[EM] NPV vs Condorcet

[Greg]

My understanding -- though I can't find the information on this at the
moment -- is that in prior attempts to abolish the Electoral College,
the votes from legislators in small states didn't differ significantly
from the votes in large states. The EC as is doesn't deliver much
attention to the small states -- when was the last time someone
campaigned in Vermont or Wyoming? But they do pay attention to Maine,
because it isn't winner-take-all.


> Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2008 14:02:47 +0100
> From: "Raph Frank" <raphfrk at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [EM] NPV vs Condorcet
> To: "Terry Bouricius" <terryb at burlingtontelecom.net>
> Cc: Paul Kislanko <kislanko at airmail.net>,       Dave Ketchum
>        <davek at clarityconnect.com>,     election-methods at lists.electorama.com
> Message-ID:
>        <e01ff3490810210602y5ed27a7eqce19f9b0a7dec3db at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>
> On Tue, Oct 21, 2008 at 1:40 PM, Terry Bouricius
> <terryb at burlingtontelecom.net> wrote:
>> 1. The Senate does not need to be involved in amending the constitution.
>> 2/3 of the state legislatures can initiate an amendment that then needs
>> ratification by 3/4 of the states.
>
> The convention route is not that simple.  It is not known how it would
> operate.  Potentially, the convention could propose an entirely new
> constitution.  Requesting a convention is a method to push Congress to
> propose their own amendment.
>
>> 2. Small states may indeed be convinced to abolish the electoral college.
>> My own state, the tiny Vermont, passed the National Popular Vote compact
>> (but it was vetoed by the governor), and arguably, Vermont "benefits" from
>> the current dsiproportionality built into the electoral college more than
>> any other state. But because of the battle-ground-state-focus of
>> presidential elections, Vermont has no felt impact on the presidential
>> selection process at all. The candidates only appeal to swing voters in
>> swing states.
>
> That is the kind of thing I was thinking of.