Can We Eliminate The Electoral College Now?

Just held a bipartisan meeting on tax reform. There were more democrats than republicans at it.

Moving to Saturday would in fact be the best change ever. People arenā€™t just going to work, theyā€™re dropping kids at school too. There are times I havenā€™t voted because Iā€™ve been too busy and forgot until after school and then I didnā€™t want to drag the kids along.

I always voted by mail in California. I signed up for that as my default when I registered to vote. It gave me time to read all the ballot propositions.

I am sure I am not the first person ever to think of this idea of moving election day to a weekend day, so why hasnā€™t it happened? I mean, if a local town or city did it with its local ordinances and positions first, I am sure the media would pick up on it and national discussion could come of it. Thatā€™s why I hate our local leaders who waste valuable time and resources writing crap legislation when they could promote something as reasonable as this.

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Everyone knows if you moved it to a weekend Republicans would win everything in a land slide. They are the ones busy working on Tuesday and paying taxes. Democrats are free loaders without jobs, so they have free time to vote on a Tuesday. :slight_smile:

I saw a crazy stat that I thought had to be fake. In NYC, there are more black babies aborted each year than born. Turns out itā€™s actually true, and the number of abortions in NYC is higher than the number of gun homicides in the entire US. Imagine how many more democrat voters thereā€™d be if they didnā€™t care so much about keeping abortion legal. Itā€™s just another case of perception vs. reality being horribly misaligned.

Democrats and republicans have stopped working with each other for 8 years. I think that Pelosi and Schumer are excited to work with their president now. McConnell and Ryan must be pissed off secretly.

Even the average joe democrats are excited about this when the party elites and media do not know how to respond to this.

We live in an intersting time

When you work for Google, Facebook, or Apple you donā€™t get a fair vote. Your voice isnā€™t equal to the CEO. Yet you signed up to join their organizationā€¦hmmmm.

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McConnell has an 18% approval rating in his own state. The house has passed over 400 pieces of legislation, and he canā€™t get anything passed in the senate. Heā€™s a train wreck.

George Washington was against political parties. He thought parties would lead to politicians doing whatā€™s best for the party not the citizens. He thought we should pick politicians based on intellect and ability not political stance. You fill congress with really smart people and let them make decisions.

No one expects to have a fair, equal voice at an employer. Come onā€¦

If we have the technology to count every vote at face value and therefore provide each and every voter satisfaction that his/her vote would be treated as a true vote, why would anyone be opposed to that? Itā€™s a simple question.

We also have technology to verify the identify and eligibility of every voter. Yet, people seem to be against that idea.

Itā€™s so the small states actually matter, and a big state like California canā€™t swing the entire election.

You mean states recognize a gun permit but not student ID? Or where a mostly black town has only one single DMV that closes at 5 and doesnā€™t open on weekends?

These are textbook tricks to suppress POC votes. Even the GOP openly talks about it.

How is employer/country so different? The concept is that you choose to be a part of an organization where you are entrusting others to make the important decisions.

A lot of this boils down to life as it is vs ideals.

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If people canā€™t get a valid ID, then thereā€™s a huge list of other problems they are going to have. Let me guess. The DMV closing at 5 is an issue, because people work. You canā€™t get a job without valid ID proving who you are and your right to work. So if you work, then you should be OK with voter ID laws. If you donā€™t work, then you have plenty of free time to get to the DMV before 5. Itā€™s actually pretty racist to assume black people canā€™t manage to get a valid ID. Itā€™d mean they canā€™t do any of the items below that require an ID.

There are 7 items the government requires valid ID:
http://dailysignal.com/2016/08/26/amid-voter-id-battles-here-are-7-things-the-government-requires-ids-for/

24 items that require ID (some overlap with the government list):

From ACLU:

  • Minority voters disproportionately lack ID. Nationally, up to 25% of African-American citizens of voting age lack government-issued photo ID, compared to only 8% of whites.

  • States exclude forms of ID in a discriminatory manner. Texas allows concealed weapons permits for voting, but does not accept student ID cards. Until its voter ID law was struck down, North Carolina prohibited public assistance IDs and state employee ID cards, which are disproportionately held by Black voters. And until recently, Wisconsin permitted active duty military ID cards, but prohibited Veterans Affairs ID cards for voting.

  • Voter ID laws are enforced in a discriminatory manner. A Caltech/MIT study found that minority voters are more frequently questioned about ID than are white voters.

  • Voter ID laws reduce turnout among minority voters. Several studies, including a 2014 GAO study, have found that photo ID laws have a particularly depressive effect on turnout among racial minorities and other vulnerable groups, worsening the participation gap between voters of color and whites.

If your premise is only a certain subset of people should be able to vote, then yes, voter ID laws serve that purpose. On the other hand, if you believe in universal suffrage, then itā€™s discriminatory. By tweaking which ID is acceptable and which is not, by restricting the means to get those IDā€™s, they get exactly the election outcome they want. Same with gerrymandering.

How do they even function as adults without ID? You can see the list of things they canā€™t do without ID. They canā€™t even get a job or get government benefits. They need an ID for more than just voting. Why canā€™t we make it a priority to get everyone an valid ID?

I donā€™t understand why you guys would be opposed to improving an outdated system? Yes, back in the day we didnā€™t have computers or a way to tally all of the votes in a timely and efficient manner. I am sure there are more important reasons for an electoral college back then but the point is, we can evolve and improve and address some of the issues of our voting process. Moving to a Saturday all day silent election day solves a lot of the angst over west vs east and the impact of exit poll results having on the west coast.

Geez, I bet you guys think the designated hitter of the American League is a good idea tooā€¦

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People donā€™t vote because its inconvenientā€¦ They didnā€™t vote in the last election beacause they were disgusted with Hillary and Trumpā€¦ Same with choice in generalā€¦ When the candidates are worthless why botherā€¦ Apathy comes from lack of choices and the inability of government to be able to satisfy the needs of the people

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Well, maybeā€¦if we tried to fix the problem it could be better. Wow, that is a novel ideaā€¦

I donā€™t know why we are even discussing something that will never happen. A constitutional amendment requires 3/4 of the states to approve it. The lower population states will never agree so whatā€™s the point?

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You keep calling it outdated, but it did EXACTLY what it was designed to do. The founders knew what they were doing. Thereā€™s also a reason they didnā€™t go true democracy and have citizens vote on bills. The idea is we elect our best and brightest, and they get together to decide whatā€™s best.

California loves ballot measures, and how well does that work? The only reason the state isnā€™t bankrupt is the stock market has been rallying creating extra income to tax. The next recession is going to be brutal for Californiaā€™s budget. A majority of adults have <$1,000 saved, and you want them to make spending and taxing decisions for the government? We already know they are financially irresponsible and have no business making those decisions. Most people canā€™t even understand what they are voting on and what the longer-term impacts of it are. Just look at how popular rent control is when all the data shows it leads to less construction and higher prices and rents. A majority of people in Detroit are illiterate, and they consistently vote for polices that are bad for them long-term. They donā€™t get it, and thatā€™s why the city has been in decline for decades.

We have the most inclusive voting process weā€™ve ever had and congress has itā€™s lowest approval ratings ever. Do you think thereā€™s a coincidence there?