Hmm. What do you think?
Many Americans are disenfranchised and some states are ignored because of the Electoral College, and it’s time to abandon it, former Vice President Al Gore said on Thursday night as part of Current TV’s coverage of the Republican National Convention.
“I really do now think it’s time to change that. It’s always tough to amend the Constitution and risky to do so, but there is a very interesting movement under way that takes it state by state, that may really have a chance of succeeding. I hope it does,” Gore said.
Asked to describe the movement, Gore was vague, saying it “started in California and it’s gained a lot of momentum.”
[…] “I supported the idea of the Electoral College because the logic is, it knits the country together, prevents regional conflicts, and it goes back through our history with some legitimate concerns,” he said. “But since, I’ve given a lot of thought to it and I’ve seen how these states are just written off.”
I think it should be linked to a Make All Votes Count Amendment that also requires paper ballots that are counted in a public arena open to anyone interested. Not just “witnessed” by representatives of 2 major parties.
I think most Americans do not even know about the electoral college, much less the fact that even if you vote for an elector who promises to vote for a certain candidate, that elector is not legally bound to do so. Plus, states do not count them the same — some splitting the votes, others having a winner-take-all approach; how very lop-sided and undemocractic.
I think he’s referring to The National Popular Vote. States agree to assign all their electors to the winner of the national popular vote. If enough states to account for 270 electors do it, then we’d be done with the braindead Electoral College. States with 132 votes have ratified, so far. I gather a bunch more will, they’re just taking their sweet time.
I mean, it’s not like there’s a problem with representation in this country or anything.