Non Sequitur by Wiley Miller for October 16, 2024

I never encounter this problem. On social media, many people complain about the electoral college, but I don’t remember encountering people who try to explain it.

It’s a trick question: the Electoral College doesn’t work. It was supposed to be impartial, like the Supreme Court – okay, you can stop laughing – and choose the best candidate.

I might pay money to have people stop explaining to me why they are voting for a particular candidate.

But I think everyone understands how the electoral college works, just people hate it.

It doesn’t.

’Nuff said.

Just get rid of it.

I thought there was a move to eliminate it years ago!!!

i love her pink boots.

The electoral college should be a thing of the past. However, I’m sure letting the popular vote decide elections will never come to be. I think apportionment of delegates based on vote count would be fair. Eg. If a candidate wins 75% of the vote in any state, they get 75% of that states delegates. The resullt would mean that even Republicans would get some deligates votes from California (BTW, I am a Democrat in CA). Any chance of that ever coming to be?

That’s going to cost an awful lot, just so he’ll NOT explain how the College works!

Don’t explain it. Just stop it already. Have equal rules on voting nationwide and stop with those local and states BS.

I’ll explain how it doesn’t work for free.

It was created to give slave states more clout in elections, since they had plenty of people but most of them, being enslaved, could not vote. With a little slight-of-hand (i.e. counting slaves as 3/5th of a person) they were able to give their smaller voting population equal weight with the more populous non-slave states. Today, most Democrats want it gone, while most Republicans want to keep it because, even though no one owns slaves anymore, it minimizes the effect of the black vote in certain (Southern) states.

We just have compulsory voting here in Oz. It’s a nuisance, and is checked upon, and somewhat imperfect, but probably gives a fairer result.

“How the electoral college works” in one word: “Badly”.

Sounds like a college you’d like to graduate from.

It is simple, if you are against it, you probably don’t understand it.

Here is how it works. It protects states and rural areas from other states and cities with large populations from having undue power over them. It ensures that the minority is protected from the rampaging plans of majorities. That is how our limited government was wisely constructed. The Electoral college is only on of the many checks and balances to limit the power of government and it also protects against the “tyranny of the majority”.

Just remember this: The STATES created the Federal government, not the other way around.

Anybody for Ranked Choice voting?

The Electoral College was established so less populated areas of the country could not be overwhelmed by the heavily populated of rest of the union. For the sake of our younger generations, I wish the high schools would return to mandating classes in Government & Sociology.

Funny how libs want to get rid of the electoral college, all the while screaming about how (somehow) republicans turned the election into a popularity contest with “populist” candidates (unlike michelle obama or opra winfry…).

An ancient B/S law passed by the republicans!

To keep them in office even if the majority of voters elected another person!

The Electoral College absolutely works. For Republicans. Anytime one is Elected POTUS, with the exception of GW Bush after 9/11, they lose the popular vote. It would literally take an act of Congress to be rid of its stupidity.

We’ll have a lot more to discuss in 3 weeks and, whoever wins, it won’t be pretty.

Another big problem caused by slavery!

The Electoral College was put into place because the founders believed that people were not smart enough to vote for president directly. It was the same way with the senate. Before the 17th Amendment, senators were selected by state legislatures and not the vote of the people.

I would not have a problem with the Electoral College if it did not have the “winner take all” provision that most states invoke.

I think that more people need it explained to them why the Electoral College was designed and how it’s been corrupted to do the opposite of what it was intended to do.

Prediction: Kamala’s gonna win the popular vote by several million,just like Hillary did,but LOSE on electoral college votes…..just sayin’…….

I’m thankful we don’t have the tyranny of the majority

As most of the above comments indicate, most of our current electorate not only do not understand it, they do not want to understand it. Elucidation is unwelcomed. Consider this: a lynch mob is an example of democracy. In oversimplified terms, the Electoral College helps prevent electoral lynch mobbing.

“Electoral College works” is an oxymoron, kind of like “jumbo shrimp”, “military intelligence”, and “business ethics”.

It would take a Constitutional Amendment, ratified by three quarters of the States, & fully a third of the States would be voluntarily giving up what little voice they have. The Electoral College is here until we get conquered or have a successful revolution. Or a Constitutional Convention & last time we let them do that they rewrote the whole thing. They had Ben Franklin. Do you really want these idiots trying?

the electoral college is brilliant…it’s a check and balance against pure democracy which is not our form of government…we are representative republic whereby the minority retains its rights…pure democracy is 51% rule and the 49% drool and get to sit down shut up and do as you’re told which is what results from the popular vote…not to mention the fact that the Constitution has that pesky 10th amendment of states rights which checks the federal government from interfering with the states made up by the ultimate and rightful arbiter of power, We The People. Nobody is forcing you to stay so leave if you don’t like not getting your way all of the time.

The founders had an issue with Mob rule. Trying reading the Constitution some time instead of the Funny Papers OK ???

All you have to do is pay attention in high school government class—assuming that they still teach government in high school. It’s been an awfully long time since i was in HS.

“Catch 22”

Republicans have moved past gaming the EC, and into undermining the legitimacy of any election they don’t win. Trump asking the Georgia SoS to find him 12,000 votes to overturn the election results. When that didn’t work, sending a mob to the Capitol to block certification.

“The people who cast the votes don’t decide an election, the people who count the votes do.” V.I. Lenin

It’s easy! Just tell the Electors that if they don’t vote your way you’ll send your MAGA people to straighten them out..

Is American Civics still being taught in school?

Unless this proves how pundits hoodwink the public, you don’t have to pay someone to NOT explain something to you. Just keep your money in your wallet; otherwise, you’re proving how stupid you are.

I think a big part of the problem is that too few people could explain it.

Back in the dark ages when I was a pup, I’m sure I was told it was because of the difficulty in travel and having enough education to do the “job”. Look at the signers, not a dim one in the bunch.

The electoral college worked great when FDR beat Landon

I dunno. I think we learned the details in 5th grade. It can be complicated but it’s not conceptually any more difficult than other sets of arbitrary rules. The basic principle is, “This is what it says in the instruction book. Your state may be different.”

He’s already been paid. Don’t think it’s money he’s after.

Wish it would stop the man-splaining altogether!

It keeps California and New York from screwing up the rest of the country,like they are!

He should be talking and gesturing, not sitting there quietly.

Eliminating the EC would require a constitutional amendment, an almost impossible task. A solution is available but would also be difficult.

The individual state’s legislatures would need to do away with the ‘winner take all’ selection of the state’s electors. This would help, but not eliminate, the under representation of the more populus states in the EC since the EC consists of an elector for each state’s House of Representatives districts and one each for the Senators. But the total number of representatives was capped at 435 in the 1920s. This means districts in CA, TX, FL, NY, and other populus states have far more people in less populus states like ND, SD, MT, and WY.

So, if the number of seats in the House were increased and the ‘winner take all’ was done away with it would help even out the imbalance. Voters in Orange County, CA and Austin, TX could actually make a difference.

All Americans are equal, but some Americans are more equal than others.

Just keep walking and shut him up for free.

I’m voting by mail today so I can just turn off my media for a couple of weeks and relax.

Easy to understand. The President, representing the Republic of States, is elected by the States. Each State has a specified number of electors – the combined total of Senators (2) and Representative (varies by State). This prevents a densely populated area from electing the President, allowing better representation of the entire Nation. The Congress is elected by the people of each State, to represent that State (Senate) and district within that State (House).