posted
Omega, why is going by popular vote not right, other than when we have a close election such as this. Once every 2 generations that have to recount close calls isn't to bad. After all, a popular vote would actually elect the team in to office that the people vote for. The county by county EC would work also. Also, the EC doesn't stop the bigger states from over whelming the smaller ones, Florida with 25 EC votes, and Nevada(?) with 4? Not 4 each, or 25 each. No difference.
------------------ I see a red door and I want it painted black
posted
Yes, but what's to stop a particular state from subdividing itself into myriad counties, and thus getting more votes? What about that one state that just has three REAL big counties (somewhere in the NE, IIRC)? That's not quite fair, either. The states themselves should be represented somehow, just not the way they are now.
How 'bout THIS: say that each state gets whatever number of electoral votes it gets now. When election time comes around, say one cantidate gets 55% of the vote, the other 45%. The first would get 55% of the electoral votes, the second 45%, with any fractional votes going to the winner, for obvious reasons. This system would be relatively easy to modify for third party cantidates.
This way, the states still get representation as entities, but the popular vote becomes much more important. Sound good?
------------------ Francesca: He was born on the tundra, that's where he belongs. You'll kill him if you take him to Toronto. Thatcher: That's a bit drastic, don't you think? Francesca: Look, I've been to Toronto. Trust me, nothing can survive there. - "due South"
posted
With that, why have Electoral College at all?
I say just do away with it, and let the popular vote actually vote in the President.
It'd also be interesting to be able to vote on VP seperately, so you could end up with two different parties as POTUS, and VP. I don't know if that would actually do anything, but it might be cool.
------------------ Communism. Who wouldn't like their neighbour thrown into a goulag?
"The electoral college was put up in the first place because during the 18th and 19th centuries, Americans were butt dumb and couldn't be counted on to vote for a competetant president."
Do I even need to say what I think about this...? :-)
"To keep the large populous states from completely overwhelming the smaller, less populous states."
To stop it?! That's exactly what it does! I mean, look at Florida! If 50.000000001% of the population votes for one candidate, he/she/it gets all 25 electoral votes. Now, let's say there's a smaller state where the entire population votes for the opposing candidate, and their population is the same as that 50.000000001% of Florida. Candidate A gets 25 electoral votes from Florida, and Candidate B only gets half as many from the other state, even though he/she/it got the same number of votes.
"What about that one state that just has three REAL big counties (somewhere in the NE, IIRC)?"
Er... Rhode Island has five counties. But then, some states have single counties that are larger than Rhode Island in its entirety. Aside from that, I don't know what you're talking about...
------------------ "What he did to that walrus gentle-man was inexcusable." -T. Herman Zweibel on "Mr. Woodrow Wood-pecker", The Onion, 7-Nov-2000
[This message has been edited by TSN (edited November 11, 2000).]
Shik
Starship database: completed; History of Starfleet: done; website: probably never
Member # 343
posted
He refers to Delaware, which has 3 counties: Kent, New Castle, & Sussex.
As I remember, my state of Connecticut is the only one in the Union that has no county-level government. Sherriffs are appointees & are actually being abolished. There's 8 counties here (Litchfield, Fairfield, Tolland, Middlesex, New Haven, New London, Windham & Hartford), but most people would be hard-pressed to name them all. They might get 3, possibly 4.
------------------ "Omigod. Singing meat. This is altogether too much."
------------------ Francesca: He was born on the tundra, that's where he belongs. You'll kill him if you take him to Toronto. Thatcher: That's a bit drastic, don't you think? Francesca: Look, I've been to Toronto. Trust me, nothing can survive there. - "due South"
posted
Actually, few people realize that Delaware is preparing invasion army's for the surrounding states so that by March, 2001, Delaware will be the largest state in the union.
posted
According to that Garfield Special a few years back it doesn't.
------------------ I am going to Japanese cars from now on, because the auto workers got the day off to vote and the state went to Gore. From The Port Huron Times-Herald talk back section.
posted
Don't you see, the government is trying to blind us. Wyoming is just a secret code for the US's alien landing base. and who knows what's going on in Delaware...
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