Electoral College - What you need to know?

[Jimmy Higgins]

What is the Electoral College - Much like Trump University, is a scam and it isn't an actual college. The Electoral College was the Founding Father's hedge on Democracy, removing direct election of the leader of the United States from that of wealthy white male land owners and into the hands of wealthier white male land owners.

Sounds unnecessarily complicated. Who's idea this? - Probably Madison's. That guy was a dick!

How does the Electoral College Work - The Electoral College involves a multi-step process where "electors" who were selected by wealthy powerful people to allegedly vote alongside the will of the people. These votes are then put in envelops and mailed to Washington DC. In the 18th Century, this could take months, but these days, the USPS can safely and securely get those ballots to DC in 3 to 4 weeks. Then the Congress opens the envelops on a specific day and counts them.

Can't they just call DC and let them know the vote and get this all done in a day? - Yes... they could, but this is America and progress is communist!

Who oversees the count of the Electoral Votes - The standing Vice President.

What if he wants to sit? - That is fine too.

Can the Vice President influence the counting of the votes - After the shit show in 1876, Congress passed a law stating that shit shows were to be eliminated. So if states mail their ballots and they are received by a certain date, known as a the "Safe Harbor" date, then those votes shall be counted. "Shall" is legalese for "you will fucking do it, or we'll grind you into sausage!".

But so many things Trump has done weren't really legal and he got away with it, how is this any different? - It isn't. That is why we are a little on edge today.

So the Electoral College counts and says Joe Biden won, what is next - We sit and meditate and pray that Trump doesn't start WWIII because he has $400 million in loans coming due and he has a couple high level prosecutors looking to take his ass to jail.

Sounds serious - Like I said. We are a bit on edge.

Is this normal? - No. It isn't fucking normal. This is unprecedented. The 1876 was a shit show, but it was a shit show on Election Day where Democrats obstructed blacks from voting in several states. Tilden won the popular vote. but he didn't win the popular vote legitimately. It was fucked up! 2020... nothing bad happened. There are a couple fringe "news" channels that are inciting an insurrection against an election result that was verified and fair. Over 100 House Republicans are trying to overthrow the will of the people because of election fraud that wasn't even claimed by Trump's lawyer's in state court. 11 Senate Republicans want to back the 140 or so House Republicans, meaning that nearly half of the Republicans in Congress are trying to steal an election using the justification that the other guy already stole it, so this is okay! That isn't normal. That has never happened in the history of our country before. We've had odd things happen in 1824, 1876, 2000, but this rises to a level we've never remotely seen.

You sound like you are on edge - No kidding.


.

 

[ZiprHead]

I wonder if this would be a good time to try to amend the constitution and get rid of the electoral college. The Magats are so stupid maybe they can be convinced because the electoral college didn't help them this time.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I'd say, at the very least, get rid of people in the Electoral College. Make it automated votes, period. Otherwise, I don't see the College going anywhere. The Republicans have won the popular vote once since 1992, that is once in eight elections!

 

[hurtinbuckaroo]

I wonder if this would be a good time to try to amend the constitution and get rid of the electoral college. The Magats are so stupid maybe they can be convinced because the electoral college didn't help them this time.

Plenty of Republicans are concerned about that. Time for a covert campaign against the EC.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

And does anyone with reasonable intelligence actually think that this will suddenly and magically make the assholes stop? Who are trying to kid besides yourself?

The EC isn't the problem. Assholes and appeasing assholes is the problem.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

And does anyone with reasonable intelligence actually think that this will suddenly and magically make the assholes stop? Who are trying to kid besides yourself?

The EC isn't the problem. Assholes and appeasing assholes is the problem.

You repeat a lie enough, you become a prisoner to it, and invested in it. And once you were bullshitting people trying to appease the President's idiotic and violent base, it can become something you can't walk back. You are no longer defending a lie, but your reputation and career!

I don't know how far gone Cruz et al. are in the Senate. McConnell certainly has the power to strip committee seats to get his caucus in fucking order! The House... most of the GOP In the House are out of their mind. 2/3's of it backing overthrowing the election. But what they say doesn't matter if the Senate stops it. The Dems did in 2016!

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

What is the Electoral College - Much like Trump University, is a scam and it isn't an actual college. The Electoral College was the Founding Father's hedge on Democracy, removing direct election of the leader of the United States from that of wealthy white male land owners and into the hands of wealthier white male land owners.

Sounds unnecessarily complicated. Who's idea this? - Probably Madison's. That guy was a dick!

How does the Electoral College Work - The Electoral College involves a multi-step process where "electors" who were selected by wealthy powerful people to allegedly vote alongside the will of the people. These votes are then put in envelops and mailed to Washington DC. In the 18th Century, this could take months, but these days, the USPS can safely and securely get those ballots to DC in 3 to 4 weeks. Then the Congress opens the envelops on a specific day and counts them.

Can't they just call DC and let them know the vote and get this all done in a day? - Yes... they could, but this is America and progress is communist!

Who oversees the count of the Electoral Votes - The standing Vice President.

What if he wants to sit? - That is fine too.

Can the Vice President influence the counting of the votes - After the shit show in 1876, Congress passed a law stating that shit shows were to be eliminated. So if states mail their ballots and they are received by a certain date, known as a the "Safe Harbor" date, then those votes shall be counted. "Shall" is legalese for "you will fucking do it, or we'll grind you into sausage!".

But so many things Trump has done weren't really legal and he got away with it, how is this any different? - It isn't. That is why we are a little on edge today.

So the Electoral College counts and says Joe Biden won, what is next - We sit and meditate and pray that Trump doesn't start WWIII because he has $400 million in loans coming due and he has a couple high level prosecutors looking to take his ass to jail.

Sounds serious - Like I said. We are a bit on edge.

Is this normal? - No. It isn't fucking normal. This is unprecedented. The 1876 was a shit show, but it was a shit show on Election Day where Democrats obstructed blacks from voting in several states. Tilden won the popular vote. but he didn't win the popular vote legitimately. It was fucked up! 2020... nothing bad happened. There are a couple fringe "news" channels that are inciting an insurrection against an election result that was verified and fair. Over 100 House Republicans are trying to overthrow the will of the people because of election fraud that wasn't even claimed by Trump's lawyer's in state court. 11 Senate Republicans want to back the 140 or so House Republicans, meaning that nearly half of the Republicans in Congress are trying to steal an election using the justification that the other guy already stole it, so this is okay! That isn't normal. That has never happened in the history of our country before. We've had odd things happen in 1824, 1876, 2000, but this rises to a level we've never remotely seen.

You sound like you are on edge - No kidding.


.

We've fallen quite a bit today. Rep. Tarr and President Fether and the other loons are running the show now. So, I guess we need a couple more things for the Faq.

So... suppose an angry mob charges at the Capitol Building and security is laxer than at a Simon Garkunkel Concert, how does that impact the voting? - Well, people hit the floor, go into lockdown and that's it for the day or maybe even week.

Can the Electoral College vote count occur outside of the Capitol Building? - Great question. Next.

Is there a deadline for counting the vote? - Presumably Inauguration Day.

You are just making stuff up now, aren't you? - We pretty much all are at the moment!

 

[ZiprHead]

 

[Terrell]

Good point about NYC. Similar is true for LA. It's got a bigger population than most individual states.

http://www.laalmanac.com/population/po04a.php

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

View attachment 33052

So, how many electoral college votes are represented by the red area, and how many are represented by the dot that is NYC?

 

[untermensche]

This only involves the selection of one public servant.

One man one vote. Women can vote too.

Your vote counts if you are Democrat in Alabama or a Republican in New York.

The writers of the Constitution wanted a quasi-democratic system that had no titles gained by heredity but not a free democratic system they could not control.

 

[Gun Nut]

I wonder if this would be a good time to try to amend the constitution and get rid of the electoral college. The Magats are so stupid maybe they can be convinced because the electoral college didn't help them this time.

I don't know about that... 8 million votes short of victory sounds a lot better than 74 points short of victory to me.

 

[Elixir]

The writers of the Constitution wanted a quasi-democratic system that had no titles gained by heredity but not a free democratic system they could not control.

That's right. They wanted to ensure the primacy of land and slave owners, while allowing a degree of equality among them.

 

[jonatha]

View attachment 33052

So, how many electoral college votes are represented by the red area, and how many are represented by the dot that is NYC?

The cited 8.4 million population for New York apparently represents just the five boroughs. It's not clear that districts follow borough boundaries, but my best guess from https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipe...congressional_districts_from_2013_to_2022.png is that the five boroughs constitute 11 electoral votes (12 if you count district 16, which is mainly Westchester but includes a piece of the Bronx).

This is in keeping with the size of an electoral district (711K people).

The red area is probably a bit more since it looks like it includes at least three complete red states (Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming), which would make 18 electoral votes.

ETA - This is of course a response to the nonsense that since the voters in a large majority of the land area of the United States voted Republican Trump must have won.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

The writers of the Constitution wanted a quasi-democratic system that had no titles gained by heredity but not a free democratic system they could not control.

That's right. They wanted to ensure the primacy of land and slave owners, while allowing a degree of equality among them.

Yep. One had to be a white male, wealthy, and a member of the CoE in Virginia previous to the Constitution. This is not privilege anyone wanted to give up.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

View attachment 33052

So, how many electoral college votes are represented by the red area, and how many are represented by the dot that is NYC?

The cited 8.4 million population for New York apparently represents just the five boroughs. It's not clear that districts follow borough boundaries, but my best guess from https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipe...congressional_districts_from_2013_to_2022.png is that the five boroughs constitute 11 electoral votes (12 if you count district 16, which is mainly Westchester but includes a piece of the Bronx).

This is in keeping with the size of an electoral district (711K people).

The red area is probably a bit more since it looks like it includes at least three complete red states (Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming), which would make 18 electoral votes.

That's the failure of the Electoral System is it not? 8.4 million votes should equal 8.4 million as far as the electoral college is concerned but it doesn't. If not for that inequality favoring some states, we have a lot less republicans being elected as president. It's gerrymandering at a federal level when you get right down to it.

 

[TomC]

That's the failure of the Electoral System is it not? 8.4 million votes should equal 8.4 million as far as the electoral college is concerned but it doesn't. If not for that inequality favoring some states, we have a lot less republicans being elected as president. It's gerrymandering at a federal level when you get right down to it.

I agree.
And while there is no perfect solution to this problem, I believe that

https://www.nationalpopularvote.com/

has the most feasible solution.
Tom

 

[Shadowy Man]

View attachment 33052

So, how many electoral college votes are represented by the red area, and how many are represented by the dot that is NYC?

How many senators represent the red area, and how many represent the dot that is NYC?

 

[Elixir]

That's the failure of the Electoral System is it not? 8.4 million votes should equal 8.4 million as far as the electoral college is concerned but it doesn't. If not for that inequality favoring some states, we have a lot less republicans being elected as president. It's gerrymandering at a federal level when you get right down to it.

I agree.
And while there is no perfect solution to this problem, I believe that

https://www.nationalpopularvote.com/

has the most feasible solution.
Tom

Certainly so.
74 more electoral votes looks like a high hurdle at the moment, especially with the red states that showed glimmers of purple in 2020 all hastening to suppress the votes of the poor and the off-color.
Republicans are trying to make sure that even if say, Arizona should pass a referendum to sign on to the National Popular Vote, the legislature can just say - "yeah, okay, thanks for playing - we're not going to do it".
The destruction of democracy may well have passed the point of no return already.

 

[Swammerdami]

...
And while there is no perfect solution to this problem, I believe that

https://www.nationalpopularvote.com/

has the most feasible solution.
Tom

Maybe. But suppose a red state does join the states (overwhelmingly-blue) that have enacted National Popular Vote, the 270 threshold is reached, and we have another election like 2016 where the popular vote is D but the usual electoral vote would go for the R. Does anyone doubt for one second that the red state which signed up for National Popular Vote would violate their own agreement and cast their EV's for the Red? There's no doubt whatsoever that they would cheat: Cheating and winning elections at any cost are the sole ideological principles left to the Republican Party.

And if the popular vote is close? The GOP would demand recounts in every state, doubtless cheating on the count in every state they control. States controlled by "National Popular Vote" would feel free to impose their own versions of counts from blue states. Chaos.