Bypassing the Electoral College State by State

[Ohiogal]

A coalition of states, Colorado being the latest, have produced measures to award all their state’s electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote.

12 states and the District of Columbia have signed onto this measure so far, accounting for 181 electoral votes, 89 shy of the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House.

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/431425-colorado-governor-will-sign-bill-aimed-at-bypassing-electoral-college

[SCantiGOP]

1. Had this been in place

George W Bush and Trump would have never sat in the White House.

[Ohiogal]

2. Oh, don't make me cry!

Seriously, I wonder if this will survive any and all legal challenges.

[sacto95834]

13. not that this helps...

but W did win the popular vote in 2004. wonder if he would have run again had he lost to gore.

[diddlysquat]

3. More the article:

So far, only reliably blue states have joined the compact, including California, Massachusetts, New York and Washington. But red states like Arkansas, Arizona and Oklahoma and purple states like Michigan and North Carolina have passed the measure through at least one legislative chamber controlled by Republicans, giving backers hopes of breaking through with the GOP.

[tritsofme]

4. This is an interesting idea that is doomed to fail.

There is a question about the constitutionality of such interstate compacts not blessed by Congress, but I’ll leave that aside for now.

The pact would be very likely to dissolve the first time it is tested. Let’s suppose that a Republican candidate wins the popular vote by a razor thin margin, but the Democratic candidate sweeps swing states by a similar razor thin margin, winning the traditional electoral vote count.

Assuming a state like California or New York is in the pact, they would have two choices: Allow the pact to move forward and assign their state’s electoral vote to the Republican making him president. Or they could simply walk away from the pact, effectively dissolving it, and allowing the Democrat to become president under the traditional system.

I don’t have to wonder very hard about which side DU would come down on in such a controversy.

[exboyfil]

5. Well said

It is unilateral disarmament. A slightly less odious proposal is how Nebraska and Maine do it now (proportion out the delegates by Congressional district).

[VMA131Marine]

6. But then gerrymandering in Congressional districts becomes a big factor

It doesn't affect Maine and Nebraska that much because they have so few districts. But, in many states, GOP representation far exceeds their proportion of the actual vote.

[exboyfil]

8. Agreed

Take the Senatorial electoral votes away and stay with winner take all by state.

Of course there is always direct election with national standards for voting (the most logical solution).

[pecosbob]

7. A Republican cannot win a national popular vote

so stop with the predictions of doom.

[exboyfil]

9. 2004 - Bush won by 3 million

votes nationally. If Ohio had swung 100k votes, Kerry would have won the election.

[pecosbob]

10. I believe that was because Rs maipulated the vote count in a number of states...

let me rephrase...Rs cannot win a popular national vote with a paper trail...

[pecosbob]

11. At any rate what's to stop any state from simply declaring that their electoral votes will go to the

winner of the national popular vote? Are the states' not the sole determinant of their voting procedures?

[ProfessorPlum]

12. that is, indeed, the strategy behind this plan