[EL] Electoral college

[Lonna Atkeson]

Of course there’s the national popular vote as an alternative to Constitutional Amendment. It looks like it’s on the new governor’s agenda here in NM and has seen increasing support in blue states.

But no one received a majority of votes in 2016. Clinton received the plurality, or the most votes, but not the majority; I don’t think it’s a trivial point, especially if I were defending the EC.

Lonna

Apologies for typos I'm on my phone.

On Nov 20, 2018, at 6:34 PM, "larrylevine at earthlink.net<mailto:larrylevine at earthlink.net>" <larrylevine at earthlink.net<mailto:larrylevine at earthlink.net>> wrote:

Flawed in what way? I didn’t say all small states or all large states. To be sure, some large states go Republican and some small states go Democratic. But cumulatively, it is the electoral votes of small states that overwhelm those of larges states. As I said, it was the dramatic effect of that map that struck me. I think if you did a red/blue map of the last electoral college vote it would show somewhat the same thing – a mass of red and a spattering of blue. As a practical matter I don’t think elimination of the electoral college would pass because the small states would block the constitutional amendment, which makes the whole discussion moot and just pre-holiday fodder.
Larry

From: Ilya Shapiro <IShapiro at cato.org<mailto:IShapiro at cato.org>>
Sent: Tuesday, 20 November 2018 4:56 PM
To: larrylevine at earthlink.net<mailto:larrylevine at earthlink.net>
Cc: law-election at uci.edu<mailto:law-election at uci.edu>
Subject: Re: [EL] Electoral college

The premise is flawed. Small states include HI, RI, CT, DE, VT. Large states include TX, FL, OH, PA.

But you said you looked at a congressional map. That would reveal coastal/urban vs the rest—an interesting sociological phenomenon, to be sure, but not related to Electoral College debates.
Ilya Shapiro
Senior Fellow in Constitutional Studies
Cato Institute
1000 Mass. Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20001
(o) 202-218-4600
(c) 202-577-1134
Twitter: @ishapiro

http://www.cato.org/people/shapiro.html

On Nov 20, 2018, at 7:50 PM, "larrylevine at earthlink.net<mailto:larrylevine at earthlink.net>" <larrylevine at earthlink.net<mailto:larrylevine at earthlink.net>> wrote:
It is argued often that the electoral college protects the small states from the dominance of the large states. I just saw a graphic on TV that depicts the location of Democrats and Republicans in congress on a red/blue map. The blue is mostly big states; the red mostly small states. Even though the Democrats are now in the majority, the map is overwhelmingly red. So, can we argue that we need to eliminate the electoral college to protect the big states against the ganging up of the small states? After all, the majority of popular votes nationwide in the 2016 Presidential election reflect the same notion – the small state’s ganged up to thwart the will of the majority of the nation.
FYI – this is the first time I have allowed myself to consider elimination of the electoral college. That map was a dramatic visualization of the situation. I suppose the small states would block a constitutional amendment to eliminate the electoral college, so the entire discussion may be moot.
Larry
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