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| The Faithless-Elector Fantasy Is Fun, but It's Just a Fantasy |
| 2016-12-12 |
| h/t Instapundit When it comes to faithless electors, I wrote the book--literally. Okay, it was a novel, and a satirical one at that. But I did immerse myself in the law, and the lore, of the Electoral College, and the potential for "faithless" (or rebellious or courageous) electors to throw the whole process of picking a president into a cocked hat. (The novel, The People’s Choice, is available at fine church basements and rummage sales, or here.) It’s from this perspective that I’m watching the various efforts to deprive Donald Trump of his majority when the electors meet in their respective states this week. ...It’s all a shadow play--entertaining, provocative, but bearing no relation to current political reality. ...In theory, Trump would offer the perfect case for rebellion. But when theory meets reality, the prospects dim to invisibility. To begin with, Trump’s electoral majority is simply too big. Think back to 2000, when George W. Bush emerged from the post-election battle with 271 electoral votes. Had only three of his electors defected to Gore--on the ground, say that Gore had won half a million votes more than Bush, he would have had the majority (at least temporarily; more on that in a moment). Not a single Bush elector bolted; including those unbound by any state law forcing them to stay with their pledged candidate. The prospect of persuading 37 Trump electors to rebel is all but non-existent. But let’s assume it happened (Maybe Trump could say or do something in the days before December 19th that would prove beyond the pale, though what he’s said and done this last year and a half makes that idea shaky.) Let’s say when the usually ceremonial battling is over, 40 Trump electors have bolted. Then what? Those votes would have to be validated by the appropriate state official, usually the secretary of state (No, not John Kerry, the 50 officials across the country). If these electors were bound by state law to vote for their pledged candidate, that official might well refuse to count that vote; court battles would follow, but it’s by no means clear that such votes would be certified and sent on to Washington. Meanwhile, the legislatures in states where electors defected might weigh in. It’s hard to believe, but under the Constitution, state legislatures have all but total power over how electors are chosen. They are under no legal obligation to let voters have any say at all; they could designate the Department of Motor Vehicles Commissioner to pick them; or, they could make the choice themselves. (That’s what the Florida legislature threatened to do back in 2000 when the Gore-Bush recount fights dragged on). So should an elector, or two, or six from a state bolt, there’s a good legal case to be made that the state’s legislature could say "no way!" and choose their own slate. Assume, though, that this doesn’t happen, and that somehow defecting votes are sent to Washington. There’s still the pesky matter of the United States Congress--the final arbiter of these votes. |
| Posted by:g(r)omgoru |
| #2 Petition: Remove Chris Suprun from the North Texas Electoral College. |
| Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy 2016-12-12 16:59 |
| #1 Maybe because they don't teach and thus do not really understand that its the United States of America, not the Peoples Democratic Republic of America. 37 states are not going to surrender to 20 major metro areas anything short of a civil war. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2016-12-12 12:57 |