Veto in California on Electoral College

Woodmonkey · 10-04-2006, 19:38

Veto in California on Electoral College

In the end, only one vote mattered.

Saying it ran “counter to the tradition of our great nation,” Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill on Saturday that would have automatically allocated all the state’s 55 electoral votes to whichever presidential candidate received the national popular vote.

The bill, which passed the state’s Legislature this summer, was devised by John R. Koza, a computer scientist who envisioned a system in which a series of states holding the number of electoral votes needed to elect a president — 270 — would commit their electors to casting ballots for the winner of the popular vote, regardless of how their individual electorates voted.

Mr. Koza said the goal was to force presidential candidates to campaign nationwide, rather than concentrating on a small number of battleground states — like Ohio or Florida — that have a lot of electors. California, while having more electors and voters than any other state, is considered reliably Democratic, and thus not often a part of the presidential campaign.

Thomas J. Umberg, the bill’s sponsor in the California Assembly, said that he was disappointed by the governor’s decision “to maintain the status quo” and that he would consider taking the proposition to a ballot measure.

The Source

Snowden · 10-04-2006, 20:25

Good for Arnie. It sometimes takes a naturalized citizen to really appreciate the way this country is set up. Nine times out of ten, they are more aware of the nuances of our freedoms that those of us who grew up with them are.

Woodmonkey · 10-08-2006, 20:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snowden

Good for Arnie. It sometimes takes a naturalized citizen to really appreciate the way this country is set up. Nine times out of ten, they are more aware of the nuances of our freedoms that those of us who grew up with them are.

Yes, and they appreciate those nuances more.

Caldric · 10-09-2006, 15:26

Electoral College is one of those things that many just have not taken time to understand, which is generally the loudest in wanting to do away with it.

Woodmonkey · 10-09-2006, 17:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caldric

Electoral College is one of those things that many just have not taken time to understand, which is generally the loudest in wanting to do away with it.

True. They don't realize that it is what allows the smaller, less populated states a say in selecting the president - as opposed to letting a handful of heavily populated cities and states do the dictating.

Caldric · 10-09-2006, 18:56

Also to say that the new law would change how a hopeful would campaign makes no sense to me. You still need to win the majority in each state to get the electoral votes. If anything the new law would have been in favor of Bush in 2004. At any rate he is the only president since his father to win more then 50% of the general vote.

If a person can not win the votes he can not win the votes it does not matter if their is electorial or not at the end. In Alaska Bush got almost 80% of the vote or something really high like that. If we did away with EC it would not change that fact that neither will campaign here. The GOP know they have the votes and the DNC know they are never going to change that.

Also each state has certain rights and there would be no Union without the EC.