Tag: Electoral College

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Congress Moves Forward In Clarifying Electoral Count Act

Congress works to clarify the Electoral Count Act
(image: Element5 Digital/Pexels)
While all sane people agree that vice presidents do NOT have the power to change the results of a presidential election during the counting of electoral votes by Congress, both chambers of Congress are currently on track to clarify any “vagueness” there might be in the Electoral Count Act of 1887. Continue reading “Congress Moves Forward In Clarifying Electoral Count Act”

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California Electors Put Biden Over 270 Threshold To Win White House

President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris (via Instagram)
It was California’s 55 electors that put President-elect Joe Biden over the 270 threshold today to make his win in the 2020 presidential election official.

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News Round-Up: October 28, 2020

(screen capture via CBS News)
Some news items you might have missed: • USA Today: A new report says five states – Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin and Oregon – are at a high risk for activity by armed groups of civilians around the November 3 election. The report lists nine, large multistate right-wing groups that could present problems to Pennsylvania and other states, including Three Percenters, Proud Boys, and Oath Keepers. • The Advocate: A dispute between two people inside the popular gay bar Paco’s Ranch in Puerto Vallarta escalated into a physical altercation that spilled outside of the Romantic Zone establishment. One left, returned with a gun, and shot two men. • Statista: Although Donald Trump has claimed his 2016 win “was the biggest electoral college win since Ronald Reagan,” his triumph was not the landslide he pretends. In fact, he won fewer electoral votes than all but one president since Ronald Reagan.
(graphic via Statista)
• Page Six: Willie Garson, who played Carrie Bradshaw’s bestie “Stanford Blatch” on the hit series Sex and the City recently revealed why he stayed in the closet as a straight actor. “For years I didn’t talk about it because I found it to be offensive to gay people.” • OUT: International pop star Ricky Martin says “as a Latino, as a gay man, and as someone ‘married to an Arab’ — his husband is Syrian painter Jwan Yosef — he can’t imagine voting for Trump.” Martin added that seeing news about ‘Latinos for Trump’ is “really scary.” • Twitter: A Trump supporter in California was caught on video threatening a female motorist outside a polling place this past weekend. In the clip, the man walks in front of the woman’s car and appears to take a picture of her license plate. “We got your plates, baby. We know who you are now. You’re gonna vote for Trump whether you like it or not. You got no choice. You cannot resist Trump. We got you. We fucking got you.” #VoterIntimidation

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How Joe Biden Wins The 2020 Electoral College

Super-smart guy Doug Sosnik, who was White House political director during President Clinton’s successful reelection race, writes for Axios:

Former Vice President Joe Biden’s most likely paths to 270 Electoral College votes:

1. Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Arizona: Biden wins all three states — his best option, given the political environment. (see above)

2. Michigan and Pennsylvania + two congressional districts — Nebraska-02 and Maine-02.

3. The Rust Belt: Biden wins Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

4. Michigan and the Sunbelt: Biden carries Michigan, Arizona and North Carolina.

5. Florida +1: Biden carries Florida, getting him to 261 electoral votes. A win in any of the other battleground states would put him well past 270.

The bottom line … Biden’s best strategy:

• Make putting Michigan out of reach for Trump the top priority. • Lock up Pennsylvania. • Prioritize winning Arizona, Maine-02 and Nebraska-02. • Focus remaining resources on Wisconsin, North Carolina and Florida.

Read Doug’s full analysis, “The Post-Political-Realignment Electoral College Map,” here.

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Trump Lies Again Claiming He Won 2016 Popular Vote

Citing a conservative group known for spreading false conspiracy theories, Donald Trump again claimed his 2016 electoral was "even bigger than thought" as he accused Google of "manipulating" votes in the last presidential election.
Donald Trump

Citing a conservative group known for spreading false conspiracy theories, Donald Trump again claimed his 2016 electoral was “even bigger than thought” as he accused Google of “manipulating” votes in the last presidential election.

“Wow, Report Just Out! Google manipulated from 2.6 million to 16 million votes for Hillary Clinton in 2016 Election!” Trump tweeted. “This was put out by a Clinton supporter, not a Trump Supporter! Google should be sued. My victory was even bigger than thought!”

Trump tagged Judicial Watch, which has a long history of targeting Democrats via unsubstantiated lawsuits.

However, study after study, investigation after investigation, show that no tangible voter fraud has ever been found, let alone millions and millions of manipulated votes.

As has been well-documented, Hillary Clinton lost the electoral college to Trump 304 to 227. But, due to high population blue states like California and New York, he garnered nearly 3 million more votes than Trump.

My question is: if the election was rigged in Hillary’s favor by such powerful interests like Google and Russia (as Trump claims), why isn’t she president?

Even Hillary Clinton clapped back at the nonsense:

This comes in a long string of allegations of election fraud by Trump.

Last week, at a New Hampshire rally, the Donald told his followers that voter fraud was to blame for his losing the Granite State’s four electoral votes in 2016. He told the crowd in Manchester, “It was taken away from us.”

And over the weekend, he insinuated to reporters in New Jersey that undocumented immigrants were to blame saying “many, many people voted that shouldn’t have been voted,” coming back repeatedly to “some people voted many times.”

But Ellen Weintraub, the chairwoman of the Federal Election Commission, quickly dispatched a letter to Trump calling for him “to provide any evidence” that could back up those statements.

“To put it in terms a former casino operator should understand: There comes a time when you need to lay your cards on the table or fold,” wrote Weintraub.

“Facts matter. And people of America need to be able to believe what their leaders tell them,” Weintraub said Monday.

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Oregon Becomes 15th State To Promise Electoral Votes To Winner Of Popular Vote

Oregon has become the 15th state to join the National Popular Vote compact promising its electoral votes to the presidential candidate who wins the national popular vote.
Donald Trump

Oregon has become the 15th state to join the National Popular Vote compact promising its electoral votes to the presidential candidate who wins the national popular vote.

From The Hill:

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) on Wednesday signed a bill into law that will give the state’s Electoral College votes to the presidential candidate who wins the national popular vote.

“I think it’s really important to be a part of the national conversation regarding the presidential election,” Brown said Wednesday as she signed the bill into law, according to The Oregonian. “I think it will encourage candidates to spend more time in states like ours, speaking directly to our voters.”

The compact will go into effect only if enough states join to bring their total Electoral College votes to 270. Oregon’s addition of seven Electoral College votes brings the current total to 196.

Brown said she thinks Oregon being a part of the compact will compel presidential candidates to spend more time in all the states, particularly hers.

“I think it will encourage candidates to spend more time in states like ours, candidates who are running for president speaking directly to our voters,” she said, according to CNN. “I think it will help encourage them to talk about issues that … Oregonians care more about. And I think it’s really important for Oregon to be part of the national conversation regarding the presidential election.”

Brown’s signing comes after the Democratic-led Oregon House passed the measure last week largely along party lines.

In the history of the United States, five candidates have become president without coming out on top in the popular vote.

Most recently, Hillary Clinton beat Donald Trump in the 2016 election by 3 million votes but lost the race due to the Electoral College.

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Nevada: Governor Vetoes Bill That Would Award Electoral Votes To Winner Of Popular Vote

Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak

The Nevada Independent reports that Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak has vetoed a bill that would have pledged the Silver State’s six electoral votes to the presidential candidate who wins the popular vote for president.

AB186 proved a divisive one in the Legislature that elicited some of the closest votes in the session. Proponents argued that it would ensure every vote counted equally, while opponents said they feared it would diminish the relevance of Nevada and other small states.

If approved, the bill would have tied Nevada to a compact of states agreeing to pledge their electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote, but would only take effect until enough states had joined the compact to eclipse the 270 electoral vote threshold.

So far, 15 states with a total of 189 electoral votes have joined the compact, with Colorado, Delaware and New Mexico approving laws to join the initiative.

While I’m a proud Nevadan, I’m disappointed in Sisolak’s veto.

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New Mexico Becomes 14th State To Pledge Electoral Votes To Winner Of Popular Vote

New Mexico has become the 14th state to join a campaign pledging to award its electoral votes to the winner of the popular vote in future presidential elections if enough states sign on.

New Mexico has become the 14th state to join a campaign pledging to award its electoral votes to the winner of the popular vote in future presidential elections if enough states sign on.

The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact is a response to Hillary Clinton’s winning the popular vote of the 2016 presidential election but denied the White House by the Electoral College.

Clinton won the popular vote by over 3 million votes, but Trump took the prize with 306 electoral votes versus Hillary’s 232.

So far, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington state and the District of Columbia have all joined the movement.

According to CNN, “states would not shift their vote allocations until their combined electoral votes equal 270, enough to decide a presidential election.”

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Sen. Elizabeth Warren Calls For Abolishing The Electoral College

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) told the audience at a CNN town hall last night that the electoral college should be eliminated and the popular vote should determine the presidency.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) told the audience at a CNN town hall last night that the electoral college should be eliminated and the popular vote should determine the presidency.

“Come a general election, presidential candidates don’t come to places like Mississippi,” she told the crowd in Mississippi. “They also don’t come to places like California and Massachusetts, right? Because we’re not the battleground states.”

“My view is: every vote matters,” she continued. “And the way we can make that happen is that we can have national voting, and that means get rid of the electoral college.”

The presidential hopeful also called for repealing all of the voter suppression laws in the country.

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President Trump: I Won By The Biggest Margin Since Reagan (So I Am Told)

President Trump has promoted the idea that his win in the presidential campaign was “the largest margin since Ronald Reagan.”

He was asked about that today at a press conference.

When presented with actual electoral votes by previous presidents since Reagan (Obama 333 votes, George H.W. Bush 426 votes), Trump backtracked by saying “I was given that information.”

Watch below:

Trump also declared during the presser: “The leaks are real. The news is fake.”

I’m not sure how, if the “leaks” are real – the information leaked is real – how are the news stories about those leaks “fake?”