State Representative Levy responds to electoral college issue
by Rossputin | 12:50 am, March 30, 2009 | 1 Comment
I’m pleased to say that my Representative in Colorado’s General Assembly, Claire Levy, has responded to my note asking her to oppose HB1299, the move to give Colorado’s electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote. Following is that response, as well as my take on why she’s incorrect. The Representatives official e-mail address is at the end of her note, if you feel like sending your thoughts on the issue.
Dear Ross,
It has taken me awhile to write down the arguments I made on the House floor and in committee. If it isn’t stale, I would appreciate you posting the following response from me on your blog.
Much opposition to the National Popular Vote movement seems to assume that an interstate compact to award Electoral College votes to the winner of the popular vote somehow abrogates the original intent of the framers of the constitution. In fact, that is not the case.
The winner-take-all method of awarding Electoral College votes is neither required by the U.S. Constitution, nor was it the assumed method of allocating votes by the delegates to the constitutional convention.
Remember that when the constitution was ratified, there was no right to vote for senators or the president. (There is still no constitutional right to cast a presidential vote.) Only male, white, landowners were allowed to vote in any election. The framers of the constitution generally anticipated that the members of the Electoral College would convene and actually deliberate over the selection of the president.
The overwhelming argument in favor of the National Popular Vote in my mind stems from the fact that people now do have the right to direct election of their senator and they do vote for President of the United States.
Along with that vote is the expectation that the person who receives the most votes will become the president. Yet, by adhering to the winner-take-all method of allocating Electoral College votes, the will of the majority could be thwarted simply by the math of the Electoral College system.
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March 30th, 2009 @ 8:18 am
Right on, Ross! Let us know if she has the courage and intellectual capacity to respond – then post it for us if she does?