[Vision2020] If the Democrats were to gain a majority in the U.S. House and Senate in November . . .

[Ted Moffett]

The clearly anti-democratic in principle current Electoral College system
can be modified without actually "removing" it, which would technically
require a constitutional amendment with a two-thirds vote in both the House
and the Senate and the ratification of three-fourths (38) of the 50
states.  Very, very difficult!

Some have proposed extending proportional allocation of electoral votes
state by state to all states rather than the winner-take-all system most
states adopt.  There are different ways of doing this.
Maine and Nebraska already have a form of proportional allocation.  Some
scholars argue extending proportional allocation to all states does not
violate the constitution.
https://www.nbcnews.com/card/why-do-maine-nebraska-split-their-electoral-votes-n679226
"But Maine and Nebraska are different. Each state doles out their electoral
votes in pieces rather than as a whole, giving two electoral votes to the
winner of the popular vote statewide and then one apiece to the winner in
each congressional district. That effectively gives Democrats the chance to
win one electoral vote out of conservative Nebraska (coming from the
congressional district that contains Omaha), while Republicans have a
decent chance of snagging one electoral vote from the most rural part of
blue-leaning Maine."

Another method, which could end up in the SCOTUS, is the National Popular
Vote Interstate Compact, which while not technically overturning the
Electoral Collage, in effect does just that!:
http://www.projectvote.org/issues/voting-policy/national-popular-vote-interstate-compact/
This faces some of the same political hurdles, though perhaps not as
daunting, as a constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral Collage.

Other proposals are discussed at this website
http://archive.fairvote.org/e_college/reform.htm#bonus

No matter what reform is proposed, very powerful interests who want to
maintain the capability of gaming the "election" of president will
vehemently oppose change that truly offers a more one person one vote
approach.

I'm stating the obvious... Sorry!
--------------------------------------
Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett

On Mon, Mar 5, 2018 at 12:09 PM, Kenneth Marcy <kmmos1 at frontier.com> wrote:

> Since low population states have more per-capita power in the Senate,
> Birdsell's suggested demographic shift is not good news for those who would
> like to remove the Electoral College from the Constitution because low
> population states would have more incentive to vote against the change.  If
> the Electoral College is to be removed, sooner rather than later is
> preferable.
>
>
>
> *Ken*
>
>
>
> On 03/05/2018 10:39 AM, Ron Force wrote:
>
> Since
> ​conviction needs a 2/3rds vote by the senate, Trump has nothing to worry
> about. The rest of us...well...
>
>
>    - 178.4 *180.8* million people are represented by the 48 *49* senators
>    who caucus with the Democrats.
>    - 144.1 *141.7* million people are represented by the 52 *51* senators
>    who caucus with the Republicans.
>
> Buried at the bottom of a recent column
> <https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-variedand-globalthreats-confronting-democracy-1511193763>,
> the Wall Street Journal’s Gerald Seib relayed a nugget of data he’d picked
> up.
>
> “David Birdsell, dean of the school of public and international affairs at
> Baruch College, notes that by 2040, about 70% of Americans are expected to
> live in the 15 largest states,” Seib wrote. “They will have only 30
> senators representing them, while the remaining 30% of Americans will have
> 70 senators representing them.”
>
> ​
>
> On Mar 5, 2018 8:23 AM, "Tom Hansen" <thansen at moscow.com> wrote:
>
>> . . . How soon after they are sworn in (in January) will impeachment
>> proceedings begin?
>>
>> I’m guessin’ that, if the Democrats do gain such a majority,  the U.S.
>> Congress ( for the first time in history) will convene every day through
>> the holiday break, including Christmas day.  Trump won’t be available,
>> though.  He’ll be busy packing his bags for his move to Moscow (the one in
>> Russia).
>>
>> Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .
>>
>> "Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)
>> http://www.MoscowCares.com <http://www.moscowcares.com/>
>>
>> Tom Hansen
>> Moscow, Idaho
>>
>>
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>
>
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