Electoral College (Long)

[mtsi...@webtv.net]

With all the fuss over the recent election, I think we need to take a
look at doing away with this particular little piece of American
Elections.

The President of the US is not elected by us, the people. We vote not
for the man or the party but for unnamed Electors. Some states require
them to vote for the candidate who wins the popular vote and some states
do not. They will meet at each state capitol on Dec 17th and vote. Those
ballots are sealed and sent to Washington and the House. The House, as a
committee of the whole, counts the ballots. If there is a tie, the House
selects the President.
The Electoral College (EC) was set up by the Constitution (Art II, Sec
1, Clause 3) and modified by the 12th Amendment and the Elections law of
1857.

Our current election is the 4th time the EC has caused trouble. In the
1800 election, Jefferson and Burr tied in the EC and Jefferson was
selected by the House. In 1876, there was a dispute over some of EC
ballots and 19 votes originally cast for Tiden were thrown out, swinging
the election to Hayes. And in 1888, Cleveland won the popular vote but
Harrison was the EC voting and became President.

In looking all this up, I was interested to see that the History page of
the EC Homepage (part of the National Archives website)
http://www.nara.gov/fedreg/elctcoll/index.html has some special software
and is unreadable by WebTV. If anyone has a PC and can read it, I'd be
grateful for an idea of what that page says.

There isn't much I could find on the history or thinking behind the EC.
When the Constitution was written, elections were a lot different.
Women, minorities and non-landowners weren't allowed to vote. I have
heard the EC called a safety net for the rich landed gentry against the
ignorance of the masses. I have also heard that the EC is a safety net
for smaller states, ensuring their voice was heard in selecting the
President. Some of what I did find about the history of the EC is at
http://www.uky.edu/LCC/HIS/101/electoral.html

For whichever reason it was put in, the EC is an unnecessary control
measure. Today's voters have access to information at a rate the
Founding Fathers never dreamed of. If it did serve a purpose, I think
the modern information age has overriden that need. The American Public
has matured to the point where we don't need that nanny watching over us
anymore. I only wish I could point you towards a grass roots movement to
contact. It will take a Constitional Amendment to do away with it.

Martin

Cleverly Disguised As A Responsible Adult.

[handyman]

To copy the ole Marine.... ED Mc Mahan
YOU are Right Sir...
all this fuss is good only for the First Vote of the Electorial College... a
second or subsquent vote is whatever they wish to vote for in MOST states...
so Now
let us see about getting a Gay majority in the Electorial college then you
will eliminate all the other groups that want Power....
Rainbow.... and not Jacksons Coilition....

Handy.
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