Apparently not! It would just require enough state legislatures from states with a total of 270 electoral votes to agree to this system. 11 states with 165 electoral votes are on board so far, so that means we still need 105 electoral votes’ worth of states to make it happen.
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Interesting. I did not know that. I stand corrected.
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I didn’t either until today. Still a tall order (the states with disproportionate influence in elections aren’t going to be very eager to get on board) but more doable than an Amendment.
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We only dislike the electoral college when it works against us. The EC has protected us a few times. The problem is that the popular vote can also elect arseholes. One just has to get a sufficient number of people riled up enough to send them to the voting booth. The biggest challenge is that so few people choose to vote, and these days more reactionaries than well-meaning liberals get off their cans and fill out a ballot.
No, I would rather everyone’s vote count and end up with presidents I don’t personally support, than allow a few states to choose the president irrespective of the will of the rest of the people.
The flaw in thinking that a corrupt system is good when it selects leaders we agree with, is that there is no reason it will work in your favor more often than a democratic system, and it therefore is not an argument against a democratic system of selection.
I am not a fair-weather-friend of democracy.
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My quote was intended to be a representation of what Trump’s reaction would be.
He seems to be the kind of person who settles an argument by shouting “Are you the President?! No?! Then shut up!!”
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I don’t dislike the electoral college, but I think regions should be broken up more within the state. I also think congressional districts should be as geometrically consistent as possible, voter registration should be automatic, and states should be required to use hand counted ballots by mail.
EDIT
I should mention I’m not opposed to a popular vote, but I do like giving more voice to rural areas even if I don’t like what they have to say.
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No. It’s an affront to democracy. Just like first past the post elections. They are not fit for purpose any more.
In 1824?
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The only example of “thank goodness the guy who won the popular vote didn’t win the election” I can think of is John Quincy Adams beating Andrew Jackson in the election of 1824, and even that only delayed Jackson’s Presidency by four years.
Edit: @daneel beat me to it.
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Given his megalomania complex, I’d be surprised if there isn’t an executive order in the first 100 days to DOUBLE, no TRIPLE the amount of hanging pictures in Federal buildings. Maybe also to put The Orange One (pbuh) betwixt the framed photos of Washington and Lincoln, just because.
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I’d think if you did that (which is a great idea), there would be violence from his supporters aimed at protesters.
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I also think these sorts of “anti-democratic” mechanisms contributes to people not feeling like voting matters.
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So… why protest in SF? We didn’t vote for Trump. Try protesting in rural Pennsylvania or Wisconsin.
That’s a really “punchably smug” photo, even by Trump standards.
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However this thing goes… meats and vegetables stand to cost a lot more next year.
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I like the cut of your jib.
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This is encouraging. I need to hear more of this kind of stuff.
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That hit the spot!
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That’s what I was going for.
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