Boo_Boo Loc: Jellystone

Constitution (Amendment 12), does not prevent them from voting differently. In history, "faithless electors" have voted 152 times against the popular state vote choice. Most recently is Micheal Baca, who was supposed to vote for killary but crossed out her name and wrote in Kasich which prompted the state to nullify his vote and he sued. What the ruling did was uphold the right of the "faithless elector" and prevent their vote from being nullified by the state.

It is called "Hamilton Electors." The idea was to persuade enough members of the electoral college — the body of 538 members who vote for president — to instead cast ballots for Republicans such as former Ohio governor John Kasich, depriving Trump of just enough electoral votes required to become president.

Now, the federal appeals court has upheld the right of “faithless electors” to vote with their conscience — a ruling that throws into question states’ winner-take-all election systems that bind electors to vote for the state’s popular vote winner.

Sixteen (16) states, including Colorado, have passed laws that would award all of their electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote not who won the state— a nationwide initiative that would virtually wipe out the need for an electoral college if enough states join.

JediKnight

The EC should have been abolished years ago in my opinion. What's the point of the individual vote if EC can go against the will of the people?

JimMe

nwtk2007... Not only that, but Electorates for both Trump and Clinton cast their votes for different people... And in the past, several Electorates have cast votes instead of who they were suppose to... But this doesn't stop the ridiculous thinking of these "Educated Representatives"...

Boo_Boo Loc: Jellystone

With just the popular vote, and no EC, the votes from the middle of our country would never count. Take a look at the map....it is clear upon 1st glance, the nation voted Republican....yet popular vote, due to a few states (and I will not go into who voted) Democrats won the popular vote. The EC allows all votes to count.

JediKnight

I am not sure of how you arrive at "without the EC the votes from the middle of the country would never count." Isn't the "popular vote" a count of all those who voted? Why don't they count? Also, what is the point of the EC when we're supposedly under the "one person = one vote" concept?

Idaho Lassie

Whenever I hear liberals complain about the electoral college and how their vote weighs in slightly differently... I ask them if they partake in their own party’s primary... and how they feel about their vote being worth 1/10,000th of one of their super peeps’s votes??? It’s a blatant insult to their intelligence. Whenever they start raising a fuss saying this doesn’t seem fair (you’re damn right it’s not fair), they then have someone come out and elite-splain it to them. Now what did we talk about last time... the citizens don’t know these candidates up close and personal. They see them on tv and think... he seems nice I’ll vote for him. But we work with these people, side by side. We really know these people. We might know that this guy is actually not that nice when the cameras are off. And that’s what superdelegates do... help us dodge a bullet. Yep, kindergarten voice and all.

nwtk2007 Loc: Texas

So if the elector voted for a candidate who didn't win the popular vote, the state could just cancel the vote and have one less electoral college vote? Interesting. Didn't know that.

nwtk2007 Loc: Texas

So, in those states you mention like Colorado, that law would mean that in 2016 all of their electoral votes would have gone to Hillary, even if Trump won?

slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

I believe that was the litigant's basis for this particular lawsuit.

slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

And, presumably, vice-versa...or at least, 'could' have as opposed to "would have." At least, that's the way I read the decision, not sure.

This might prove to be a Pandora's Box.

BigMike Loc: yerington nv

What an amazing opportunity for trouble.

Tug484

Missed it.
Thought sure it would be 9th circuit.

slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

Indeed.

nwtk2007 Loc: Texas

I was thinking the same thing. Too much meddling with this system.

nwtk2007 Loc: Texas

Yep!