Another Monument to White Supremacy That Should Come Down? The Electoral College

[tulc]

Another monument to white supremacy that should come down? The Electoral College

We are in a moment of reckoning over racism, not only taking down Confederate statues to eradicate these lingering odes to white supremacy but also examining how deeply our society has been shaped by slavery and its aftermath. Last year, the New York Times’ 1619 Project traced the influence of slavery on everything from American capitalism to the American diet. Today, individuals, brands, and lawmakers are taking stock. In this reappraisal, the Electoral College is likewise due for a second look.

tulc(thought this was interesting)

 

[thecolorsblend]

When you can't win playing by the rules, time to change the rules!

 

[SoldierOfTheKing]

The Electoral College? The entire Constitution is their sights. It was, after all, drafted exclusively by white males.

 

[Hank77]

 

[tulc]

When you can't win playing by the rules, time to change the rules!

...wasn't that the whole point of the American revolution? Being able to change the rules if they no longer served the needs of its citizens? Or was the Constitution written in stone, handed down from a mountain top, never to be changed by the hands of mere mortal men?
tulc(kind of thought that was the point of Amendments and such)

 

[tulc]

I'm kind of curious how many of the people who responded to the OP actually read the link?
tulc(a curious sort of guy)

 

[JimR-OCDS]

The EC had and has nothing to do with White Supremacy. Mother Jones is flawed in this assessment.

Any politician who advocates getting rid of the EC, will not get my vote

Do these people realize that Donald Trump comes from New York, one of the largest population areas of the US ?

 

[hislegacy]

Mother Jones. Eh, can I respond with Brietbart? Perhaps it will bring it into balance far left vs far right.

As for the electoral college, it is an indispensable tool to make sure the country isn’t represented only by large populations, but every state has an equal say.

How every US state voted in the 2016 presidential election

trump won 30 states vs Clinton’s 20. Without the electoral college the votes in those 30 states would be meaningless.

The racist moniker is the last thrust in a dying hope of stealing an election.

 

[thecolorsblend]

The EC had and has nothing to do with White Supremacy. Mother Jones is flawed in this assessment.

In today's world, "white supremacy" is defined as "Stuff communists don't like".

So yes, the EC is "white supremacy" by that reckoning.

 

[thecolorsblend]

every state has an equal say

A proportional say.

 

[tulc]

The EC had and has nothing to do with White Supremacy. Mother Jones is flawed in this assessment.

...how many non-white voters were there in the first 70 years or so of American history? I'm just curious.

Any politician who advocates getting rid of the EC, will not get my vote

that's your right to do...so you wont be voting for this guy, right?:
President Trump Reaffirms His Long-Standing Opposition to Electoral College, and Favors A Nationwide Vote for President

Donald Trump said, "The electoral college is a disaster for a democracy. ... A total sham and a travesty."

Do these people realize that Donald Trump comes from New York, one of the largest population areas of the US ?

...you mean the State that voted for his opponent in 2016?
2016 United States presidential election in New York - Wikipedia.

New York State remained a solidly blue state, with Hillary Clinton winning with 59.01% of the vote, while Donald Trump received 36.52% of the vote, a 22.49% Democratic victory margin

tulc(is just curious, part 2)

 

[tulc]

(snip) trump won 30 states vs Clinton’s 20. Without the electoral college the votes in those 30 states would be meaningless. (snip)

...you mean like the majority of voters in 2016 who didn't want President Trump to be President votes were meaningless? Yeah, that would be a drag.
tulc(which makes twice in this century that a Republican became President in spite of not having a majority of votes)

 

[tulc]

In today's world, "white supremacy" is defined as "Stuff communists don't like".

So yes, the EC is "white supremacy" by that reckoning.

So you think President Trump is a communist?
tulc(isn't sure that's true)

 

[JimR-OCDS]

...how many non-white voters were there in the first 70 years or so of American history? I'm just curious.

Slaves could not vote, but pro-slavery states wanted to count them in their census, so they could get more seats in the House of Representatives.

Most likely few if any non-whites could votes, but that's not the reason for making the EC part of the Constitution. It was to keep the highly populated industrial states from dominating the rural states, which not all of them were slavery states in the south. At the time as now, New Hampshire and Vermont were low populated rural states. They'd be dominated by New York, Philadelphia and Boston

FYI, I never voted for Trump nor do I plan to, so it makes no difference to me what he says.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

...you mean like the majority of voters in 2016 who didn't want President Trump to be President votes were meaningless? Yeah, that would be a drag.
tulc(which makes twice in this century that a Republican became President in spite of not having a majority of votes)

We don't elect presidents by popular vote, but by the EC, which is the most fair system we can have.

If the EC were irrelevant, both Trump and Hillary would not have gone to New Hampshire two weeks before the General Election, to campaign for just 4 electoral votes.

They would've focused on New York, California, Texas mostly, as they have the highest numbers of people.

People here in MA are shocked to learn that Boston only has 750,000 people total while New York City alone has 9 million.

Also, look at who the powerful in Congress are and the states they live in. They live in New York and California

 

[tulc]

Slaves could not vote, but pro-slavery states wanted to count them in their census, so they could get more seats in the House of Representatives.

...so that would be "None." Okay, how many people were allowed to vote? According to this not many:
Constitutional Rights Foundation - Constitutional Rights Foundation

After eliminating everyone under the age of 21, all slaves and women, most Jews and Catholics, plus those men too poor to be freeholders, the colonial electorate consisted of perhaps only 10 percent to 20 percent of the total population.

all white, all males.

Most likely few if any non-whites could votes, but that's not the reason for making the EC part of the Constitution. It was to keep the highly populated industrial states from dominating the rural states, which not all of them were slavery states in the south. At the time as now, New Hampshire and Vermont were low populated rural states. They'd be dominated by New York, Philadelphia and Boston

Yes I'm aware of why they said they did it, I'm simply not sure why we still need to do it. Considering less than 20% of Americans live in rural America. On the other hand, if those peoples votes are so important to making/keeping America great, shouldn't they be shouldering an equal amount of the tax burden as the more populous States? I'd think that would be only fair.

FYI, I never voted for Trump nor do I plan to, so it makes no difference to me what he says.

Never said you did/were, I was simply pointing out a fact that I found to be interesting.
tulc(also isn't planning on voting for President Trump)

 

[FenderTL5]

I would oppose eliminating the Electoral College.

There many reasons, first I don't think it the bigger issue and secondly it would require Constitutional Amendment. The bigger issue is the fixed number of House Representatives.
What I think should be done is the Reapportionment Act of 1929 needs to be repealed and replaced in order to change the number of congressional members.
From a constitutional standpoint, the only restriction on House size is a limit of one representative per thirty thousand people.

We then take the state with the smallest population and apportion based on that number. The congress would grow marginally, the EC would fluctuate with the population growth but it would function exactly as it does now, with no procedural change. The current issue would be addressed without amending the Constitution.

This concept is called 'The Wyoming Rule' because currently, Wyoming would be the base state.

 

[hislegacy]

Can anyone - please, anyone point to any writings concerning the Electoral College where Race is even mentioned?

 

[hislegacy]

...so that would be "None." Okay, how many people were allowed to vote? According to this not many:
Constitutional Rights Foundation - Constitutional Rights Foundation
all white, all males.

Can you show where this was a result of the Electoral college?

Grabbing cookies and coffee, this should be some gooooood twisting!

 

[tulc]

Can anyone - please, anyone point to any writings concerning the Electoral College where Race is even mentioned?

...who was allowed to vote when the Electoral college was put in place? Were black people allowed to vote? So, yes, race was written into the electoral college from it's beginning.
tulc(kind of thought that was obvious)