Friday, January 17, 2020

Electoral College Dropout

   Watch for the electoral college to be flunked out of the presidential process.
   The Supreme Court has agreed to hear two cases challenging the way delegates vote for presidential candidates, and may require all states to side with one method.
   Most states require electors to vote for the candidate with the most popular votes, but there are others that leave the choice to individual electors. As it is, the presidential candidate with the higher popular vote can still lose the Oval Office seat as the electoral college vote goes to the competition.
   That has already happened several times, including Donald Trump's victory in the electoral voting despite having lost the nationwide popular vote to Hillary Clinton.
   The Constitution only says that voters in the several states choose electors, who then meet to select a president. It does not require that electors follow the popular voting choice. That may be a reflection of the times, when those who wrote the Constitution did not fully trust the general population.
   Some states do require its electors to follow the popular choice, which makes the procedure little more than a formality. Other states, however, allow delegates to the electoral college to vote as they please, regardless of the will of the majority population.
   Challenges in two states have resulted in differing judgments in federal appeals courts, so it now falls to the Supreme Court to decide which method best  follows the intent of the founders.
   It's not clear yet just when the Supreme Court will hear arguments in the case, nor whether the issue will be decided in time for next November's presidential voting.

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