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Northton

by northton from the Land of Free Spe

Last Post 1 day, 8 hours Ago


Did Your Vote Really Count?
Nov 6, 2008 | 7:54 AM
Category: Political
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If you're like me, Arizona, you went out and voted, and you got a sticker!  Mine says, "My vote counted!". 

 

But someone mentioned how much different the popular vote and the electoral votes were in the 2008 presidential election, so I thought I would check it out and see what effect this odd system has had on our country's highest office.  Here's what I found.

 

Samuel J. Tilden would have beaten Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876.

Grover Cleveland would have won against Benjamin Harrison in 1888.

Al Gore would have won against George W. Bush in 2000.

As you can see, it is interesting that the electoral system has taken away your right to vote for your candidate.  It doesn't seem fair to the people.


This info was found at http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0781450.html
 

If you check it out you will see several elections in which the popular vote and the electoral vote do not match closely.  In 1880 James A. Garfield only won the popular vote by about 7,000 votes, out of over eight million tallied, yet he won the electoral vote by 50 votes!

 

The electoral system has destroyed the ability of anyone outside of the two major parties to win an election in America.  Just one example, in 1992 H. Ross Perot received  just under 20 million votes (19% of the total votes), a little over half of the votes received by George H. Bush, and almost half of the votes received by William J. Clinton.  How many electoral votes did H. Ross Perot receive after being voted for by 19,742,267 American citizens?  ZERO!  Those TWENTY MILLION VOTES were STOLEN from Perot and given to the other two candidates.  Redistribution of votes?

 

 

What do you think?

Is the electoral vote system fair to the American people?

Can any candidate that is not with the two controlling parties ever win a presidential election in this country?

Does your vote really count?

Should we change our current system to a popular vote system?

Why or why not?

10 Comments |  Add a Comment

Member Comments Total Comments: 10
Page 1 of 1
_CuCulCoN_ read my blog view my photos
Nov 6, 2008 | 9:29 AM

As NADER would say we have a 2 party system.And i feal the voting system is wack.
dhw1949 read my blog view my photos
Nov 6, 2008 | 10:18 AM

Well ststed, North. We need to get rid of the electoral college and be a democracy again.
TweetyNMe read my blog view my photos
Nov 6, 2008 | 10:56 AM

I too think the electoral college should go. Obama would have then won this election by a hair instead of the landslide the media is broadcasting.

Does our vote count? Not when we keep hearing how people managed to vote more than once and organizations like ACORN had a hand in voter fraud which wasn't resolved before the election.

The system should be changed to both popular vote and paper ballot. There should also be a requirement to prove citizenship before casting a ballot.
Rygg read my blog view my photos
Nov 6, 2008 | 2:38 PM

It says "to the REPUBLIC for which it stands....", not democracy. It sux that we get snowed in to believing otherwise.
northton read my blog view my photos
Nov 6, 2008 | 8:55 PM

Maybe that's something we need to change, Rygg.
KenOfAZ read my blog view my photos
Nov 6, 2008 | 9:47 PM

I think it should be popular vote. Popular vote has a couple of drawbacks, but I think it is best.
As for Gore winning the popular vote. I don't know how they are counting things now, but back then it was proven that he got less votes than Bush. Yet the democrats kept saying Gore won the popular vote. And I would laugh every time I heard someone say that.
northton read my blog view my photos
Nov 7, 2008 | 3:37 AM

Gore had the majority of the popular vote nationwide, however Florida did a recount, and Gore lost in Florida, giving Bush all of the Florida electoral votes. 271 to 266.

As a note, "One elector from the District of Columbia left her ballot blank to protest the city's lack of representation in Congress, leaving Gore with 266 electoral votes instead of 267." So an elector in DC just tossed a whole bunch of people's votes out the window to make a separate political statement! That's crazy!!! (That one electoral vote did not cost Gore the election, however it seems to be a complete abuse of power for the sake of state politics.)
northton read my blog view my photos
Nov 7, 2008 | 3:55 AM

Gore lost by about 500 Florida votes, but was ahead nationwide by over half a million votes.
northton read my blog view my photos
Nov 7, 2008 | 4:00 AM

One correction: "however it seems to be a complete abuse of power for the sake of city politics." Sorry, I keep forgetting that DC is not a state.
3ccm read my blog
Nov 8, 2008 | 2:48 PM

You're right. Our votes don't really count. While the electoral college is supposed to vote the way the people want them to, they don't HAVE to. It's quite evident when we've had presidents that have won in the popular vote but not the electoral vote. And to see the HUGE difference in this election between the popular vote and electoral vote is just another example of how true this is.

Those that were given the title of electorals can vote, if they choose to, strictly on party lines, if they received a bribe or promise for something in return, or simply because they felt like voting the way they did.

The electoral college may have worked way back when it was first instituted and the technology we currently have to count the votes had never even been thought of. However, in this day and age, it no longer is accurate. There's no need for it whatsoever. The electoral is in reality putting into place a government for the people, by the few, which was not intended to be and should not be allowed to happen. The electoral college is one reason that so many registered voteres choose not to vote...because their vote doesn't matter.
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northton

I like sharing ideas and ideals in an open forum. I may not like what you have to say but you can still say it here. Whatever you think, join the blog! Come and debate on an open forum like mine where free speech cannot be denied!* *Except by TOS, applicable copyright laws, and the whims of FOX.

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