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The Electoral College
Nov. 1st, 2016 08:00 amOne could argue that many aspects of our Constitution are broken. Given what looks to be a Clinton vs. Republican Senate war of attrition, we might want to scrap the whole thing. (It took France five tries to get it right.) But enough of the doom and gloom. Let's talk about the Electoral College.
This feature of the Constitution never worked as designed. What was clearly supposed to happen was the proverbial "smoke-filled room." A bunch of state-level worthies were supposed to congregate somewhere, argue among themselves, trade letters with the other states, and hash out who should be the next President.
This didn't even survive the 18th century, getting trashed in the election of 1796. In that election, party politics resulted in solid blocs of electors who merely voted their party. In the election of 1800, another flaw in the process led to the whole mess going to the House of Representatives.
The 12th Amendment fixed the Election of 1800, but the Electoral College stumbled on.
ETA: Presented without comment: The Odds Of An Electoral College-Popular Vote Split Are Increasing.
This feature of the Constitution never worked as designed. What was clearly supposed to happen was the proverbial "smoke-filled room." A bunch of state-level worthies were supposed to congregate somewhere, argue among themselves, trade letters with the other states, and hash out who should be the next President.
This didn't even survive the 18th century, getting trashed in the election of 1796. In that election, party politics resulted in solid blocs of electors who merely voted their party. In the election of 1800, another flaw in the process led to the whole mess going to the House of Representatives.
The 12th Amendment fixed the Election of 1800, but the Electoral College stumbled on.
ETA: Presented without comment: The Odds Of An Electoral College-Popular Vote Split Are Increasing.
