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Electoral College Helps Small States, Not Red States
CNSNews ^ | July 22, 2019 | Hans A. von Spakovsky

Posted on 07/22/2019 1:17:18 PM PDT by jazusamo

Last month, both Maine and Nevada did what was in the best interests of their states: They rejected bills that would have enrolled their states in the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, an unwise effort to override the Electoral College.

In Maine, it was killed by legislators in the state House after it passed Maine’s Senate. In Nevada, Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak vetoed the bill that had been passed by members of his own party in the Legislature.

The National Popular Vote compact, which is an agreement between states, requires a participating state to award all of its electoral votes to the presidential candidate who receives the most votes across the nation, not to the candidate who actually won the vote in that state.

In other words, states are agreeing to ignore what the majority of voters in their state decides when it comes to who they believe should be president.

This interstate compact has been sold to state governments as a means to abolish what supporters wrongly claim is the “outmoded, undemocratic Electoral College.”

What is “undemocratic” is an agreement that means that even if every single voter in a state voted against a presidential candidate who won the national popular vote, the state would still have to give all its electoral votes to that candidate.

The National Popular Vote effort was started by a frustrated Al Gore elector after the 2000 election, and the progressive left has poured huge amounts of money and resources into lobbying states to adopt the plan. After Hillary Clinton’s loss in 2016, the compact gathered even more steam.

Sixteen states have now passed laws to enter this compact, representing 196 of the 270 electoral votes the compact would need to constitute a majority in the Electoral College and trigger its implementation.

Nonetheless, Maine and Nevada are among at least seven states to have rejected the compact. When Nevada’s governor vetoed the compact, he correctly warned that it would “diminish the role of smaller states like Nevada in national electoral contests and force Nevada’s electors to side with whoever wins the nationwide popular vote, rather than the candidate Nevadans choose.”

Those fears are right on target, and are in fact one of the main reasons the Framers of the Constitution created the Electoral College. They feared that under a national popular vote system, presidential candidates would just campaign in the big cities and urban areas, ignoring the less populated, more rural parts of the country.

Thus, they implemented a system where the president is not elected by a direct vote but by electoral votes made on behalf of the states. Each state, no matter how small its population, has at least three electoral votes, since the number of votes the state has is based on how many senators and representatives that state has in Congress.

States with larger populations still have an advantage because they have more representatives in the House. However, under the new compact, the votes of the smaller states would be completely dwarfed by cities and states with larger populations.

Under the Electoral College system, although smaller states do not have as much influence as places like California, New York, or Texas, their votes still matter because their (at minimum) three electoral votes guarantee at least some representation of their state’s collective will out of the 538 total votes.

The nine most populous states contain 51% of America’s population. Under the National Popular Vote compact, a candidate could spend her entire campaign in big cities in California, Texas, Florida, and New York in order to win the election. States like Maine and Nevada wouldn’t even make the list of campaign stops.

Something that so clearly disenfranchises the interests of the other 41 states ought to inspire concern across the political spectrum.

In Maine, after the compact was voted down by a bipartisan legislative coalition, the Free Maine Campaign, founded by former state Sen. Eric Brakey, stated , “This isn’t about Republican versus Democrat. This about whether we #SaveMainesVoice or give our voting power to big cities like NYC and Chicago.”

They’re right.

The Framers wanted a presidential candidate to win a series of regional elections so they would represent the diverse interests of different parts of the country.

In 2017, Yahoo Finance did an analysis of each state based on their largest industries.

Maine’s primary industries are hospitals as well as nursing and residential care facilities. Nevada’s primary industry is accommodation (tourism). California’s largest industries are computers and electronics manufacturing.

It is plainly obvious that, even from a purely economic perspective, these states have vastly different interests.

Under the National Popular Vote compact, the voices of states with smaller populations (like Maine and Nevada) would be quickly drowned out by states with larger populations (like California and New York).

This would create what Alexis de Tocqueville warned against when he spoke of the potential for democracy to lead to a “tyranny of the majority.” It was for this reason that the Founding Fathers did not establish a pure democracy.

The National Popular Vote compact is unfair and is, in fact, antithetical to representative democracy. For a small state like Maine or Nevada to pass this compact is self-destructive—and it also potentially thwarts the votes of residents of larger states as well.

Article II of the Constitution prescribes the Electoral College as the method by which the president is chosen. The National Popular Vote compact is an underhanded attempt to get rid of the Electoral College without going through the formal process of amending the Constitution.

The compact’s backers even claim they can ignore the compact clause of the Constitution that, under Supreme Court precedent , requires this type of interstate compact to be approved by Congress.

Under the compact, smaller states like Maine and Nevada would suffer the most under the inevitable tyranny of the most populous states.

The lawmakers who blocked the compact from passing in Maine and Nevada should be applauded for standing up for true representative government.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Editorial; Government; Politics/Elections; US: Maine; US: Nevada; US: Vermont
KEYWORDS: berniesanders; democrats; electoralcollege; faithlesselectors; maine; nationalpopularvote; nevada; npv; popularvote; sorelosers; stevesisolak; vermont; vonspakovsky
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1 posted on 07/22/2019 1:17:18 PM PDT by jazusamo
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To: jazusamo

Unconstitutional???


2 posted on 07/22/2019 1:18:06 PM PDT by mplc51
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To: jazusamo

EXCELLENT explanation of the electoral system.

For years I didn’t understand it and very few people I asked about it could explain it clearly. It was obvious they didn’t understand it either.

I finally figured it out, I don’t remember how, but it does make sense now.

Thanks for posting this.


3 posted on 07/22/2019 1:26:49 PM PDT by metmom ( ...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith..)
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To: metmom

You’re most welcome.

I felt the same when reading it, it’s the best explanation I’ve seen.


4 posted on 07/22/2019 1:29:50 PM PDT by jazusamo (Have You Donated to Keep Free Republic Up and Running?)
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To: jazusamo

Why of course it does. Who thought otherwise is what I want to know.


5 posted on 07/22/2019 1:33:18 PM PDT by ImJustAnotherOkie (All I know is The I read in the papers.)
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To: jazusamo

Generally, the small states (population-wise,) are red states.


6 posted on 07/22/2019 1:39:27 PM PDT by Fido969 (In!)
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To: jazusamo

Nailed It !

7 posted on 07/22/2019 1:39:51 PM PDT by Fiddlstix (Warning! This Is A Subliminal Tagline! Read it at your own risk!(Presented by TagLines R US))
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To: jazusamo

Another Freeper mentioned that every time the Left proposes abolishing the electoral college, it should be countered with a proposal to assign electoral votes by COUNTY.


8 posted on 07/22/2019 1:42:17 PM PDT by PGR88
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To: mplc51

Certainly, such a compact would be Unconstitutional, unless the agreement was approved by the United States Congress. If that were to happen, the compact might survive the inevitible Court challenge. Consider what would happen if the compact reached the 270 electoral votes thresehold this year. The House would approve the change. What would the Senate do, and would the Senate need 60 votes or would a simple majority do the trick?

I don’t think that enough states will ever agree to do this, but on paper, this initiative threatens the entire structure and future of our Republic.


9 posted on 07/22/2019 1:47:26 PM PDT by centurion316
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To: jazusamo

If it ain’t broke don’t fix it...

Once the genie is out of the bottle you have given ground needlessly and ground lost is hard or impossible to get back

It is there for a reason and trust me they have thought long and hard why they want it abolished and population density to reign supreme


10 posted on 07/22/2019 1:49:53 PM PDT by 100American (Knowledge is knowing how, Wisdom is knowing when)
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To: 100American

Well said!


11 posted on 07/22/2019 1:52:11 PM PDT by jazusamo (Have You Donated to Keep Free Republic Up and Running?)
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MAGA!

Support Free Republic Folks, Donate Today!

Please bump the Freepathon or click above to donate or become a monthly donor!

12 posted on 07/22/2019 1:52:57 PM PDT by jazusamo (Have You Donated to Keep Free Republic Up and Running?)
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To: jazusamo

Another lame arse attempt to get rid of the electoral college, yawn........


13 posted on 07/22/2019 1:53:32 PM PDT by cranked
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To: centurion316

Look at what happened with the 17th amendment. NEVER say it can’t happen!


14 posted on 07/22/2019 1:57:39 PM PDT by Don W (When blacks riot, neighbourhoods and cities burn. When whites riot, nations and continents burn.)
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To: jazusamo

Keeps elections from being decided by blue sh!th*le cities.


15 posted on 07/22/2019 2:01:18 PM PDT by kaehurowing
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To: centurion316

The purpose of the “compact” is to set the U.S. up for a civil war. E.g., if last election’s scenario happens again (Trump wins the Electoral College, but the Socialist Progressive candidate “wins” the popular vote), the Socialist Progressive will claim they are president, not Trump.

The military will have to decide which side they support.


16 posted on 07/22/2019 2:03:34 PM PDT by kaehurowing
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To: mplc51

I don’t see how this compact can possibly be constitutional. This is a federal election for federal offices. The people of the state are voting directly for electors to sit in the electoral college, just as the people of the state vote for senators and representatives. How can the state award the office to the losers rather than the winners because other states voted for electors of the opposite party, because more electors from other states were elected to that (opposite) party. It is no different than awarding a senate seat to the individual who lost because a majority of other states elected a senator from the loser’s party. This is patently unconstitutional and absurd. I think this issue is going to end up in front of the Supreme Court.


17 posted on 07/22/2019 2:04:54 PM PDT by erkelly
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To: jazusamo

Easiest way to explain the electoral college is with an analogy that the wide test is more important than the deep test. People who have a vested interest in living off of and growing the size of government need to ensure they are being fair to a wide enough section of the country to win the wide test. Even your average Democrat should be able to understand that analogy.


18 posted on 07/22/2019 2:05:20 PM PDT by Vigilanteman (The politicized state destroys aspects of civil society, human kindness and private charity.)
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To: Fido969

Delaware, Rhode Island, Maine, Nevada, Alaska, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Idaho... a real mix of Red and Blue states... and a purple or two.


19 posted on 07/22/2019 2:08:02 PM PDT by ReleaseTheHounds ("The problem with Socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money." M. Thatcher)
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To: metmom

‘EXCELLENT explanation of the electoral system.and informed’

the primary purpose of the EC was to establish a buffer between the populace and the selection of the POTUS; the Founders were wary of an electorate that can be more easily duped than a small body of informed electors, who could be a check on manipulation of the system...


20 posted on 07/22/2019 2:21:17 PM PDT by IrishBrigade
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