Majority Favor Eliminating the Electoral College

[dutch508]

Star Member applegrove (86,828 posts)
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100212100837


Majority Favor Eliminating the Electoral College


"BLAA BLAA BLAA...."

[Ralph Wiggum]

Majority of whom?

[SVPete]

Great! Write the Constitutional Amendment. How many less populous states' Senators will vote for their states' voters being effectively disenfranchised by allowing a candidate to campaign only in a few states to get a majority large enough that their less populous states' vote are irrelevant? And how many less populous states' legislatures would vote for self-disenfranchisement?

[Ptarmigan]

Electoral College is part of the Constitution. It requires to amend the Constitution. It is not often that happens. The last time it got amended was in 1992.

Constitutional Amendment Process
https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/constitution

Constitutional Amendment Process
The authority to amend the Constitution of the United States is derived from Article V of the Constitution. After Congress proposes an amendment, the Archivist of the United States, who heads the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), is charged with responsibility for administering the ratification process under the provisions of 1 U.S.C. 106b. The Archivist has delegated many of the ministerial duties associated with this function to the Director of the Federal Register. Neither Article V of the Constitution nor section 106b describe the ratification process in detail. The Archivist and the Director of the Federal Register follow procedures and customs established by the Secretary of State, who performed these duties until 1950, and the Administrator of General Services, who served in this capacity until NARA assumed responsibility as an independent agency in 1985.

The Constitution provides that an amendment may be proposed either by the Congress with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate or by a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of the State legislatures. None of the 27 amendments to the Constitution have been proposed by constitutional convention. The Congress proposes an amendment in the form of a joint resolution. Since the President does not have a constitutional role in the amendment process, the joint resolution does not go to the White House for signature or approval. The original document is forwarded directly to NARA's Office of the Federal Register (OFR) for processing and publication. The OFR adds legislative history notes to the joint resolution and publishes it in slip law format. The OFR also assembles an information package for the States which includes formal "red-line" copies of the joint resolution, copies of the joint resolution in slip law format, and the statutory procedure for ratification under 1 U.S.C. 106b.

[SVPete]

The rest of the quote that bears on ratification:

A proposed amendment becomes part of the Constitution as soon as it is ratified by three-fourths of the States (38 of 50 States). When the OFR verifies that it has received the required number of authenticated ratification documents, it drafts a formal proclamation for the Archivist to certify that the amendment is valid and has become part of the Constitution. This certification is published in the Federal Register and U.S. Statutes at Large and serves as official notice to the Congress and to the Nation that the amendment process has been completed.

IOW, 2/3 of the House, 2/3 of the Senate, and 3/4 of state legislatures would have to vote for it to abolish the Electoral College.  The House might pass it. I seriously doubt the Senate would, and I think 3/4 of the states would not happen. There isn't enough Trump Hatred "out there", and even a lot of Trump Haters understand that Trump will return to private life no later than late January, 2025. So I don't see many small-population states effectively disenfranchising their voters to "solve" a "problem" that will go away in less than 6 years.

[Karin]

Their thoughtful commentary over there consisted of 4 K&R's. 

[SVPete]

Their thoughtful commentary over there consisted of 4 K&R's.

Yeah, railing against the Electoral College is so November-December 2016.

[FiddyBeowulf]

Majority of whom?

Gallup posed the scenario to more than 1,000 Americans

550 of those apparently know jack squat about the EC and why it exists.

[Muddling 2]

Yeah, railing against the Electoral College is so November-December 2016.

Actually, it's so Florida 2000

[Crazy Horse]

Great! Write the Constitutional Amendment. How many less populous states' Senators will vote for their states' voters being effectively disenfranchised by allowing a candidate to campaign only in a few states to get a majority large enough that their less populous states' vote are irrelevant? And how many less populous states' legislatures would vote for self-disenfranchisement?

No amendment needed.  They'll just pass a state law stating that the winner of the popular vote receives that states electoral vote.