The Briefing Room
General Category => National/Breaking News => SCOTUS News => Topic started by: corbe on January 18, 2020, 04:01:29 am
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Supremes to Decide if Electoral College Voters Must Vote for Winner of State Popular Vote
Bronson Stocking
Posted: Jan 17, 2020 6:05 PM
On Friday, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a case that would decide whether electoral college delegates must vote for the winner of their state's popular vote. Half the states currently have laws requiring their electors to follow the voters' decision in their state.
Electors who do not vote in accordance to the winner of their state's popular vote are known as "faithless electors." According to NBC News, the so-called problem of faithless electors has never really been an actual problem before. In fact, most states simply throw out the ballot of an elector who doesn't follow the state's popular vote.
But in 2016, the Democrats ran such a rotten candidate that several electors in states carried by Hillary Clinton cast their ballots for someone else. One elector in Colorado voted for John Kasich, one in Hawaii voted for Bernie Sanders, and four in Washington state voted for someone else -- three for Colin Powell and one for Faith Spotted Eagle, the name of a Native American activist, not Elizabeth Warren. Other Democratic electors contemplated voting differently but were reportedly pressured into voting for Clinton. Colorado simply replaced its errant elector with one that would vote for Hillary, while Washington state fined their independent-thinking electors for violating state law.
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https://townhall.com/tipsheet/bronsonstocking/2020/01/17/supreme-court-deciding-whether-electoral-college-electors-must-vote-for-candidate-who-wins-state-election-n2559721 (https://townhall.com/tipsheet/bronsonstocking/2020/01/17/supreme-court-deciding-whether-electoral-college-electors-must-vote-for-candidate-who-wins-state-election-n2559721)