H. J. Res. 36: Abolishing the Electoral College

Finally, this should have been done along time ago.

Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to abolish the Electoral College and provide for the direct election of the President and Vice President by the popular vote of all citizens of the United States regardless of place of residence.

www.govtrack.us...

`Section 1. The President and Vice President shall be elected jointly by the direct vote of the citizens of the United States, without regard to whether the citizens are residents of a State.

`Section 2. The persons having the greatest number of votes for President and Vice President shall be elected, so long as such persons have a majority of the votes cast.'.

I hope this passes, this should have been done 150 years ago.

Agreed. Electoral college has no need in today's society. Popular vote has been/is the way to go. The cynical side of me is saying it wont get passed though.

Ya something tells me this has no chance of passing. I wish it would though.

Has any similar ammendments been attempted in the past?

If so, how close did they come to being passed?

I do hope for the sake of democracy, that this ammendment goes through. With the recent past of the electoral college voting in a party that the majority did not, this seems like a necessary step to solidify the US in the coming elections.

I hope this passes, as it is soemthign that has to long not existed.

I think I remember soemthign similiar a few months ago being propsed
by some of the Mid-west states.

I disagree with this and hope it doesn't pass.

I doubt there's much chance of it becoming law anyway since the small states would never ratify it.

Wonder what would have happened in 1992 though if this was in place...maybe George H.W. Bush would have gotten a second term.

Originally posted by djohnsto77
I doubt there's much chance of it becoming law anyway since the small states would never ratify it.

One would think.

However, and I'm trying to figure out if this is the same case, or a
different one, but a few months ago there was a similar bill being
proposed by two states with very small populations, in essence they
were states who you would normally think would be against it.

I really dont trust the present group of politicians in washington when it comes to changing the constitution.

Thanks for posting this it is very significant, if you look in the Catholic archives you will see that the E.C. has been controlled and managed by the same families for the past several thousand years. They are the same families that vote not only the pope into his position but also the president of the U.S. What this raises for me is great concern it is as if the whole backbone of the global elite and the controlling families are backing out. Where are they going? Another planet?

I strongly hope this doesn't pass, I don't want the voters of a few popular states overshadowing the need of the much larger central area of our country. The electoral college is in place for a reason.

Originally posted by ShooterSix
I strongly hope this doesn't pass, I don't want the voters of a few popular states overshadowing the need of the much larger central area of our country. The electoral college is in place for a reason.

yeah.. screw that whole "democracy" thing. people in small states should get more of a say than people in larger states!

the USA is no longer a nation of states, we're a nation of people.

Wyoming gets 3 electoral votes for no more than 300,000 people
Montana gets 3 electoral votes for over 1 MILLION people
how is that democratic?

One man, one vote, with a paper trail.

No more diebold BS!

No more hangin chads!

If this dosen't happen, God help us, we are just pawns in a game where only the rich and elite know the rules. We are just a numbers on the tax roles.

Originally posted by johnsky
Has any similar amendments been attempted in the past?

Yes, April 4th, 2005.
www.govtrack.us...

They didn't even debate it.

Makes me think this won't pass either.

if this passes, look for more people to vote because one vote will actually matter for once!

Write to your Senators and Reps!! Here is my letter I wrote to mine if you don't feel like writing your own:

Senator/Representative XXXXX,

I would like to express my support of H. J. Res. 36, which is a proposed Constitutional amendment for the abolition of the electoral college. In today's society of instant communication, advances in technology, and widespread media coverage, the electoral college is an antiquated system that no longer has any function. The American people feel that their vote does not count any longer because of the electoral college, and that individual votes are meaningless as they are lost because a state will always vote one party or the other. By abolishing this obselete system, the American people will feel a new sense of empowerment and purpose, an essential element in the success of a Democratic government. I strongly urge you to support this amendment, the future of America depends upon it.

Sincerely,
XXXXX

Originally posted by steve22
Write to your Senators and Reps!! Here is my letter I wrote to mine if you don't feel like writing your own:

Great Idea!

I just printed the letters out, and I am going to send them out tomorrow.

I just received a reply from Senator Clinton:

Thank you for writing about a proposed Constitutional Amendment that would abolish the Electoral College. The thoughts and concerns of my New York constituents are very important to me. I thank you for taking the time to share them with me. Please know that as I participate in discussions on the issues before the United States Senate, your thoughts and the opinions of all who write are given careful consideration.

Thank you again for taking the time to write. Please check my website clinton.senate.gov... for updates on the issues being considered by the Senate.

Sincerely yours,

Hillary Rodham Clinton

The Electoral College is a holdover from the horse and buggy days. The reason for it then was that a sort of "pre-election" could be used to send representatives to vote the will of the people. Because communications were so slow, this was a useful idea then.

Now it is well past time for this idea to be retired.

But like many, I doubt that it will happen. Our leadership loves the fact that the EC can be massaged to fit campaign budgets, and even to elect an unpopular President. It is now just another way to control the outcome. and the powers that be will not want to see this tool lost to them.

It would be like them to let that pass on purpose, just to go to martial law. I don't see it passing, but maybe. Electoral College isn't needed now, but since the computers can make the election say whatever it they want, I just don't seeing this matter too much unless those in Washington get run out. But please no more Democracy (mob rule)...