[EL] Electoral college

[Mark Rush]

The EC is a function of the uneven federal allocation of power.  Sure it
overrepresents smaller states.   Power in the EU, Canada, Germany, Spain,
etc is similarly allocated.  You get much more vote for the euro in
Luxembourg than Germany.

Federalism andcthe EC work. Alas, our current political situation is
septic.  Repair politics and the EC and federalism won’t be an issue.



On Tue, Nov 20, 2018 at 21:40 Lonna Atkeson <atkeson at unm.edu> wrote:

> 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" <
> 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>
> *Sent:* Tuesday, 20 November 2018 4:56 PM
> *To:* larrylevine at earthlink.net
> *Cc:* 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
>
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>
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>
> Cato Institute
>
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>
>
> On Nov 20, 2018, at 7:50 PM, "larrylevine at earthlink.net" <
> 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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-- 
Mark Rush
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