Tim Walz Took a Big Step Toward Scrapping the Electoral College
Tim Walz Took a Big Step Toward Scrapping the Electoral College
Tim Walz Took a Big Step Toward Scrapping the Electoral College
Tim Walz Took a Big Step Toward Scrapping the Electoral College
31 Comments
Oh, boy… here come the “CaLiFoRnIa aNd nEw yOrK WoUlD DeCiDe tHe eLeCtIoN!” mouth breathers…..
Good for him, the electoral college is trash.
One by one until the job is done. Tim Walz added Minnesota to the list for the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. We’re currently at 209 of the 270 electoral votes needed for this to go into effect, and Nevada has passed in in both legislative chambers and will hopefully add another 6. We actually have 68 electoral votes worth of states that have it passed in at least one of the chambers. MI, NC, VA, AZ, OK, AR are the ones to watch, though I wouldn’t hold my breath on OK or AR.
I’m betting on Michigan next.
This is a tricky one, because red state Governors have a vested interest in not letting this happen because if we’d been using the popular vote all this time, Anyone under 40 wouldn’t even know what a Republican Presidident looks like.
> no other country follows our model
While technically true, the source they provide for that is misleading. Every Parliamentary government has indirect elections of the head of government, they just segregated them because they have a separate (ceremonial) head of state (monarch). The framers wanted to make the executive independent from the legislature (in contrast to the British Parliament) which is where the Electoral College came from. We’ve bastardized the EC so much with political gamesmanship (Winner take all, no faithless electors) and disproportionate representation (Reapportionment Act) that it no longer functions anything like it was intended.
As long as the Republicans still have one ounce of power, they will never get rid of the electoral college.
Do Texas next. It is tiresome to have almost half the state held hostage by deeply religious West Texas fracking billionaires.
Texas Monthly – The Billionaire Bully Who Wants to Turn Texas Into a Christian Theocracy ([4 min intro video](https://www.texasmonthly.com/video/tim-dunn-profile-behind-scenes-russell-gold/) | [Article](https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/billionaire-tim-dunn-runs-texas/))
“The state’s most powerful figure, Tim Dunn, isn’t an elected official. But behind the scenes, the West Texas oilman is lavishly financing what he regards as a holy war against public education, renewable energy, and non-Christians.”
Rolling Stone – [Meet Trump’s New Christian Kingpin](https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/tim-dunn-texas-oil-billionaire-trump-donor-1235033143/)
“Oil-rich Tim Dunn has changed Texas politics with fanatical zeal — the national stage is next”
CNN Special Report: Deep in the Pockets of Texas
[Video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B3PTuADIHQ) | [Transcript](https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/csr/date/2022-07-24/segment/01)
Conservative former State Senator Kel Seliger (Republican, Midland TX):
“It is a Russian-style oligarchy, pure and simple. Really, really wealthy people who are willing to spend a lot of money to get policy made the way they want it, and they get it.”
Texas Monthly – [The Campaign to Sabotage Texas’s Public Schools](https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/campaign-to-sabotage-texas-public-schools/)
“But by far the most powerful opponents of public schools in the state are West Texas oil billionaires Tim Dunn and the brothers Farris and Dan Wilks. Their vast political donations have made them the de facto owners of many Republican members of the Texas Legislature.”
CNN – [How two Texas megadonors have turbocharged the state’s far-right shift](https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/24/politics/texas-far-right-politics-invs/index.html)
“Elected officials and political observers in the state say a major factor in the transformation can be traced back to West Texas. Two billionaire oil and fracking magnates from the region, Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks, have quietly bankrolled some of Texas’ most far-right political candidates – helping reshape the state’s Republican Party in their worldview.
Critics, and even some former associates, say that Dunn and Wilks demand loyalty from the candidates they back, punishing even deeply conservative legislators who cross them by bankrolling primary challengers.”
Wouldn’t that fall under state’s rights?
I have problems with the EC. I’m not sure if it should be scrapped completely, but I think at the very LEAST it needs updating.
Elector count is supposed to be based on Representative count + 2 (for Senators), and the Representative allotment was supposed to be based on population. However, that has been set in place by law since the 1960’s.
So the EC count of 538 total votes has been the same for over 60 years despite population growth and demographic shifts.
An un-updated EC does not act as a balancing mechanism. It is ensuring an advantage for those who can keep the less populated rural areas as bulwarks against the states with big cities.
This is the best tl;dr I could make, [original](https://washingtonmonthly.com/2024/08/30/tim-walz-took-a-big-step-toward-scrapping-the-electoral-college/) reduced by 94%. (I’m a bot)
*****
> Joe Biden resoundingly defeated Trump by over 7 million votes nationwide but only squeaked by in the Electoral College due to 115,012 votes across Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Georgia.
> Rather than give every voter equal weight, the Electoral College distorts the voting power of Americans based on where they live.
> Since a Republican presidential candidate has only won the national popular vote once in the past 32 years, the GOP has a strong incentive to keep the Electoral College.
*****
[**Extended Summary**](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/1f4x9dn/tim_walz_took_a_big_step_toward_scrapping_the/) | [FAQ](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/31b9fm/faq_autotldr_bot/ “Version 2.02, ~693123 tl;drs so far.”) | [Feedback](http://np.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%23autotldr “PM’s and comments are monitored, constructive feedback is welcome.”) | *Top* *keywords*: **Vote**^#1 **state**^#2 **Electoral**^#3 **Compact**^#4 **Popular**^#5
I wonder if my college and high school transcripts, work history, along with both my SAT and ACT scores, would be good enough to admit me into the Electoral College? /s
I would major in fucking things up.
We can’t change a system that over-represents Republicans because Republicans are over-represented. It’s the ultimate Catch 22.
The electoral college is nothing more than the implementation mechanism of the 3/5ths clause
The greatest threat to conservative ideologies in America is the requirement that they appeal to American voters instead of American voting blocs.
Hillary had won the numbers but a felon was elected.
The electoral college was a system designed when people were still using candles as lighting. The idea that we still have it around is fucking embarrassing and pathetic
Yes, I think this is something even conservatives can get behind. One person, one equal vote.
Edit: Sarcasm. I forgot the required “/s”
Good
It’s bullshit that the fate of the free world comes down to people living in 6 states.
Didn’t realize he has that much power
I used to be excited by the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. But now, I’m pretty confident that the current Supreme Court would overturn it if it actually went into effect.
Go Tim, kill that dinosaur already.
Omg. I had no idea.
The Compact has passed through both house committees in Michigan. If it is signed into law, it will add another 15 electoral votes to the Compact’s ranks. Compact legislation has also made progress in Virginia and Nevada, which would add another 29 electoral votes and leave just 27 to go. At that point, some combination of three purple states like Wisconsin, North Carolina, and Arizona would be enough to surpass 270.
One vote for each citizen, periodo.
removing the electoral college would definitely ensure the eradication of the radical far right movement.
It needs to go, someone losing while winning by millions is bullshit.
The electoral college is utterly useless in 2024.
It exists to steal free and fair elections. That’s all
I don’t mind the electoral college if you limit the number of people a person can represent to 500k. That would give the benefit of smaller states not getting bowled over but prevent smaller states from stopping progress. Ironically we’d have a house of representatives of about 666.
/r/RanktheVote
I had high hopes after Biden’s victory in 2020 that there would be efforts made to address the EC, gerrymandering, and the partisan SCOTUS. None of that seemed to happen.
If Harris and Walz can actually accomplish these changes it will be a game changer, and we might be able to put the neo fascists on the back foot again.
[NaPaVo-InterCo in short](https://youtu.be/tUX-frlNBJY?si=fGeajh77XaNUvKcy). Truth be told, I doubt this would work. The Constitution ([Article 1, Sec. 10, Clause 3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_One_of_the_United_States_Constitution#Clause_3:_Compact_Clause)) clearly states that Congress must also approve of interstate compacts & agreements and I don’t know how to construe this as anything other than an interstate compact. I can’t see even a left-leaning SCOTUS saying that Congress doesn’t need to provide consent.
The Electoral College had one purpose, and that was to make sure someone like Trump never became president. It’s useless, we need to dump it.
Ending the electoral college would bring me so much peace.
Good. People should vote, not land.