General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Should California Threaten Secession To Abolish Electoral College? [View all]sarisataka
(22,650 posts)to sum up:
-the EC is not going to be changed
--Republicans benefited from it this election so an Amendment wouldn't get out of committee
--even if it did every state from Missouri (18th most populous with 6,044,171) on down would oppose it because they all get a Electoral boost for having a population below the average
--such an Amendment would also be rejected by Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. As swing states, their Electoral votes are of greater value than the state would be by population alone.
-if CA threatens to secede and gets their bluff called not only does the state look foolish but they will lose influence for having been seen to cave in
-if CA does secede
--it will be in a very economically vulnerable situation, having over $232 billion in outstanding debt plus needing to self fund Federally provided necessities e.g. post office, patent office, State department, intelligence services...
--it is very likely the U.S. would demand a large payment for existing infrastructure
--military force to prevent secession is likely if it appears such action would be followed by other states.