It's About Time!

[Raleigh]

This should have been done along time ago...

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=960&sid=181...propose-electing-us-president-by-popular-vote

SALT LAKE CITY — Several state lawmakers want Utah to join a movement urging that the president of the United States be elected by popular vote.

Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, and Rep. Mike Noel, R-Kanab, want Utah to pass a bill that would guarantee the presidency to the candidate who receives the most votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. They say it would ensure that every vote matters in a presidential election.

"This is fair," Noel said. "We strongly believe the Founding Fathers believed every person's vote should count."

 

[jeep-N-montero]

Agree 100000000000%

 

[JL Rockies]

No... that's a terrible idea... very terrible. FAIL.

 

[JL Rockies]

The Electoral College we set up because the founding fathers didn't want mob rule... didn't want "too much power in the hands of the uneducated masses". Noel is an assclown.

 

[JL Rockies]

All the political power would be on the coasts making the fly over states irrelevant... just sayin'

 

[Marsh99]

JL Rockies is right.
Plus electoral college is setup to help the smaller states.

 

[Raleigh]

Not as much as you think.

The lower the population the fewer electoral college votes the state gets.
Politicians have always campaigned bigger states for reason.
Ever see a presidential candidate come to Utah? Very rarely.

This would get rid of red and blue states, it would be a popular vote, the uneducated rarely vote IMO.

 

[DAA]

Be careful what you wish for.

If the president were elected by popular vote, populism would run even more rampant than it does now. It would not be inconceivable for someone to get elected on a "four day work weeek and free beer on Friday" platform. Or blatant out and out class warfare. Or whatever appealed to the ignorant, short sighted, self serving masses.

"This is fair," Noel said. "We strongly believe the Founding Fathers believed every person's vote should count."

Now THAT is laughable! The Founding Fathers most certainly did NOT believe any such thing. It's specifically why the Electoral College and having the president elected by the states, not the people, was instituted in the first place.

Populism = Bad Policy, IMO... And a popular vote, almost by literal definition, would encourage populism on a massive scale.

- DAA

 

[Marsh99]

Wyoming USA Population 563,626 electoral votes 3

California USA Population 37,253,956 electoral votes 55

Wyoming has 187,875 people per vote
California has 677,344 people per vote

How is that not a clear advantage for small states!
Plus if it went to a popular vote campaign stops would decrease further to only the largest states.

 

[UNSTUCK]

Growing up in Alaska I always got upset watching them announce the new president before most people even made it to the polls.

I heard a rumor that only like 78 people showed up to vote for the Mayor of Salt Lake a few weeks ago. Any truth to that? If so, it just goes to show how we as americans need to get with it.

 

[Raleigh]

Wyoming USA Population 563,626 electoral votes 3

California USA Population 37,253,956 electoral votes 55

Wyoming has 187,875 people per vote
California has 677,344 people per vote

How is that not a clear advantage for small states!
Plus if it went to a popular vote campaign stops would decrease further to only the largest states.

Great point, I hadn't looked up the numbers...


I remember being taught in school that the electoral college was developed because it was not feasible for votes to accounted for in a national election. The rep from all of the territories would travel to the Capitol and place the vote for their area.

Obviously it is much easier to collect votes now.

 

[Marsh99]

Great point, I hadn't looked up the numbers...


I remember being taught in school that the electoral college was developed because it was not feasible for votes to accounted for in a national election. The rep from all of the territories would travel to the Capitol and place the vote for their area.

Obviously it is much easier to collect votes now.

The constitution says:
Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.

The argument was small state v. Large state, and National government v. Confederate government.
Also they they left it up to the states on how distribute their votes. Most are winner take all but some are proportional.

 

[Marsh99]

Further more the only people that could vote at the time were land owning, white, males. Who couldn't vote: blacks, and women. Although women counted for population, and the blacks counted as 3/5's of a person. Population was how seats in congress were given.

So if it would be a popular vote election, and only white land owning males vote, if I'm a slave state I would have the north picking the president.

Remember they wrote the constitution by convention, they had to have a majority to get things in. They used the article of Confederation rules saying each state only had one vote in the convention. That is why there are so many cases small states are protected.

 

[Raleigh]

Hmmm, thanks for the clarification:thumbs:

 

[Herzog]

Good info in this thread. I was ignorant to most of this and now I want to learn more about it. Thanks guys.

 

[GOAT]

A. it will never happen

B. Nothing will change if it does.

C. Term limits and the immediate castration(witnessed by family) of any and all lobbyist is what you seek.

 

[jeeper]

This still wont solve that fact that politicians are greedy, and self serving. Changing the way votes count might make a difference on who is elected, but you still end up with a liar in office. Government is nothing but thieves and idiots (including the guy who thought Guam was going to "tip over"!)
I don't have a solution yet, but Government is not it..

 

[Herzog]

C. Term limits and the immediate castration(witnessed by family) of any and all lobbyist is what you seek.

Agreed.

 

[Raleigh]

Agreed.

X2

 

[Marsh99]

C. Term limits and the immediate castration(witnessed by family) of any and all lobbyist is what you seek.

If we do let's start with our lobbyist groups U4wda, friends of moab... And others NRA, mothers against drunk driving..ect
Lobbyist are not bad!