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1000 Reasons not to vote for GW
fredster:
DynaGod,
You are right and you are wrong. Fundamentally, there is little difference in the popular vote and the electoral college results.
IT did occur in the Hayes/Tilden election of 1876 and the Harrison/Cleveland election of 1888 due to the statistical disparity between vote totals in individual State elections and the national vote totals. This also occured in the 2000 presidential election, where Bush received fewer popular votes than Gore but received a majority of electoral votes.
The electorial college at least makes the candidates appeal to more states than they would have to without it. I believe NY, CA, TX, and FLA would be the only states required if there were no electorial college.
But with it, they require more than just those segments of the country. It would be particularly useful in a 3 party race. Think about it. The larger states still control most of the electorial votes. CA is by far the largest.
To see where the race is now - http://www.electoral-vote.com/
Grasshopper:
Actually the 'electoral college' isn't just an American thing, we have a broadly similar system here in Britain but we use the term 'first past the post' instead of 'electoral college'.
However, regardless of the terminology used, it is still a deeply flawed system of voting.
My main objection is that it undermines the principle of one man one vote. Political parties tend to concentrate disproportionately on issues that matter to people living in so called 'swing states' because they are the people who determine the outcome of an election.
People who live in areas where one of the parties is very dominant end up feeling that their vote is wasted.
The system also tends to result in only two viable political parties and this reduces choice for the electorate.
It also encourages negative voting. A large section of the population inevitably find that the two main parties do not even remotely represent their point of view, so they are forced into the position of having to vote for the least bad party (from their perspective) instead of a party they actually want. This is turn can lead to voter apathy. I understand that about 50% of Americans don't bother to vote. I think this statistic speaks for itself.
The system can also stifle debate. You tend to find that on a wide range of issues the two main parties are in broad agreement so those issues tend not to get debated much in the media.
Unfortunately, it is very difficult to get a flawed voting system reformed as the main political parties have a vested interest in preserving the status quo. After all who wants to change the rules of a game that they're winning!
Dartful Dodger:
It took months after the election for every vote to be counted in Florida, imagine if every state had to go through that. The 2004 president wouldn't be declared a winner until the 2008 elections.
DYNAGOD:
i think you put it far more eloquently than i could have Grasshopper, well said. ;D
applause!!
DYNAGOD:
--- Quote ---To see where the race is now - http://www.electoral-vote.com/
--- End quote ---
what kind of magical imaginary data is this based on?? Polls??no one asked me??
the entire notion and concept of polls is flawed and sways opinions artifically..asking 30 people what they think and then portraying their concensus as the overall opinion of all americans is in and of itself a misleading practice , this practice is increasingly being perpetrated by the biased media and it needs to stop..when a news company is owned by politically interested parties, that entity cannot be trusted to be an impartial source of accuratee and impartial information for public consumption during an election season..polls have become a political tool,or more accurately a political weapon..they are grossly out of proportion to the views of the true majority of americans, and tend to only reflect the interest of the media holdings that so carelessly present them. thi sbecomes clear when the same poll on two channles with different party interests contradict,as is the case nightly....
Sadly, people cant differentiate reality from the poll fodder theyre fed by the media..Some people,whom cant think for themselves, actually misconstrew this as the overall opinion of their peers and take it as fact and misleadingly base their votes off this crap.. the media has too much influence..and polls are a tool of manipulation..polls are a reflection of a minescule minority of the american people...but the media would have you think its everyone..
and anyone who thinks that that electoral vote has any foundation in grand scope reality is allowing themselves to be led down a dark path..