Find solution
How to implement a voting system?

What would it take to implement a new voting system in U.S. presidential elections?

  • I've got my eye on SODA (http://wiki.electorama.com/wiki/SODA_voting_(Simple_Optionally-Delegated_Approval) in particular, but am interested in what legal and constitutional barriers/hurdles might exist.

  • Answer:

    What would it take?  It would take a miracle. You'd need to pass a constitutional amendment.  First, you need a 67% majority in both houses of Congress.  When was the last time you heard of anything more interesting than naming a post office passing with a 67% majority? Then you'd need 75% of the state legislatures to pass it.  You have no chance of getting an Amendment for the Approval Of Fluffy Puppies And Kitties through 75% of the state legislatures.  It takes only 13 states to wake up on the wrong side of the bed.  And I can name at least a baker's dozen of states who are permanently on the wrong side of the bed. You can actually skip the first step by calling a Constitutional Convention, which takes 2/3 of the state legislatures.  Number of times that has happened: zero. The last time an amendment was passed, it allowed 18 year olds to vote.  Those teens are about to start collecting Social Security. OK, there was one other, a random amendment that had been floating around for two centuries, adding a control on Congressional salaries.  It was even less consequence than naming a post office. You want to pass an amendment that might actually shift the power structure?  The best advice I can give is to start praying.  It would take something on the order of parting the Red Sea. There is a slightly more realistic route, one that skips the amendment process and substitutes an agreement between the states.  You still get an electoral college, but they agree to send their electors based on some criteria other than the state's own election.  The closest possibility is the National Popular Vote, which actually has some states signed up for it, and are actually almost halfway there.  That is, about 1/4 of the total electoral votes are covered, in a whopping nine states. I still think it would take a plague-of-locusts level miracle to get it the rest of the way.

Joshua Engel at Quora Visit the source

Was this solution helpful to you?

Other answers

Any state can change its own system at any time. The quote: Clause 2: Method of choosing electors Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector. The Evil Electoral College is just a mechanism to give smaller states a little more influence than they'd otherwise have, and keep any state from changing its own rules in such a way as to gain more influence nationally. Nebraska and Maine currently direct their electors to cast their votes based on majorities in each Congressional District. When people say that the Constitution requires that all of a particular state's Electoral Votes must be cast for the winner of the popular vote in that state, no matter how close the vote was, they are not only wrong on the law, they are incorrect about current practice.

Gary Teal

As mentions, there's a state-level movement to cast those state's votes for the popular vote winner. This is out there, but plausible, especially if another electoral-popular mismatch happens but goes against republicans, or non-swing states in general start to get really fed up with a lack of attention (but most are happy with them being R or D by default, helping free up funds/effort for their favored side). But to implement some kooky scheme like SODA, when even the mildest alternative voting scheme (actually called Alternative Vote) failed by miles to pass a referendum in the UK... nothing apart from the elimination of the electoral college has a snowball's chance.

Jacob Jensen

A disaster! Something would have to go so vastly wrong in a presidential election that everyone -- not just the losers -- was up in arms about it. I don't know what it might be. Best guess would be a victory in the electoral college with the popular vote so far out of line (maybe 5 percent or more) that it would look crooked. Or possibly an actually stolen election that showed how it was possible to game the system beyond anything previously imagined.

Barry Hampe

Related Q & A:

Just Added Q & A:

Find solution

For every problem there is a solution! Proved by Solucija.

  • Got an issue and looking for advice?

  • Ask Solucija to search every corner of the Web for help.

  • Get workable solutions and helpful tips in a moment.

Just ask Solucija about an issue you face and immediately get a list of ready solutions, answers and tips from other Internet users. We always provide the most suitable and complete answer to your question at the top, along with a few good alternatives below.