Maine Took the US One Giant Step Toward More Democratic Elections
Maine Took the US One Giant Step Toward More Democratic Elections
On Wednesday, Maine’s legislature passed a bill joining a compact to commit all of their electoral votes, regardless of who won in their individual state, to whichever candidate won the national popular vote.
Ah, so they signed onto the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact!
There's a CGP Grey video on how it generally works for those with short attention space and/or a need for dry government humor:
Waaaiit, Puerto Ricans don't get a vote?
I'm a dirty foreigner and I'm not too clear on the status of Puerto Rico, but somehow I'd assumed that they'd get to vote in federal elections since they're a part of the country
They're a part of the country, in that they are citizens and pay taxes. They don't have representation in Congress (they send delegates, but those people can't vote on anything) and they aren't represented in the electoral college.
Fun fact, citizens of Washington DC are similarly unrepresented in Congress, but they do get to vote for President.
Just a note on the tax part:
Consequently, while all Puerto Rico residents pay federal taxes, many residents are not required to pay federal income taxes. Aside from income tax, U.S. federal taxes include customs taxes,[1] federal commodity taxes, and federal payroll taxes (Social Security, Medicare, and Unemployment taxes).
On Wednesday, Maine’s legislature passed a bill joining a compact to commit all of their electoral votes, regardless of who won in their individual state, to whichever candidate won the national popular vote.
This brings the total electoral votes joining the compact to 209. Michigan will join soon, bringing it to 225.
270 electoral votes needed for the change to take effect. We're getting there.
I didn't think "getting there" is going to happen in our lifetime. We're just going to hit a ceiling where "obviously blue" states join, and the rest don't, which will hit before 270.
There could be some purple states where the stars align and this passes, but yeah, at least a generation, probably more
Even once they "get there" the battle really starts. Interstate compacts must be approved by congress, which this never has been.
I don’t live in a swing state and I feel disenfranchised. My vote for president, for all intents and purposes, does not count in the current electoral college system.
I can’t wait for the compact to go into effect. Turnout in so many states would increase a lot.
However, my optimism is tampered by this supreme court.
Fantastic, the electoral college is closer to retirement!
Good job Maine. Abolish the electoral college.
Not a great solution. We need ranked voting. Not perfect, but significantly better than the 2 party shitshow we're currently saddled with.
Maine already has ranked choice voting for statewide elections. They can't fix the national system.
If the hack to at least give the person with the most votes the Presidency wins, then maybe we can work for ranked choice for Presidential elections.
Weirdly Maine is/maybe was the only state that did ranked choice voting. But it also kinda sounds like this new system supercedes it.
https://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/upcoming/rankedchoicefaq.html
Yup, sadly it’ll never gain enough momentum where it needs to. It’s like the ERA all over again
So, how is this more democratic AND Nebraska doing away with EVs by congressional district less democratic? Is making the winner based on less granular vote or more what we want?
The goal should be making the national popular election the deciding factor in a presidential race, Maine is moving us closer to that goal, Nebraska is not.
The national popular vote is like being the team that had the most points in a 7 game series instead of the one that won the most games.
Because Trump bullied them into doing that (or tried to)
We don't care about consistency if it means the turd sandwich wins over the giant douche.
This doesn't mean much.
With Maine, we're at 209 votes. Michigan would make it 225. But unless we have a real path towards 270, nothing will come of this.
It could be decades before we hit 270... if ever.
I thought I heard the Supreme Court struck this down already somewhere maybe it was a state Supreme Court
Must have been, I don’t think a case has made it to SCOTUS about this
Unless Maine also repeals their use of instant runoff voting for the presidential election, their own votes won't count toward the national popular vote. The compact makes no provision for counting ranked ballots, and there isn't really any fair way to do so anyway.
All well and good right up until it works against you... Everyone points to Gore and Clinton, but imagine what happens the first time a Democrat loses under this system, there will be riots.
If a democrat loses under this system they will have lost fairly.
Yes, and that won't stop the rioting.
Why do you think that is true? The only violence from people unhappy with a presidential election that I can think of is the MAGA insurrection in 2021.
This just fucks over the people of Maine. Call me when first past the post is eliminated or Citizens United is repealed. Until then the US is a pseudodemocracy.
It doesn't fuck over the people of Maine. The pact only goes into effect once a controlling majority of electoral votes are pledged to the plan. Once that happens, the electoral college is functionally eliminated, and the President will only ever be the winner of the popular vote.
Technically the electoral college isn't eliminated, it just makes it so the votes go the the winner of the popular vote and not the gerrymandering. This would put every state on an equal footing and no more red state/blue state nonsense. People disillusioned by the current system can begin to feel like their vote "actually counts", and maybe drive more people to actually participate in elections "where every vote counts".
EDIT - Sorry themeatbridge, we are saying the same thing. I read your reply quick and thought you stated it was eliminated, not just functionally eliminated which is a big distinction that would require a lot more effort.