What Would You Do If You Were a Presidential Elector? (Garrett Epps, Atlantic)
The framers didnt intend electors to act independently, but as individuals, they now face a difficult set of choices.Garrett Epps Dec 12, 2016
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Should an elector disregard a pledge becauselets sayfacts emerge about a candidate between election day and the electoral vote that suggest that the candidate is unfit to serve?
That one is hard.
What if, to take a wild example, intelligence emerges to the effect that the electoral-vote winner, a popular-vote loser, was aided to victory by the spy service of a foreign dictatorship with a foreign policy hostile to the nations best interests? What if that candidate refused even to discuss the intelligence, and attacked the U.S. government instead of demanding an investigation? What if that candidate gave every evidence of eagerness to discredit his own countrys intelligence service rather than allow the public to know some as yet undisclosed facts about himself and his campaign?
Imagine you were an elector. Imagine you had promised to support a candidate whose platform was American greatness. And imagine before your votethe vote that would count for history, the vote that could never be recounted or taken backyou received evidence suggesting that the candidate was unfit for the office that he seeks?
And imagine that he wouldnt do anything to dispel suspicion or refute the evidence.
Dont look at the popular-vote tracker. Dont look at the Founding Fathers. This is a new problem, and the only place to look is your own conscience.
What would you do?
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more: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/12/what-would-you-do-if-you-were-a-presidential-elector/510296/
This excerpt is actually from the end of the article. Many may find the preceding portions of the article uncomfortable reading. It's worth slogging all the way through.
C_U_L8R
(44,889 posts)I mean, c'mon, everyone can see Trump's totally in over his head.
He doesn't have the skills, temperament or the brains for the job.
Trump is so unqualified and incompetent - Elector's first duty is
to protect the nation from pariah's like Trump.
Just do it. Dump Trump.
mopinko
(69,803 posts)once those levers get the rust knocked off them, the thugs will want to play with them the next time and the time after that.
just like obama probably was afraid that if he tried to prosecute w, he might end up standing before the senate. a dusty old possibility might not have rattled. but after seeing what happened to clinton, what (dem) pres isnt just a little more afraid of impeachment?
still the last best hope of mankind.
lame54
(35,130 posts)If they HAVE to vote a certain way why do they exists
They should vote to correct to collassal fuck up a handful of conned voters created
After they save the country we can finally do away with the crappy electoral college and have a proper democracy
dubyadiprecession
(5,615 posts)They have to do their jobs, even if it might mean the end of the world.