral college system in and of itself.

[robrecht]

No, everyone does NOT agree with that, dumbass. The only people who agree are clueless morons who don't understand why the electoral college was instituted in the first place. The system as it stands today could use some tweaking (get rid of the gerrymandering that has locked some states into one party or another), but it's still vastly superior to the mob-rule of a straight popular vote.

Seriously, I get so tired of hearing somene as ignorant as you prattle on about US politics.

Gerrymandering is a problem in congressional elections, and the number of electoral votes for each state is, in part, related to the number of congressional districts in each state, but gerrymandering does not in any way affect the results of the electoral college vote in presidential elections. That is determined simply by the majority vote in each state. But because the number of electors for each state in the electoral college also includes an additional two votes, modeled after two senators for each state, this gives less populous states a disproportionate say in national elections compared with more populous states. Republicans would not want to give up this bias in favor of the typically Republican, less populous states.

[Mountain Man]

...this gives less populous states a disproportionate say in national elections compared with more populous states.

That's the entire point.

Otherwise large urban centers would rule every presidential election, and you'd end up with something like the state of Illinois where Governor Quinn won by popular vote despite carrying a mere 3 counties out of 102. Our Founding Fathers had the wisdom to create a system where the president couldn't just ignore "flyover country".

[robrecht]

That's the entire point.

Otherwise large urban centers would rule every presidential election, and you'd end up with something like the state of Illinois where Governor Quinn won by popular vote despite carrying a mere 3 counties out of 102. Our Founding Fathers had the wisdom to create a system where the president couldn't just ignore "flyover country".

By the way, that was not my entire point. I was correcting your point about gerrymandering.

[JimL]

Add I say, the problem is with gerrymandering in certain states and not with the electoral college system in and of itself.

If you think that gerrymandering has anything to do with the electoral college and presidential elections, then you shouldn't be calling anyone else ignorant clueless morons when it comes to U.S politics. You can't gerrymander a state.

[Mountain Man]

If you think that gerrymandering has anything to do with the electoral college and presidential elections, then you shouldn't be calling anyone else ignorant clueless morons when it comes to U.S politics. You can't gerrymander a state.

Seriously, man, if you really believe this then you're an even bigger fool than I thought. Like media polls, gerrymandering may not directly alter presidential elections, but it can be effectively used as a tool of voter suppression and to discourage one party or another from turning out.

[shunyadragon]

Seriously, man, if you really believe this then you're an even bigger fool than I thought. Like media polls, gerrymandering may not directly alter presidential elections, but it can be effectively used as a tool of voter suppression and to discourage one party or another from turning out.

Like the race based gerrymandering implemented by Republicans in North Carolina to segregate black, and found unconstitutional by the Supreme Court for this reason.

[Mountain Man]

Like the race based gerrymandering implemented by Republicans in North Carolina to segregate black, and found unconstitutional by the Supreme Court for this reason.

You will notice I didn't place the blame on either party, but they're both guilty of it.

[KingsGambit]

As it is now, almost all states in the Midwest and the South can be safely ignored because they're solidly red already