Whether from National Popular Vote advocates or others, there are plenty of complaints about the Electoral College. Yet three of the most common are also the easiest to answer, at least in part, because each applies even more to Congress. Whether these or other complaints are valid at all is yet another question.
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To hear supporters of National Popular Vote tell it, most Americans probably have no idea who the presidential candidates were in the last election. They may not have even known there was an election going on. And most of the votes cast weren’t even counted.
Of course, none of these things are true. That didn’t stop lobbyists and legislators at a hearing yesterday in Salem, Ore.
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Tweet The LA Times editorial board often prints anti-Electoral College columns, so yesterday’s piece along these lines is not surprising. Yesterday, however, one LA Times writer attempted to utilize James Madison, the Father of the Constitution, to back up this position. He wrote: ———– “Just don’t try making sense of the electoral college. Here’s the way one American articulated the problem: “The present rule of voting for president …...
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Tweet Surely Governor Bobby Jindal hopes the answer to that question is “no.” Such a scenario is at odds with the reputation that he strives to maintain as a solid conservative. Unfortunately for him, the Louisiana legislature may not cooperate. Many of its members seem intent on eliminating the Electoral College—an institution designed to protect small states exactly like Louisiana. In a surprise move last week, Louisiana’s Committee on...
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Tweet Rhode Island used to be known for its independence and spunk. It was the first American colony to renounce its allegiance to the British Crown. It refused to send delegates the Constitutional Convention and (stubborn to the end!) did not ratify the U.S. Constitution until after George Washington had already been elected and sworn in as the country’s first President. Perhaps fittingly, the colony that many early Americans...
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Tweet In presidential elections, the big state of Alaska is a small state. It has only three electoral votes. In a country of 311 million people, it has a mere 722,000. Worse, it can be hard for presidential candidates to get to Alaska, given its distance from the 48 contiguous states. Alaska needs every advantage it can get during presidential elections, which makes it all the more puzzling that...
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Tweet Alaska’s legislature has been in session for less than two weeks, but apparently some state Senators were already itching to jump into action on the National Popular Vote issue. The Senate Finance committee heard the matter in a hearing this past Wednesday—about a week after the legislature convened. The legislation has been held, at least for now. Meanwhile, one Senator on the Finance Committee is losing confidence in...
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Tweet Twice recently, The Heritage Foundation hosted events to discuss the National Popular Vote proposal–a plan that would eliminate the effects of the Electoral College while side-stepping the difficult process of constitutional amendment. I was honored to participate in the first panel, and even more honored that it was hosted by Edwin Meese III, the former Attorney General and Heritage’s Ronald Reagan Distinguished Fellow. Also on the panel was...
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Tweet Warning: satire ahead! (For the basics on what the National Popular Vote anti-Electoral College scheme is all about, check out this post.) -TE A new poll shows that Americans overwhelmingly prefer to scrap the World Series. A shocking 68% of Americans instead believe that Major League Baseball should rely upon “total runs scored” during the regular baseball season when deciding who should be crowned the MLB champion. This...
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