a maybe not so crazy idea

[plural]

Update: Please link to http://www.wolfenet.com/~plural - it is our temporary webhome a domain has been registered and we are waiting for DNS servers to catch up - Thanks and sorry about the bold

If Bush takes Florida that will give him enough
Electoral votes (271) to become president
but he will have lost the popular vote

If Gore takes Oregon
that will put him at 267 Electoral votes
just three shy of the 270 needed to win

now technically
the electoral college is supposed
to vote in accordance with the results
of the state balloting

and all but two states have a law
which establishes a winner take all
in respect to the electoral vote
which means whomever wins
the popular vote
for that state gets all of the votes

Now the electoral college
is not required to cast their votes this way
there have been several cases in the past
where a member of the electoral college
has voted contrary to the public vote

In most states
this is perfectly legal
in Washington state
it is a misdemeanor
which carries a $1000 dollar fine

In which case
I think we should all buck up
and agree to pay any related legal costs
for Electors who vote contrary to their state
and in accordance with the popular vote.

So all we have to do
is between now and December 18th
is to convince 4 members of the electoral college
to follow the Popular vote on the national level
instead of their particular states vote

If you live in a State
that went for Bush
go to this link

Electoral College Homepage

Under the first subheading "Electoral Results"
The last listing is "Electoral Votes, by State, listing individual electors:"
with links to the years 1992 and 1996

by Federal law
every state must prepare and file seven "Certificates of Ascertainment"
listing each of the Electors for that state
as soon as election results are finalized for that state

very shortly we should see a link for 2000 appear at the end of that line
which will list by state the names of all the electors
contact your electors
and tell them to support the popular vote
and cast their vote for Gore/Lieberman

If you don't live in a state that went for Bush
call electors from other states
once the list has been posted
I will attempt to gather contact information
for the 538 electors starting with the states that went for Bush
and will post it here

Some of you may want Bush to win
other may just think I am crazy
but I think of it this way

It is only a matter of changing the minds
of four people

people like you or I
and if you assume they follow the national demographic
half of them, when they cast their ballots
voted for Gore

(correction - each party selects a slate of electors equal to the total number of representatives which that state has in both houses of congress, so if the republicans won a state, then all of the republican electors were elected, so we need to convince four republicans to see things our way, a slight increase in difficulty but again it is only 4 people)

And if we succeed
we can say
we altered the course of history
for the most powerful nation on earth

How is that for something to tell your grand kids?

If you agree with my idea
link to it
spread the word
lets start a popular uprising
and make it happen

If you like this idea you can read more of my thoughts on this matter Here

remember
all we have to do
is convince
four people


Update: Please link to http://www.wolfenet.com/~plural - it is our temporary webhome a domain has been registered and we are waiting for DNS servers to catch up - Thanks and sorry about the bold

Comments

well, mathematically speaking. . .

[doncabfan.livejournal.com]

you would only have to change 3 people's minds:
observe:
271 for bush
268 for gore

270 for bush
269 for gore

269 for bush
270 for gore

Re: well, mathematically speaking. . .

[submission.livejournal.com]

wrong.
Bush 271
Gore 267
= 538 (435 house, 100 senate, 3 for DC)

and this is all assuming Bush wins Florida anyway.

Re: well, mathematically speaking. . .

[doncabfan.livejournal.com]

looks like i'm wrong again.


Aside: Does anyone else think the Democratic party is probably planning something very similar to this right now? They might have a hard time getting through to some die-hard Republicans, granted, but I did hear some rumors prior to the election of the Democratic party having a prepared course of action for such an event. Also I just pooped my pants.

Re: well, mathematically speaking. . .

[submission.livejournal.com]

To vote against your state (if even permitted) is political suicide. You're disrespecting what the people of your state voted on. The whole reason they are in the position they are in is because the people they'd be voting AGAINST voted FOR you, with good faith that you will accurately represent their political voice. Voting against your state trashes all of that.

People so often forget that we are not a democracy. We are a republic. WE don't make the decisions, we CHOOSE who makes the decisions. If we don't like the decisions they make, we pick someone who makes the decisions we DO like. Based on this, sure, if a republican WANTS to vote for Gore and is permitted to do so, he can. But what on earth are the chances of that happening? Very very little, because it destroys his political future. If the electoral college were relinquished, no presidential race campaign would ever leave, New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, and half a dozen other cities. The electoral college covers the population majority (the house) and two reps per state (senate). Think about it. In all likliness a pure democracy wouldn't last more than a year or so. It'd get voted into some other form of government. Do you watch every single stock all the time to see what to invest in? No. You get your H&R Block guy or whoever to do it for you. It's his job and you trust him to do it. Same thing with congress.

Re: well, mathematically speaking. . .

[doncabfan.livejournal.com]

Actually I already knew everything you said and I don't know what your point was, but thanks.