Feinstein Gathering Co-Sponsors for Bill to Abolish Electoral College
Please Call Your Elected Officials To Sign For Yourself!
Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) is currently gathering original co-sponsors for her proposed bill to abolish the Electoral College system for the U.S. Presidential Election, and to replace it with a direct vote forthe Presidency, according to Feinstein press secretary, Adam Vogt. " A President can be elected without receiving the most popular votes - thisis the fundamental flaw of our electoral system," Senator Feinstein said during a press statement on January 6, 2005, the day of the Electoral College certification of George W. Bush."It has happened four times in our history and there have been close calls in 22 other presidential elections. It will happen again and again unless we change the system," the Senator continued.The elections where a President was elected by the Electoral College, but not the majority of the American voters, were John Quincy Adams in 1824, Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876, Benjamin Harrison in 1888,
and George W. Bush in 2000. Feinstein's proposal would not be the first time Congress considered replacing the Electoral College with a direct vote for the President. In 1979, Feinstein's Office reported, the Senate voted 51 to 48 to abolish theElectoral College and replace it with direct popular elections. The legislation fell short of the necessary two-thirds required for a Constitutional amendment, but more than half the body supported the concept. In the 91st Congress (1969-1970), the House of Representatives voted 338 to70 for the direct popular election of the President, said Feinstein's Office, but the effort fell short in the Senate. The real basis underlying the Electoral College is not a states' rights argument, or one of protecting the rural states against those with urban centers, but an argument that voters are not smart enough to make choices for themselves regarding something as important as who is their President. James Madison, if you read Federalist 10 and 51, would have Americans believe that most people are incapable of making informed choices, or perhaps are so irrational that they are too capable of being swayed against protecting minority welfare in order to be trusted with the right of votingf or the President directly.First, the Electoral College makes people feel like their vote won't coun tif they live in a big city, or if they live in an area where the majority vote is already decided so winner takes all. And then, politicians wonder why so many Americans are alienated from politics. It's because it was setup that way by design. The Electoral College is the institutionalization of the distrust of the majority. No wonder the majority of Americans don't even vote anymore. Is that what Madison wanted? Maybe so. Citizens nationwide who are interested in seeing Congress pursue this issue can call their Senators Offices and ask them to sign on to Feinstein's forthcoming bill.
