What would happen if the EC voted for Hillary?

[gulliver]

Say enough of the Republican electors switch to Clinton to give her 270. Then the only problem with her becoming President as I understand it is that the Republicans in Congress could toss the votes of the faithless electors, taking her back below 270. The House of Representatives then has to pick the President, because no candidate would have a majority. Since most state delegations are Republican, the Republicans would then be able to pick whoever they wanted from the three top vote getters (Clinton, Trump, and other).

Even if Clinton loses, that's still seems worth doing. It forces the Republican Congress to go on the record as picking Trump for President in spite of both the popular vote and the Electoral College rejecting him.

http://www.businessinsider.com/can-the-electoral-college-make-hillary-clinton-president-instead-trump-how-2016-11
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_party_strength_in_U.S._states#Presidential_election_results_and_congressional_delegations

[roamer65]

1. I agree. It needs to be forced to the House of Reps.

They need to own putting Dump in office.

Also, remember we may not have Pence as VP from this scenario. The senate just may well choose Tim Kaine over Pence the Dense, since the senate selects the VP.

[etherealtruth]

2. Chaos would likely ensue

I despise the EC ... I despise the fact that votes and voters are not equally weighted, I despise that a candidate can win the popular vote by millions and still lose ... I despise the fact the EC does not represent the will of the people .... with all that said it is the system currently in place and should be honored until it is changed.

I cannot imagine despising a pres-elect more or believing that the PE is an ignorant sociopathic (psychopathic) buffoon, but you don't change the rules at the end of the game

[shadowrider]

7. The popular vote

New York for Hillary (winning margin of votes) - 1,509,506

http://www.nytimes.com/elections/results/new-york

California for Hillary (winning margin of votes) - 3,446,281

Total - 4,955,787

http://www.politico.com/2016-election/results/map/president

Subtract those two totals from the vote, and Hillary lost the other 48 states by approximately 2.5 million.

The electoral college guards against this. I don't like it any more than you do but I really don't want two states to dictate who the President is going to be, especially when that count can be used against us at some point in the future, much like the "nuclear option" will now be used. I didn't like it then, and I freakin hate it now.

[etherealtruth]

10. Clinton won the popular vote in the US and US terrtories by Approx 2.5 million votes

The people of the US spoke ... the EC is deeply flawed and prevents the democratic will of the people ... by design the EC gives uneven weight to votes and voters. it is an antiquated system that does not provide a democratic republic ... as the voices of the people are not even remotely equal.

It almost seem that you are implying that people living in population centers should not have as much input into our governance as people in rural areas. Are you seriously stating that residents votes should not be equal? That the worth a citizens in one area should be worth less than those in another?

As is projected the electoral vote has the potential to go against the will of the people by larger and larger margins.

Would you be supportive of a candidate winning 5 million more votes than the winner of the electoral college? 10 million?

[shadowrider]

12. The electoral college

and presidential vote, is not based on a "national vote".

It is 50 separate and distinct elections, plus the District of Columbia, based on a state by state basis. That's in the constitution. Each state votes for President.

Tell me, if the situation were reversed and Trump won the national vote, but hillary won the electoral college, would you still be against it?

I think not.

It's not my choice, but it's what we have. Until it's changed by constitutional amendment, it's what we have to live by.

I'm not arguing with you.

[etherealtruth]

15. My original post clearly stated that its the system we have and that changing the rules at the end..

... of the game was not fair or desirable.

We have more options that a constitutional amendment. The passage of the National Popular Vote Compact would effectively relegate the EC to a ceremonial status

I have been against the EC since I could vote. My candidate will win sometimes and will lose sometimes ... I accept and support that as I am more inclined to respect the will of the citizenry if it is indeed the will.

We need to p pretending that we have a democratic republic if we do not weight the votes of the people equally .

I would be unhappy if the situation were reversed (despise tRump and believe he is an incompetent ignorant sociopathic buffoon) ....but I believe the will of the people and a true democratic republic should be in place.

The last time the number of electors was updated (and made to be more reflective of the population) as in 1911 ... it does not reflect modern populations or votes.

[trof]

17. No, it's not based on a national popular vote. But it should be.

The EC came about because slaves got to count for 3/5ths of a 'human' in Virginia.
Look it up.
It's a racist and grossly outmoded system of electing a national executive.

[Bettie]

18. Actually, before the election

I was afraid of that very thing, because it would not be OK to have the person with the most votes not become president.

Right now, states with very small populations have much more power to decide nearly everything over states that have both more population and which produce more of our GDP.

[Aristus]

25. It's not supposed to go to the other extreme, though.

They voted for Trump out in, say, Wyoming, where nobody lives. And they voted for Hillary Clinton in New York and California, where everybody lives.

Still Trump walks away with the office? That's not right, either.

[rzemanfl]

26. You would rather have under 80,000 people in THREE STATES

decide to give us Trumpanus? WTF? (With all due respect).

[shadowrider]

28. I never said I agree with it.

I said it's the system we have and have to live with for good or bad.

[rzemanfl]

29. "I really don't want two states to dictate who the President is going to be...."

The fact is that under 80,000 voters in three states gave us Orange Julius Caesar. I guess you're saying that if New York and California went bat shit crazy it would be a problem. I would rather take my chances with that possibility than have a fascist shoved down our throats by a few people in Upper Trumpist Dumbfuckistan.

[shadowrider]

30. It's a topic worth of discussion n/t

[hrmjustin]

3. The EC delegates from MI, WI, and PA are not going to vote for Hillary.

These are Republicans who are not going to go en masse to a Democrat.

[gulliver]

5. Ok, so maybe they vote "their conscience" for Romney

I think that would probably get Romney the presidency, right?

[hrmjustin]

9. What makes you think 50 or so loyal Republican electors will abandon Trump?

They gave no indication of that!

[gulliver]

11. He's got to be making some of them nervous.

Maybe some of the Republican electors are starting to see their kids dying of radiation sickness as a little more possible than they would like. It's a long shot, of course. I don't know if Trump really counts as a Republican to a lot of Republicans.

[hrmjustin]

13. I can see maybe 5-10 but he has 306 votes and he needs 270.

Heartbreaking!

But to play out the thought if enough voted for some other person that no one got the 270 the top three electoral college finishers are voted on by the congress. The GOP congress will not defy their base. Trump would win.

[gulliver]

16. I wonder if these "victory laps" aren't more about keeping the sale.

The closer we get to the 19th, the more Trump could reveal himself as a nut and a liar who "cheated" his base. You are right. For the Republicans to vote in Pence (probably not Romney), they would have to sell folks on the switch. I would rather have Pence than Trump.

[hrmjustin]

20. I think you are right about these rallies.

[Calista241]

21. Those 5-10 will be made examples of as well.

The Republican party will not be kind to those electors that do not toe the line.

[hrmjustin]

22. I think you are right.

[Bettie]

19. They're republicans

they will blindly vote for their guy, because joining that party means abandoning any semblance of ethical behavior, conscience, or humanity.

This is what the groper has given us, a clear view of how absolutely morally bankrupt they really are.

[Aviation Pro]

4. Will not happen....

...ECs are chosen for party loyalty. Getting one's hopes up for what is the opposite of the inevitable is a surefire way to continue feeling depressed. Focus on the fight ahead not the battlefield behind.

[gulliver]

14. My hopes aren't up.

Believe me. I just want to see everything possible done to allow the American people to see that Trump is a mistake and to know that most of the American people think so.

[briv1016]

6. Another civil war.

In the extremely unlikely event that it is overturned, we are at best looking at another civil war. Though compared to the likelihood of WW3 with Donald...

[Calista241]

23. I seriously doubt it.

What i took most from this election was that people are more focused on work and jobs. They have no time for a revolt or internal armed conflict.

[briv1016]

24. The extreme rise in hate crimes would suggest otherwise.

The left and middle have family and jobs as there primary focus, but the hateful right has all the time in the world. All they would need is a spark, and a flip in the EC would do it. Obviously we won't see a conventional war with battlefields, instead you would see bombings, assassinations and attacks on soft (civilian) targets. Similar to the middle east wars.

[madokie]

8. our best hope as a country is tRump

not ascending to the oval office

[MichMan]

27. Do you think any Hillary electors could defect and vote for Bernie?

If it looks like there are few if any defections in the Trump states, do you think some of the electors in states that Hillary won will vote for Bernie instead to make a statement?