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| Topic | Election 2020 Statistics and Discussion |
| Yesmar_ 10/27/20 5:09:42 PM #143: | Tom Bombadil posted... I don't get why we have to select specific electors in the first place instead of the votes just....going to whoever earned them. It seems like a needless step in the best case, and a recipe for weird faithless elector controversy in the worst. Electors were not initially meant to represent the popular vote. States are allowed to appoint electors however they want, not just to represent whomever wins the popular vote in their state. Every state just so happens to do that, but it's not required*. When the Constitution was written, it was assumed (and indeed was the case for most states initially) that electors would be chosen by a vote in the state legislatures (similar to how the Senate was initially chosen.) During the 1820's almost every state switched over to using a popular vote to decide electors in an effort for the country to become more democratic, and while the latter goal was achieved it established a disconnect between the Electoral College and the overall Presidential Election which was not really intended. *South Carolina didn't have a popular vote for President until after the Civil War! --- Congrats on Advokaiser for winning the 2018 Guru Contest! Yesmar ... Copied to Clipboard! |
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