Let's abolish the Electoral College

[babylonsister]

Let's abolish the Electoral College

Created to protect the slave states, it is championed now by conservatives who fear the power of America's true majority. It's time to ditch the antiquated way we choose presidents.

By Garrett Epps
Pages 1 2


Oct. 12, 2007 | NewsThe California Electoral College Initiative has been exposed for what it is: a Republican plan to steal the 2008 presidential election. The idea was to divvy up the electoral votes of the nation's biggest state by congressional district rather than give all 55 to the statewide winner -- who would almost certainly be a Democrat. But a mysterious $175,000 contribution heightened suspicions that the Rudy Giuliani campaign was behind the initiative, and prompted two key staffers to leave their posts with the group pushing it.

The collapse of the effort seems to represent a Florida-style cooked-election bullet dodged. But our democracy won't be safe until we disarm the weapon intended to fire such bullets.

It's time to abolish the electoral vote system. We should do it now.

Other nostrums only go halfway. Maine and Nebraska already split their electoral votes. Maryland has a law ordering the state's electors to vote for the winner of the nationwide popular vote. Wisely, the legislators also mandated that the law would not take effect until states representing a majority of the nation's electoral vote adopt similar laws. But there are two problems with this approach. First, state laws directing electors how to vote are unconstitutional; and second, they leave in place the skewed distribution of votes in the electoral count, which award disproportionate influence to states with small populations.

Even in 1787, the electoral system was the Framers' single worst idea. As time has passed, it has become less and less defensible. It can't be reformed or tamed. It has to go.

more...

http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2007/10/12/electoral_college/

[bluestateguy]

1. The candidates would spend all their time in big states and big cities

Rural issues and small states would be ignored.

[GeminiProgressive]

2. Didn't

Hillary once say that she wanted the electoral college abolished?

[bluestateguy]

3. Yes

And I would expect that coming from a large state senator.