We need to either restore the electoral college to its original state and accept that an elite class will override us from time to time, or jump on the total direct democracy ship and hope that the majority doesn't marginalize the minority.
Not technically disagree with your overall point in your post, but the above quote is something that has always perplexed me about the defense of the electoral college: The notion that without the electoral college it would be a direct democracy and you can't have that. Considering the election is for a representative, how could it ever be a direct democracy?
Apart from being impeached, a sitting President has immunity and cannot be prosecuted for any crime while in office. In 1973, the Attorney General concluded that the indictment or criminal prosecution of a sitting President would impermissibly undermine the capacity of the executive branch to perform its constitutionally assigned functions.
We need to either restore the electoral college to its original state and accept that an elite class will override us from time to time, or jump on the total direct democracy ship and hope that the majority doesn't marginalize the minority.
Not technically disagree with your overall point in your post, but the above quote is something that has always perplexed me about the defense of the electoral college: The notion that without the electoral college it would be a direct democracy and you can't have that. Considering the election is for a representative, how could it ever be a direct democracy?
I don't think either major party wants to change the system other than making the "other color" states work like Maine and Nebraska. California is a very solid 55 electoral votes for the Democrats that they don't even have to spend time or money on.
When a party loses the electoral vote but not the popular vote you hear a ton of grousing and complaining about how the system is outdated but... BUT... When a party has a thin popular vote difference and a huge electoral count, well, what numbers get tossed around and how often does the word 'landslide' get dropped?
We need to either restore the electoral college to its original state and accept that an elite class will override us from time to time, or jump on the total direct democracy ship and hope that the majority doesn't marginalize the minority.
Not technically disagree with your overall point in your post, but the above quote is something that has always perplexed me about the defense of the electoral college: The notion that without the electoral college it would be a direct democracy and you can't have that. Considering the election is for a representative, how could it ever be a direct democracy?
Ah, I see what you're saying. I was confused for a second. You're right, it still won't be true direct democracy (every citizen with a say in everything). Representatives won't go away, but how we get to those representatives is fundamentally altered by the way in which the electoral college system is managed.
I'm not as concerned about Trump's domestic policy as much as I am about his foreign policy. Obama is/was crafting a very delicate situation in the Middle East and Russia by proxy. Trump will take a hammer to what is a very complicated situation. Does he simply cede Syria to Russian control? How will Turkey react to the weakening of NATO? If the US allies with Russia then the Saudi's are going to be in a very isolated position and may lash out.
We shouldn't actually talk about voter turnout for a week, when numbers get finalized. There's still absentee ballots and some California precincts to count.
But yeah, it looks like Hillary just didn't get the turnout she needed.
It's at times like this I'm glad voting is mandatory in Australia.
I'm sure I'm missing an obvious pitfall with the approach I'm about to suggest, but I'm pretty okay with failing to vote carrying a penalty of jail time and / or fines. Nothing major, maybe a weekend in jail and a week's worth of pay, unless you can demonstrate a legitimate excuse. (Injury, illness, kidnapped by ninjas, etc.) I just don't think putting a ballot in your mailbox, the bare minimum effort (here in CO at least), presents an unreasonable hardship.
Election day should be a national holiday. All mass transit should be free and rural areas should run the school busses multiple times a day to ferry in voters who have a hard time getting to the polls.
Early voting should also be legal in every state along with a method to change your early vote on election day if you happen to change your mind.
It's at times like this I'm glad voting is mandatory in Australia.
I'm sure I'm missing an obvious pitfall with the approach I'm about to suggest, but I'm pretty okay with failing to vote carrying a penalty of jail time and / or fines. Nothing major, maybe a weekend in jail and a week's worth of pay, unless you can demonstrate a legitimate excuse. (Injury, illness, kidnapped by ninjas, etc.) I just don't think putting a ballot in your mailbox, the bare minimum effort (here in CO at least), presents an unreasonable hardship.
Are you REALLYsure about that? Think about all those apathetic people who believe all politicians are illuminati members who sell their souls to the devil and live to fuck over the common man. Think about the others, who hold politicians and lawyers to be deplorable lying scum. Think about the others who think Donald Trump is saying the right things, but they don't vote because they don't care, or because they know there vote doesn't count because they live in a big coastal city. Then think about all the minorities with felonies that would probably vote D if they could vote. With mandatory voting, this election would have been a landslide... for Trump.
Is there a site with country wide third party vote totals that are up to date? Most I see either only include Trump/Clinton or require looking at state by state totals to do find them.
Trump plus Clinton only gets us to 95.2 so about 4.8% went third party which is an almost trippeling of 2012 third party voting. As Linkigi pointed out earlier, we wont have hard numbers for a few days.
I don't buy that point, Ilmarinen. You can also come up with plenty of groups that would have voted for Hillary but did not turn up, for a variety of reasons. If you want to make the point stick, back it up with statistics.
If you have a system with mandatory voting it also means the government must necessarily spend effort making it easier for people to vote, and these things go together.
Also, felons should obviously also have the right to vote. Felony disenfranchisement is a serious issue in the US; it's a major reason why the prison-industrial complex has so much power.
I agree with you about felons - although white felons vastly outnumber minorities, the numbers would have been greatly appreciated in Florida this year, which has the highest number of disenfranchised citizens. Statistics are hard to come by though - apathetic people don't talk to pollsters. All I have is anecdotal evidence: I'm a poor working class person and I know a LOT of people who don't care at all - and if they did vote, they would vote anti-establishment.
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Is "LawNewz" reputable? It kind of looks... not.
When a party loses the electoral vote but not the popular vote you hear a ton of grousing and complaining about how the system is outdated but... BUT... When a party has a thin popular vote difference and a huge electoral count, well, what numbers get tossed around and how often does the word 'landslide' get dropped?
It's going to be interesting at the very least.
Trump got less votes than either Romney or McCain, but Voter Suppression, lack of enthusiasm and complacency cost the Democrats the Election.
The 45%+ of the country that didn't vote? Not so much.
More of an issue due to the fact that I am having trouble finding articles with a clear voter turnout metric. Some say up, some say down...
Edit: About 1.8M in 2012.
About 1.6M in 2008.
Edit 2:
2008 1.41% or 1,866,981
2012 1.74% or 2,236111
But yeah, it looks like Hillary just didn't get the turnout she needed.
The GOP is basically a hate group, and I stand by my decision to cut anyone who remains a member out of my life.
Once you establish voting as a social norm stiff penalties aren't really needed.
Early voting should also be legal in every state along with a method to change your early vote on election day if you happen to change your mind.
Trump plus Clinton only gets us to 95.2 so about 4.8% went third party which is an almost trippeling of 2012 third party voting. As Linkigi pointed out earlier, we wont have hard numbers for a few days.
Edit: my phone keyboard sucks.
If you have a system with mandatory voting it also means the government must necessarily spend effort making it easier for people to vote, and these things go together.
Also, felons should obviously also have the right to vote. Felony disenfranchisement is a serious issue in the US; it's a major reason why the prison-industrial complex has so much power.