Why do we still have the electoral college system?
>> Why do we still have the electoral college system?Why do we “still” have freedom of speech? Why do we “still” have protection against unlawful searches? Why do we “still” have protection against self incrimination? Why do we “still” prohibit cruel and unusual punishment?We “still” have these things because it is written into our Constitution.Same with the Electoral College. It is how our system is set up. We are a Republic for a reason and we are not a Democracy for a reason. A Republic is more fair to the will of the people as a whole. A Democracy works in favour of those who belong to a large interest group- that's why the framers did not want a Democracy. They knew from history in Europe that it was unfair and did not accurately reflect the will of the people.The Constitution is designed to be incredibly difficult to change. Not impossible, but very difficult. This prevents people who, for example, don't like the outcome of an election from changing our system so it is easier for their candidate to get elected.If Hillary had won, would anyone even be asking this absurd question? Or would these same people questioning it be boasting how great our system is set up and once again has proven that it still is effective after almost 250 years of being in practice?We can't and won't change our Constitution because a few people didn't get their way. Trump won fair and square. Hillary lost. Our system worked as designed- to prevent a few large states from deciding the outcome of every election. If we went by straight popular vote, a handful of states would determine every election. Can you really say that is fair? Someone in Wyoming has just as much right to have their vote count as someone in New York does. And the Electoral College ensures that is preserved.This past election proved it is a sound system and it works exactly as it was designed to. There is absoultely no reason to change it.
Why in the hell do we still have an electoral college pisses me off!?
we do not elect the people that are in the electoral college representing our votes they are appointed! computers could take the popular vote from each state and tally and say this is who we r choosing! bush would have never one either time if it hadnt been for the electoral college he damn sure didnt win the popular vote!
Why can't voters recall a US President?
Because the United States is a Constitutional representative Republic in which the president is not chosen by a popular vote but by a hybrid system that gives much of the power to elect a president to the states. This was done in the Constitution because the president is intended to represent the interest of the states. There is a form of recall, the impeachment process, in which the House (representatives of the people) can impeach the president, and the Senate (representatives of the states) determine guilt or innocence and the degree of punishment, a censure or removal from office. This provides adequate control of a rogue president without the emotional mob-think of a recall; it’s one of the things that separates the US Government from others.
Hypothetically, if 270 or more electors had voted for Ronald Reagan on 2016 Dec 19, who would have won the office of POTUS?
Good question. In these cases, seeing obviously that the Presidency cannot pass on to a dead person, it would possibly go up to the House Of Representatives or have a recall general election. A couple of problems here:Reagan had already been President, and served TWO WHOLE, COMPLETE TERMS, and hence would be CONSTITUTIONALLY BARRED FROM BEING ELECTED A THIRD TIME.Electoral College laws prevent voting for a candidate that is disqualified from running for the Presidency of the United States, including convicted felons, non-natural-born citizens of the U.S., and, you guessed it, dead people.28 or more states have laws that forbid ‘faithless electors’ from casting votes for anyone other than the candidate they were originally elected to vote for and had pledged to vote for. This means that no matter how many unpledged electors vote for a hypothetically resurrected zombie Reagan, they could not break the 50% barrier (i.e. 270 electoral votes). At best they could force the vote to go to the House of Representatives. At worst, they would cause a major constitutional crisis in which anything could happen:Abolition of The Electoral College for now, and forever;Dissolving the Executive entirely, placing Speaker Paul Ryan as the interim President while votes are recalled and recounted, orCalling a new general election, but only restricted to the PresidencyOr, even though this is almost impossible- Barack Obama may either appoint Joe Biden or take the post himself in a caretaker position until new elections are called.Looks like even the ol’ Gipper can’t save us from Trump now- but hey, it’s better than the alternative; civil war, or total disintegration of the Federal Government of the United States of America. Ouch.
How do electoral votes affect the election of a president?
Electoral votes not the popular vote, get elected. Whoever reaches 270 or more.
How do you win the electoral college? What type of candidates to electors favor?
Definitely like BUSH v. GORE. Gore won about a half million more popular votes than Bush. I blame Ralph Nader for Bush’s disastrous presidency. Nader ran as a progressive third-party candidate and got over 2% of the Florida vote, as I recall. But he also got over 20,000 votes in New Hampshire, which Bush won by about 7000 votes. New Hampshire’s electoral votes, had they gone to Gore, would, as with Florida’s, have him winning the electoral college. The Wikipedia article on this election is very informative. The Supreme Court’s decision in this case was truly terrible legal reasoning, so bad that I wrote an entire appendix on the case explaining why in the edition of my book REASON IN LAW that came out shortly after the election. But I suspect had the Court ruled the other way, and left the decision to Florida (which is precisely what the Constitution says), the Florida legislature would have intervened and declared Bush the winner in Florida anyway.
When does the electoral college make up change again?
Should be every ten years if I recall right just like the population counting
Why do the voters have to wait for a leader to resign/impeach if s/he's caught in a scandal instead of gathering the enough amount of votes to take him/her down?
The State of Oregon, where I lived most of my youth, has provisions in its Constitution to allow the voters to do what I think you are asking, at least for State Offices. Article II, Section 18 begins:(1) Every public officer in Oregon is subject, as herein provided, to recall by the electors of the state or of the electoral district from which the public officer is elected.(2) Fifteen per cent, but not more, of the number of electors who voted for Governor in the officer’s electoral district at the most recent election at which a candidate for Governor was elected to a full term, may be required to file their petition demanding the officer’s recall by the people.(3) They shall set forth in the petition the reasons for the demand.(The Oregon State Constitution is very long winded compared to the US Constitution. I am not going to copy here even the full text about recall, which is more than a full page.)The exact text is not important for the current discussion. The point is that the framers of Oregon’s Constitution allowed for the voters of Oregon to raise a petition (15% of the voter in the disctrict) which would force a special election which could allow for the removal of a suffiently objectionable governor or legislator. They built that in as a form of direct accountability.Several States have recall provisions which allow the voters to “change their minds”. Some States’ recall provisions require the finding of specific breaches of law.Most States that don’t have recall provisions (and many that do) have other forms of accountability similar to impeachment. Recall and impeachment are only availble as ways to bring State officials to account in States where the framers of their constitutions have provided for them.The US Constitution does not provide for recall. It does allow for impeachment, with the familiar majority of the House to impeach, -2/3 of the Senate to remove.So, the answer to your question, as to why the voters can’t just get enough votes together to remove a President, is that that’s not the way the Constitution says it works.Q: Why do the voters have to wait for a leader to resign/impeach if s/he's caught in a scandal instead of gathering the enough amount of votes to take him/her down?