10-24-2011, 09:55 PM
Ted King wrote:
I'll be sure to link back to this thread if Obama wins the popular vote next year but loses the presidency because of the Electoral College (and that is not at all an unlikely event).
Okay, but this isn't an answer.
davester wrote:
[quote=rjmacs]So, what is the fundamental failure of the Electoral College you wish to remedy? Personally i don't find the case of the 2000 election, by itself, to be a compelling argument for Constitutional amendment. As best i can tell, the Electoral College has generally reflected the will of the people in presidential contests.
The last two sentences are contradictory. The 2000 election clearly did not reflect the will of the majority of the people. The electoral system gave an inordinate amount of power to a small group of people in states with low population densities, enough power to control an election. There is no justification for that. That is a fundamental flaw in the electoral college.
Okay. As i stated above, i don't consider the 2000 election alone to be sufficient grounds for amending the Constitution, but it's okay if we disagree about that. I completely concur that the Electoral College system for presidential elections means that mathematically, individual votes in states with smaller populations have greater weight than those in states with larger ones. However, i don't think this constitutes a grave injustice that merits amending the Constitution. Simply passing the National Popular Vote bill in a sufficient number of states would solve that problem, and is far more achievable than a constitutional amendment.