We are indeed fortunate to live in the United States, a nation governed by arguably the wisest and most carefully crafted governing document in the world today – the Constitution of the United States. Every action the national government is authorized to take on our behalf, every role and every requirement of every elected official is documented therein.
This includes elections, particularly the method by which we elect the Chief Executive – the President of the United States. Because the country is a constitutional republic made up of 50 sovereign states, each state holds its own election for a list of voters who come together to elect the president. This is colloquially known as the Electoral College. Voters are expected to vote for the presidential candidate who won the state election, and by and immense that is the case, except for the occasional “disbelieving voter.”
The roles of our elected representatives are set forth in the Constitution and they take an oath to uphold that Constitution. In that case, it would be nice if some of them read it; then we would not be subject Such monstrous stupidity:
BREAKING: A group of Senate Democrats is introducing a bill to abolish the Electoral College, which would restore democracy by allowing the direct election of presidents by popular vote alone.
— Senate Judiciary Committee (@JudiciaryDems) December 16, 2024
There are so many things wrong with this that it’s tough to know where to start – so let’s start at the beginning.
First, Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution states in part:
Executive power rests with a President of the United States of America. He shall hold office for a period of four years and shall be elected together with the Vice President elected for the same term as follows
Each State shall appoint, in such manner as its Legislature may direct, a number of electors equal to the total number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in Congress, but not a Senator or Representative or person holding any office The Office of the Trustee or Profit Office of the United States shall be appointed elector.
Electors meet in their respective states and vote by ballot for two people, at least one of whom must not be a resident of the same state as them.
First, we hold elections to determine who the voters will be, and they vote for the president. That’s not how it’s commonly described, but that’s how it works. Electoral apportionment is a brilliant system that ensures that every state has a say in presidential elections; otherwise every presidential election would be decided in a few immense cities.
But most importantly, these “Senate Democrats” clearly do not understand that they cannot simply pass a bill to abolish this system. This would require a constitutional amendment, i.e. a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate, followed by ratification by three-quarters of the 50 states – i.e. 33 states. Good luck with that.
Second, claiming to “restore democracy” cannot restore what was never the case. The United States was founded as a constitutional republic and remains a constitutional republic today. The words “democrat,” “democrat,” and “democracy” appear nowhere in the Constitution, although Article 4, Section 4 states:
The United States guarantees every state in this Union a republican form of government and protects each of them from invasion. and at the request of the legislature or the executive branch (if the legislature cannot convene) against domestic violence.
“Restore” also means “to return to a previous state.” The electoral system has existed since the ratification of the Constitution. There is nothing to restore.
See related:
Progressive members of Congress never learn: It’s not the message, it’s the message
Clueless in Minnesota: Jazz Hands Walz can’t figure out why the billionaire won even though he and Kamala didn’t
After all, there is no popular vote for president. None. The constitution does not allow this. Oh, the “popular vote” is often cited as a statistical oddity and can be interpreted as giving a mandate to a novel president – and Donald Trump’s 5 million vote lead over Kamala Harris appears to have done that.
None of the Democrats have ever served on the Senate Judiciary Committee seen a copy of the constitution? Writing and submitting such a bill, let alone for X to brag about it, is a petty act of the worst kind. In a sane country with a sane electorate, this kind of stupidity should result in a riot from the fools in question at the next election. This kind of ignorance is – or at least should be – disqualifying.
