Posted on 09/21/2006 11:26:10 PM PDT by calcowgirl
In his early 20’s, John R. Koza and fellow graduate students invented a brutally complicated board game based on the Electoral College ...
Now, a 63-year-old eminence among computer scientists who teaches genetic programming at Stanford, Dr. Koza has decided to top off things with an end run on the Constitution. He has concocted a plan for states to skirt the Electoral College system legally to insure the election of whichever presidential candidate receives the most votes nationwide.
The first fruit of his effort, a bill approved by the California legislature that would allocate the state’s 55 electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote, sits on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s desk. The governor has to decide by Sept. 30 whether to sign it ...
The brainstorm behind Dr. Koza’s effort, led by a seven-month-old group, National Popular Vote, was to abandon that approach and focus on creating interstate compacts. Those are contracts that bind states over issues like nuclear waste and port authorities.
Dr. Koza’s compact, if approved by enough legislatures, would commit a state’s electors to vote for the candidate who wins the most national votes, even if the candidate loses in that state.
“The bottom line is that the system has outlived its usefulness,” said Assemblyman Thomas J. Umberg, the Anaheim Democrat who sponsored the bill here. “It’s past time that Americans should elect their president by direct vote of the people.”
Mr. Umberg and his staff met some of Mr. Schwarzenegger’s top staff members on Wednesday and came away encouraged about the prospects of the legislation. Although they received no commitment, it was clear that the governor, a Republican, was seriously considering the question and had not made up his mind about it, Mr. Umberg said.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Clowns without scruples, they turned on a dime to their new position.
So, they want to turn our republic into a democracy?
Don't tell me -- they vote Democrat.
Yes, I sure do remember that!
Never let it said they have PRINCIPLES!
See post 14. It's unConstitutional.
The bottom line is that this would require a constitutional amendment. The professor is obviously a marxist.
Not only is it not legal, it's also unConstitutional.
If millions of third worlders (Mexico, Cosa Rica, Ecuador, Guatamala, etc) flood the Southwest US, and vote overwhelmingly for their "pet" candidate, one who happens to be a danger to America, our national electoral process would be in great jeopardy.
THAT's why the Founding Father's ELECTORAL COLLEGE was so brilliant in its concept and implementation.
It is designed to prevent exactly the thing which I see happening with the ongoing invasion of ONE ethnic culture to ONE geographic area of the USA.
The 13 largest states can already determine the outcome of a presidential election on their own without monkeying around with the process, so I don't see what they have to gain by it from a collective standpoint.
Maine & Nebraska are the states that can split their electoral votes.
If it were, it would be unConstitutional, thus treasonous
I thought GWB won in Fla. by 532 votes.
That's why the Dem-lib-weenies kept asking for recount after recount, in hopes of muddling the situation so much they could "find" enough votes to overturn that thin margin.
Gore would not have gotten Fla.'s electoral college votes because he lost the popular vote in Florida.
Not that I support this hairbrained California proposal, but this in fact is NOT a compact between states.
It is simply a decision by one state, California, to give their Electoral College votes to a particular candidate.
In fact, there is no "compact" between any two states. There is only one state, California, making a decision. (again, I don't support this nutty proposal, but I'm not sure it violates that statute you mentioned)
This would only go into effect if ALL states change the way they assign electoral votes. Even then each state could assign electoral votes however they want. Arnold should not buy into this crap even though it would benefit the Republicans right now, in 2000 we would have lost to Al Gore(shudder)if this was implemented nation wide.
The popular vote they are talking about is the national popular vote. Right now, as it stands, the electoral votes go to the person with the state popular vote, under this proposal the electoral votes would go the candidate who wins the national popular vote. In 2000, if all states subscribed to this method, Gore would have won.
Fortunately, this is only in CA, and one other state, and ALL states have to agree to this before it takes effect nation wide. Even then each state could change it's mind and give the electoral votes to whomever they wished, just as they can now.
Wrong. It would make California more important. It is the largest state in terms of population. A big Dem win in California could swing the popular vote nationally.
2. The Republicans would never have to worry about an electoral college defeat, while the Democrats still would have to.
Only certain states belong to the compact. Undermining the electoral college will hurt Reps, not help us.
3. California would lose most of its clout.
California would gain more influence and clout, not less.
I have Republican friends that live in California. I know it is a great place to live, but I don't know how he can stand it there.
In the year 2000 the majority vote went to Gore. Head out of your ass please!
How is that not an implicit agreement among the states that pass such a law?
It's an agreement in the same sense that price-fixing is an agreement.
It increases the power of California voters. Thery are not the only ones belonging to the compact. The Dems are using this system to get Red states to join. In 2000 Gore won California by 1.3 million votes and Kerry won by 1.2 million in 2004. California is trending more and more Dem, which should translate in to greater popular vote margins, especially if the Dems concentrate their resources there.
The National Popular Vote plan has been endorsed by the New York Times, Chicago Sun Times, Los Angeles Times, Sacramento Bee, and Minneapolis Star-Tribune. They are working in Colorado, Arizona, NY, Vermont, Louisiana, Missouri, and California. The purpose is clear--circumvent the electoral college and the Constitution and give the advantage to the most populous states so that their vote counts as much as someone's from a small state.
We have a mini version of this right now in WA state: King County (Seattle) pretty much dictates who wins in every state-wide election. Mostly because they have the most population, but partially because their election system is corrupt.
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