The silent battle over presidential election procedures wages on, and Massachusetts has officially fallen. Last week Gov. Deval Patrick signed legislation entering the state into National Popular Vote’s interstate compact, bringing NPV’s total electoral votes to 72 (of the needed 270).
Yet Save Our States is seeing to it that the “silent” aspect of this battle ends and discussions happen out in the open. These are your presidential votes, after all.
Today the Christian Science Monitor published an article by Save Our States Director Trent England: Bypass the Electoral College? Careful what you wish for. In it Trent explains how the Electoral College works, how by decentralizing presidential elections it nationalizes our politics, and how the simple majoritarianism of NPV would endanger American freedom. “Majoritarianism – the idea that nothing should stand in the way of the power of a majority – flies in the face of the Bill of Rights. After all, every check and balance and especially every protection of rights operates to restrain the power of a momentary majority.”
Reading the comments section on any number of articles shows that Americans don’t like having their electoral votes reallocated without being consulted (Who knew?). Time to read up and speak up.
Tara Ross also published two fantastic articles recently, looking at the history of the Electoral College, the Founders' motives when crafting it, and how NPV puts a few states in control of how the entire nation elects its president. National Review Online: Massachusetts, the Electoral College, and the Lessons of History; The Center for Competitive Politics: Rules for Radical Election Change)
(Cross-posted at www.LibertyLive.org)