Suit seeks to split Texas 38 electoral votes as part of national fight

[TexasTowelie]

Federal lawsuits filed simultaneously in Texas and three other states are seeking to end the system that awards every electoral vote to the winning presidential candidate in each state.

The lawsuits argue that the winner-take-all system violates voting rights by discarding ballots cast in support of losing candidates in the four states, particularly Democrats in the GOP strongholds of Texas and South Carolina, and Republicans in Democratic California and Massachusetts.

The winner-take-all system — a standard for more than 180 years that is used by almost every state — not only violates the “one person, one vote” principle, but it has turned democracy on its head, allowing presidential candidates to ignore millions of voters while focusing on the handful of competitive “battleground” states where the outcome is not preordained, the lawsuits argue.

It’s not just Lone Star Democrats — “everyone in Texas is being ignored, because Texas just doesn’t matter to the presidential election,” said Lawrence Lessig, a Harvard University law professor who was a leading organizer of the legal effort.

Read more: https://www.mystatesman.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/suit-seeks-split-texas-electoral-votes-part-national-fight/K0lwtWqqeo0x2dazip7tAP/

[mr_lebowski]

1. I ... don't think I want this to be fought over this way ... just certain states? Why? What stops

it from growing into a giant gerrymander situation once the can is opened?

It'd create way-too-much uncertainty wrt the future in my estimation.

[LeftInTX]

3. It would be all states..

The goal is a lower-court decision in one of the four states that can be appealed, providing a shot at the U.S. Supreme Court and a ruling that would force all 48 winner-take-all states to adopt a “fair” system, such as dividing electoral votes according to each candidate’s percentage of the popular vote.

[mr_lebowski]

5. Well, I'm not convinced at all that's necessarily a 'good thing' ...

I'd like to see a well-backed-by-stats paper describing the likely effects of the adoption of such a system.

My gut tells me this change, if implemented, would NOT improve chances of victory for a Democratic POTUS candidate with today's demographics and political leanings.

[PaulX2]

2. 100% Popular Vote

Or bust.

If suit wins dems lose big time.

[flamin lib]

4. That requires a Constitutional Amendment and that's hard to do.

Just look at the ERA.

A SCOTUS decision would have the same effect although it could possibly be reversed someday but how often does that happen?

Take the lower hanging fruit.

[Javaman]

6. good luck...

between gerrymandering, voter suppression, voter poll tax in the form of a required ID, texas knows one thing for sure, how to fix an election.

so for the repuke controlled texas congress and the national repuke powers that be, for this to change would require some crazy kung fu.

I'm not holding my breath.

I live in Austin.

[hoffyburger]

7. Excellent

Getting an opinion on this will be a step in the right direction