Law Did a court ruling just invalidate the electoral college?

[Strychnine]

"A federal appeals court ruled late Tuesday that presidential electors who cast the actual ballots for president and vice president are free to vote as they wish and cannot be required to follow the results of the popular vote in their states.

The decision could give a single elector the power to decide the outcome of a presidential election — if the popular vote results in an apparent Electoral College tie."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/poli...pick-our-president/ar-AAG8tdZ?ocid=spartanntp

Now I'm no legal Eagle, but if the elector can just vote how they want anyway they feel and ignore what their state/district chooses....

What's the point of even continuing to have the electoral college?

 

[Madmick]

They've always been free to do that. No representative ever has.

 

[Strychnine]

They've always been free to do that. No representative ever has.

Then why do we still have the electoral college? I'm not trying to start any stuff, I'm just trying to understand that if my state goes for President "Doe" by a landslide, my elector can just say..

"Nah mane... I'm voting for Andy Dick".

????

 

[grimballer]

Wasn’t there one of the electors who said he wasn’t gonna give trump his vote?

Don’t remember if he followed through or not

 

[Madmick]

Then why do we still have the electoral college? I'm not trying to start any stuff, I'm just trying to understand that if my state goes for President "Doe" by a landslide, my elector can just say..

"Nah mane... I'm voting for Andy Dick".

????

Because it facilitated easier vote counts when it created as a matter of logistics. It's also another example of where the individual states and geographic majorities are balanced against the raw power of the federal horde; similar to the nature of representation in our bicameral Congress. This is why people love to say that we're a "Republic" instead of a Democracy. Not really, but it's fun to say.

You're going to love the electoral college in a few decades 100x more than you hate it today. I promise. Calm down, and endure this rollicking wave.

 

[PainIsLIfe]

They've always been free to do that. No representative ever has.

They have done it from time to time, even last election. 2016 Faithless Electors:

Colin Powell 3 (WA),
John Kasich 1 (TX),
Ron Paul 1 (TX),
Bernie Sanders 1 (HI),
Faith Spotted Eagle 1 (WA)

 

[PainIsLIfe]

Wasn’t there one of the electors who said he wasn’t gonna give trump his vote?

Don’t remember if he followed through or not

see above. At least 2 didn't give Clinton there vote as well

 

[Farmer Br0wn]

TS utterly apparent desperation to get rid of the Electoral College is bordering on Panic wrestling.

 

[Madmick]

They have done it from time to time, even last election. 2016 Faithless Electors:

Colin Powell 3 (WA),
John Kasich 1 (TX),
Ron Paul 1 (TX),
Bernie Sanders 1 (HI),
Faith Spotted Eagle 1 (WA)

Excuse me, I meant to say they had never altered the outcome of an election, but apparently that is not true (in the case of 1796).

 

[HockeyBjj]

Question I've never been able to find answered

Who picks these electoral voters from each state? Like, who the fuck are they?

 

[Jack V Savage]

Then why do we still have the electoral college?

Because change is hard. I don't think anyone truly thinks it's a good way to decide the presidency, but at any given time there are unprincipled hacks who will defend it because they think it's in their partisan advantage.

The thinking behind it was that Americans wouldn't know much about the presidential candidates, but they would know who they trusted in their areas to make good decisions about it. And the expectation was that there would rarely be a candidate who wins a majority in the electoral college. If there isn't one, the election goes to the House of Representatives (the more-democratic body), which picks among the top three EC vote-getters. So they didn't anticipate parties, but they figured that the EC vote would be like a primary.

If you read through the history, you'll see two main points:

1. It never worked as intended and was poorly conceived from the start; and
2. The apologetics you see today (that it was intended to make only "swing states" matter or whatever) have nothing to do with the thinking behind it.

BTW, fun bit of history that illustrates the disingenuousness of apologists here. If a Democratic candidate ever wins the election without winning the popular vote, the EC is dead.

 

[Strychnine]

TS utterly apparent desperation to get rid of the Electoral College is bordering on Panic wrestling.

You're missing the point with your knee-jerk reaction.

I'm just asking the question, why even have it if the electors can just vote for whomever they want anyway?

 

[PainIsLIfe]

Question I've never been able to find answered

Who picks these electoral voters from each state? Like, who the fuck are they?

Basically the parties pick them

 

[Phr3121]

Presidential electors who cast the actual ballots for president and vice president are free to vote as they wish.

They've always been free to do that.

I'm not even sure why this is news. Like 'MadDildo' said, this has always been the case.
One of the reasons the United States is not a true democracy is because of the Electoral College. The U.S. is a Constitutional Republic. The Electoral College has elected the candidate who received the most popular votes nationwide, except in 4 elections: 1876, 1888, 2000, and 2016. The Electoral College was established by the Founding Fathers and the United States Constitution.

 

[Jack V Savage]

You're missing the point with your knee-jerk reaction.

I'm just asking the question, why even have it if the electors can just vote for whomever they want anyway?

Again, they were expected to play the role that parties do now in winnowing down the candidate field, with the House of Representatives expected to choose among the top 3 EC-voted candidates.

 

[Strychnine]

I'm not even sure why this is news. Like 'MadDildo' said, this has always been the case.
One of the reasons the United States is not a true democracy is because of the Electoral College. The U.S. is a Constitutional Republic. The Electoral College has elected the candidate who received the most popular votes nationwide, except in 4 elections: 1876, 1888, 2000, and 2016. The Electoral College was established by the Founding Fathers and the United States Constitution.

"Sed Lex, Dura Lex."

 

[HockeyBjj]

Basically the parties pick them

Yeah. But how do they pick them? From what pool of people? Which party gets which for each state?

 

[JamesRussler]

More clown world bullshit

 

[godking]

Because change is hard. I don't think anyone truly thinks it's a good way to decide the presidency, but at any given time there are unprincipled hacks who will defend it because they think it's in their partisan advantage.

The thinking behind it was that Americans wouldn't know much about the presidential candidates, but they would know who they trusted in their areas to make good decisions about it. And the expectation was that there would rarely be a candidate who wins a majority in the electoral college. If there isn't one, the election goes to the House of Representatives (the more-democratic body), which picks among the top three EC vote-getters. So they didn't anticipate parties, but they figured that the EC vote would be like a primary.

If you read through the history, you'll see two main points:

1. It never worked as intended and was poorly conceived from the start; and
2. The apologetics you see today (that it was intended to make only "swing states" matter or whatever) have nothing to do with the thinking behind it.

BTW, fun bit of history that illustrates the disingenuousness of apologists here. If a Democratic candidate ever wins the election without winning the popular vote, the EC is dead.

Had The election of 2016 been reversed with Hillary winning the electoral college and Trump the popular vote you would be praising the electoral college as a vital safeguard against demagogues. You are no less partisan then those you decry.

 

[Jack V Savage]

Had The election of 2016 been reversed with Hillary winning the electoral college and Trump the popular vote you would be praising the electoral college as a vital safeguard against demagogues. You are no less partisan then those you decry.

Yeah, this is hypothetical whataboutism, which is even dumber than real whataboutism. I promise you: Not everyone is as lacking in principle as you appear to be.