Thursday, November 20, 2008

Time to Retire the Electoral College?

http://community.nytimes.com/article/comments/2008/11/20/opinion/20thu1.html?s=1&pg=5

Post #110.
November 20, 2008 9:48 am

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Nothing and nobody should stand between The People and their vote in a democracy. Maybe a significant movement of tectonic plates but certainly not the Electoral College

The Electoral College, each individual within which, has only ONE vote, (the one they and all of us cast on Election Day), gets to vote TWICE, in a show of dominant power over the mass public electorate. In fact the electoral college loomed over the entire primary season as well as the election itself, as electoral college votes were counted state by state to determine the outcome.

Its unsavory beginnings as a holdover from slavery should be really enough to get the electoral college thrown out.

I agree that the U.S. Electoral College should be abolished, but the need for a constitutional amendment, like the battle for the ERA, will mean this will not happen.

If the media continues to throw light on the Electoral College not only before December 15, perhaps there will be enough momentum for an amendment to the Constitution. This constitutional amendment might follow after successful ballot referenda in every state?

Chithra KarunaKaran
http://www.EthicalDemocracy.blogspot.com

— EthicalDemocracy, http://www.EthicalDemocracy.blogspot.com
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November 20, 2008 7:28 am
Nothing and nobody should stand between The People and their vote in a democracy. Maybe a significant movement of tectonic plates but certainly not the Electoral College

The Electoral College, each individual within which, has only ONE vote, (the one they and all of us cast on Election Day), gets to vote TWICE, in a show of dominant power over the mass public electorate. In fact the electoral college loomed over the entire primary season as well as the election itself, as electoral college votes were counted state by state to determine the outcome.

Its unsavory beginnings as a holdover from slavery should be really enough to get the electoral college thrown out.

I agree that the U.S. Electoral College should be abolished, but the need for a constitutional amendment, like the battle for the ERA, will mean this will not happen.

If the media continues to throw light on the Electoral College not only before December 15, perhaps there will be enough momentum for an amendment to the Constitution. This constitutional amendment might follow after successful ballot referenda in every state?

Chithra KarunaKaran
Ethical Democracy As Lived Practice
http://www.EthicalDemocracy.Blogspot.com
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