Disenfranchising The Voters- Destroying the Electoral College
By KrisAnne Hall, JD
The State of Oregon House passed legislation (HB 2927) that would make Oregon award its Electoral College votes only to presidential candidates who win the national popular vote. According to National Popular Vote, this kind of legislation has already been passed by 11 States, (CA, DC, HI, IL, MA, MD, NJ, NY, RI, VT, WA). Now, we have federal House Representatives proposing legislation to amend the Constitution to eliminate the Electoral College system alltogether.
To be clear, Oregon and these other 11 States are not abolishing the Electoral College but altering it. Article 2 section 2 clauses 2 and 3 and the Twelfth Amendment of the US Constitution require States to establish electors that will choose the president and vice president of the United States. These States are not eliminating their electoral college, they are eliminating the voice of their citizens and eliminating the legitimacy and relevance of their State’s involvement in the political process. However, now members of Congress are creating bills to actually dissolve the Electoral Colllege. Either way, altering or abolishing, these changes will result in the disenfranchising the vote of every State. This infectious disease of ignorance must be stopped. The only cure is knowledge so here are some facts that we must not only consider, but educate others.
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