Hey, Americans....GO VOTE!!

[Cint]

Hot off the press from Yahoo.com:

Electoral College 101: How it works. Why we're stuck with it
Why is 270 the magic number on Election Day? Because it's the number of Electoral College votes needed to win the presidency. A look at the messy system the Founding Fathers bequeathed us.

The Electoral College: It’s much more than a boring vestige of 18th century political theory. It’s also the process by which US presidents are actually chosen, and a creaky machine that’s driven voters batty for over 200 years.
But it’s in the US Constitution (Article II, Section I) and it’s not going away anytime soon.

• Point one is that under the Electoral College you don’t vote directly for your favored presidential candidate. You may think that you do, and that’s what the line on your ballot may say, but what you’re really voting for is a slate of state electors who say they also support the nominee in question.

• Point two is that each state gets one elector per member of Congress. If you’re Alaska, you get three, because you’ve got two senators and one representative. If you’re California, you’ve got 55, because you’ve got two senators and 53 representatives. The total of US electoral votes is 538. That’s why 270 will be the magic number on Election Day night – it’s half of 538, plus one.

• Point three is that a candidate who wins the majority of votes in a state gets all its electoral votes. The exceptions to this rule are Nebraska and Maine, where the state winner gets the two electoral votes derived from the two senators, while the candidate who wins each congressional district gets the electoral vote derived from that representative.
(Got that? No? Perhaps that’s why the other states don’t do it: the Electoral College is complicated enough without adding layers.
Also there is no truth to the rumor that Nebraska and Maine are pushing for a constitutional amendment allowing the winners of their respective states, if different, to fight a lasso vs. chain saw cage match for two extra electors.)

• Point four is that the electors elected by the electorate cast their votes in their own special election. On the first Monday after the second Wednesday after Election Day, the electors meet in their respective states for their choices to be recorded on a special certificate which is forwarded to Congress and the National Archives as part of that cycle’s official records.

• Point five is that technically speaking the election of the president of the United States takes place during a joint session of Congress on January 6th following Election Day. That’s when members of the House and Senate meet in the House chamber to preside over the counting of electors’ votes, which apparently take a long time to get to DC.

“If any?” Oy vey. We’d forgotten – a 269 to 269 tie throws the whole thing into the House of Representatives. That’s a subject for another story.

• Finally, our sixth and last point is that we got into this mess – excuse me, system – because the Founding Fathers faced a difficult and delicate task in establishing the way the infant US would pick its executive leader.

Think what it was like back in 1787. A group of 13 states, some small, some large, some slave, some free, was attempting to put together a process which satisfied them all. Plus there was no Google Maps, so travel between the ex-colonies was difficult and prone to wrong turns.
Many delegates to the constitutional convention just wanted the new president to be picked by Congress. But others were worried that this would lead to intrigue, and that the new leader would possibly feel beholden to those who chose him. (Yes, at the time they thought political parties, or “faction,” to be poisonous. Ha! If they saw how smoothly the president and Congress work together today to avoid doing anything about the looming “fiscal cliff” they’d realize their mistake.)
A core group feared direct democracy. The result was the Electoral College, a process which at the time seemed to stand between a one-person-one-vote approach and a congressional choice model.

 

[Futureghost]

Do you have the same political process in the Netherlands?[/QUOTE\]

No here the Popular vote determines exactly who is in the Cabinet, We have a Queen but her role is largely Symbolic at this point. Technically she still has final say, but I have never heard of her exercising that power. There are MANY parties to choose from in most European countries and they all have a real chance, though sometimes some of them are a bit silly, the presence of those parties and the occasional election of a few members from one or another of them leaves me confident that the system whatever it is ,is still quite honest, at least in terms of being what it purports to be.

Regardless of your thoughts of the electoral college and its associated pitfalls, it is the current system used. While it may not be ideal, a single vote does carry influence (provided each candidate wisely selected their electors). I would rather participate, than abstain with hope for future reform (self driven or not).... but to each their own.

Yes it is the current system used, but "being the current system in use" is not the measure of something being effective or appropriate or just and neither is "having been in use for some time". A thing is appropriate when it serves the purpose it is purported to serve, it's effective when it renders very well the effect intended and it's just when it does both of the previous things equally for all rather than a few.

Discussion is good, but the internet can be a poor venue for polarizing topics i.e. politics. The intended takeaway of this thread is the importance of participating in the political process as a free citizen.

I think the internet is awesome for debates and discussions of all kinds, sadly many people fail to observe even the most simple rules of etiquette for discussion, subjects are often emotionalized as if they were children or private possessions rather than being discussed with humility and a desire to understand on all fronts, and logic is widely set on the back burner in favor of rhetoric and a "I win" mentality.

You will not see me behave that way.

 

[PFunk]

Yes it is the current system used, but "being the current system in use" is not the measure of something being effective or appropriate or just and neither is "having been in use for some time". A thing is appropriate when it serves the purpose it is purported to serve, it's effective when it renders very well the effect intended and it's just when it does both of the previous things equally for all rather than a few..

I never stated in contrary. I simply expressed the need to work with the current system in order to place a vote. I have no interest in debating its merits or short comings.

I think the internet is awesome for debates and discussions of all kinds, sadly many people fail to observe even the most simple rules of etiquette for discussion, subjects are often emotionalized as if they were children or private possessions rather than being discussed with humility and a desire to understand on all fronts, and logic is widely set on the back burner in favor of rhetoric and a "I win" mentality..

We are emotionally driven beings. I am skeptical of any debate being void of such, no matter the educate.

 

[CathyAnn31]

Threw my vote away last week. Get out there and vote people!!

 

[Futureghost]

CWE is not a democracy It is a semi-private forum with discussion guidelines. Since CWE deliberately steers clear of political topics, I suggest that you visit any of the many online sites that are furiously debating the merits of the Electoral College right now.

I will cease all debate immediately.

However I must say that a forum (no matter what the topic) is a venue for discussion and that whoever takes on the responsibility of hosting one, if they benefit from democracy should work hard to facilitate it and not forget that they are a custodian of it's ideals.

I can not get behind smiling after saying that CWE isn't a democracy. That's not a happy thing. It may be owned, it may be property, it may be legal to decide who can say what, when and how but it's morally corrupt to enforce it in any situation other than one in which a common morality has been violated. I am immensely disappointed. Anyplace effected by politics is a place to discuss them.

With this, I respectfully withdraw from further discussion. I will also withdraw from the Forum if I am asked to.

 

[CQ:)]

Good luck with the voting Today America.
I was just wondering when you do have to vote if it is always on a Tuesday or is that just the date of the election fell on a Tuesday?

Over here in Aussie voting is usually done on on a Saturday (whether it be for the state, country or even for council elections).

In some countries you can be fined if you don't vote. So, you know what to do.

It's compulsory here to vote. There are options available for people who can't get to polling booth on the day. You can send away for a postal vote, or there are polling booths open prior to the voting day.
If you don't vote or have a valid reason then you will most likely be fined.

Last year the state I live in had their state election but it was right after I was due to have my brain surgery so there was no way I could vote. About a month before my surgery I made enquiries as to if I could pre vote but none of the pre voting polls or postal votes started until after I left to go have my surgery (I live 4 1/2 hours from hospital where I had my surgery & its in another state). I rang the electoral place & explained my situation how it was impossible for me to vote at all because I would be having my surgery at the same time we could pre vote & because I was having a big surgery I wouldn't be well enough to vote on the day. I was told that I would most likely be fined because I wouldn't be able to vote but it was suggested that I get a letter form one of my specialists explaining why I couldn't vote.
I got a letter from my neuropsych explaining that I was medically unfit to vote on the day & couldn't pre vote because I would be in hospital recovering from surgery at the time. Luckily I never did get fined or asked to provide the letter to the electoral place.

 

[Autumn Breeze]

The first Tuesday that follows the first Monday of November. lol

 

[CQ:)]

The first Tuesday that follows the first Monday of November. lol

Oh ok.
Do you get to have a day of work so you can vote fft:

 

[Autumn Breeze]

Oh ok.
Do you get to have a day of work so you can vote fft:

Silly rule, isn't it? And, I don't think so. Most counties still have school, and most places of business are open. You *are* required to allow your employees to leave early/be late/take a long lunch so they can vote.

 

[PFunk]

Sadley no

How about you Aussies CQ?

 

[CQ:)]

Sadly no

How about you Aussies CQ?

We usually vote on a Saturday but people still have to work. I think the voting polls are opened early & don't close until about 6pm.

 

[Havok]

I don't vote. I have my reason, but I'm not getting into any debates lol.

 

[momof3boys]

Done Deal!! I voted early.

Me too! I voted Earlier!

 

[CathyAnn31]

Early voting here too, at the Civic Center. They were opened late for people who worked, as well as being open on weekends.

 

[cazzy]

you done well america,you economy sticks more unemployment over 4000 died in war you not wanted or thank for.....
that was insulin moment obama with his wife

 

[Autumn Breeze]

Yay!! It's over!!!

I'm just glad it's over honestly.

 

[CathyAnn31]

I agree, glad that's done.

Cazzy, lets keep this thread civil please. That's all I have to say to you.

 

[momof3boys]

Lets just say Im so thankful that this campaign stuff is DONE! I was getting so tired of people arguing over things!

 

[Nakamova]

Yes, I think we can all agree that it's relief to have the TV free of political ads.

 

[Cint]

.i been so embarrassed if i american listening to him going on about how much he love his wife yah de da....really dont care about his happy families when some american families are not much better off than the poor in third world

So turn it off.........