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For those who live outside the US this is how their elections work (programming.dev)

submitted 2 weeks ago by riskable to c/[email protected]

14 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Electoral College elects The President. No other type of election works like that.

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[–] [email protected] 57 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/01-10-02-0065

I paste this everywhere because the narrative of lies has been ubiquitous:

There was one difficulty however of a serious nature attending an immediate choice by the people. The right of suffrage was much more diffusive in the Northern than the Southern States; and the latter could have no influence in the election on the score of the Negroes. The substitution of electors obviated this difficulty and seemed on the whole to be liable to fewest objections.

This was James Madison, ie the guy who came up with it. It exists to launder slave votes through their owners, nothing more.

We should have ended it after the civil war at least, definitely when we ended Jim Crow. It is an abomination and stain on our country's history.

If you are genuinely concerned about the power of low-population, rural states, that is absolutely a discussion we can have, though the Senate already massively favors rural states to a ludicrously disproportionate degree.

But what we have now is literally a system that rewards southern states that disenfranchise as many voters as they can in a sick continuation of the vile legacy of Jim Crow.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

It's not the only thing that we should have changed over time. I disagree about Madison being "the guy" who came up with it, he only agreed with it due to the reasons at the time (which again changed, so it should have changed). Madison preferred a popular vote for President as the ideal vote method.

Honestly post Civil War should have called for a massive reconstruction of the country, but was fumbled badly for the easier route of just patching the wounds and hoping things would work themselves out. They never did.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

He supported the popular vote, right up until the 3/5 compromise.

He changed his mind during the convention of 1787,

Remember, before this the argument was that congress itself should elect the executive, or state legislatures. Madison (and Hamilton) pushed this as he didn't trust congress, but nor did he trust the people, but also different states had different voter eligibility laws (for instance, slaves, and later, women).