Timeline for Has there ever been a serious effort to reform the US Electoral College system?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
12 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Jun 17, 2012 at 13:27 | comment | added | aeismail | @dan04: If your measure of the power of a vote is "likelihood vote X changes the result," as the Banzhaf power index measures it, then yes, small states might be underweighted. However, if you take as the basis individual votes, not state-level results, then the awarding of two additional "votes" to a state rewards voters in smaller states proportionately much more than larger states. | |
| Jun 16, 2012 at 15:36 | comment | added | dan04 | @aeismail: Actually, it underweights votes from small states in the Banzhaf power index. | |
| Apr 4, 2012 at 16:34 | comment | added | T.E.D.♦ | +1, although I'd argue that your argument in favor is a bunch of rationalized hooey. Other democratic countries do just fine, if not better, without a system like the EC. | |
| Feb 15, 2012 at 12:39 | vote | accept | Bill Nace | ||
| Feb 15, 2012 at 12:37 | vote | accept | Bill Nace | ||
| Feb 15, 2012 at 12:37 | |||||
| Feb 15, 2012 at 6:56 | comment | added | Flimzy | @KeithThompson: I suppose in a technical sense, it provides a boolean answer, along with a lot of personal opinion. But that boolean answer isn't very useful, IMO. Although considering the other up-votes, there are obviously those who disagree with me. | |
| Feb 15, 2012 at 6:04 | comment | added | aeismail | @duffbeer703: The idea of "one person, one vote" means that within an election, all votes should have the same weight. It's why you're not allowed to draw congressional districts with wildly unequal populations, for instance. It doesn't have anything to do with the concept of apportionment per se. [But to give numbers to my earlier point: 17 states and DC have 5 or fewer electoral votes (69 EV's) for 23.8 MM residents. TX has 25 MM residents, but gets just 32 EV's. That's a lot of vote dilution for TX.] | |
| Feb 15, 2012 at 0:43 | comment | added | Keith Thompson | @Flimzy: How does it not answer the question? The question is whether there's been a serious effort to reform the system; the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact is just that. | |
| Feb 15, 2012 at 0:12 | comment | added | Flimzy | This doesn't really answer the question, and sounds mostly like an op-ed. | |
| Feb 14, 2012 at 17:46 | comment | added | duffbeer703 | @aeismail I think there are valid arguments on both sides of this issue. That principle became a matter of law after a few Supreme Court decisions. The make-up of the US Senate, for example, violates that principle as it is derived directly from the Constitution. The Senate as an institution has a moderating influence on the national discourse -- I think democracy is about more than tallying votes. | |
| Feb 13, 2012 at 22:48 | comment | added | aeismail | The biggest issue with the Electoral College is that it unfairly overweights votes from small states. To that extent, it violates the "one person, one vote" principle that underlies the rest of American election law. | |
| Jan 30, 2012 at 14:04 | history | answered | duffbeer703 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |