What if Kerry wins the electoral vote but not the popular vote?

[rogerashton]

It could happen, if he wins enough big states by narrow margins but the Replutocrats win the small states by big margins.

In fact, Kerry seems to consistently do better in electoral vote projections than general polls.

Would the Supreme Court then declare the election null and void by a 5-4 vote? Would the shrub declare himself winner and the constitution null and void? Would we?

[LisaL]

1. Then Kerry will be president of the US.

LOL.

[LoZoccolo]

2. Prepare for at least a week of whining by right-wing radio hosts...

...convieniently forgetting, of course, what happened in 2000.

[bossfish]

26. Week? Years is more like it...

[DieboldMustDie]

27. Prepare for 4 years of screaming bloody murder by right-wing radio hosts.

But, of course, that's what they always do anyway. :evilgrin:

[not systems]

3. Then he is president.

If they want to fix the voting system then an amendment is needed.

[rogerashton]

37. Agreed.

At least it would demonstrate that the electoral college is just out of whack, not in favor of anybody in particular. But would we support an amendment on principle, with our guy in office sans popular vote victory?

I would, but (as I have posted before) not with plurality rule. There has to be some kind of runoff provision. I prefer preference voting with a single transferable vote, myself.

[drdigi420]

40. EC favors republicans

EC gives more voting power to ppl that live in rural states, which tend to go republican as the education and information systems are not adequate

in other words: rednecks generally vote republican

[rogerashton]

41. Only if the margins are similar.

You are right about the Gerrymandering of the EC, of course, and the same is true of both houses of congress. But the winner-take-all aspect **can** favor the big states. And it has done so in some elections: 1960, for example.

[Doosh]

4. Fine with me

I'd take that right now, it'll really stick in there craw.

[DU9598]

5. He is President

Break out the party favors and get tickets to DC for the inauguration.

[Mz Pip]

6. Works for me.

While I would prefer a huge blowout both in the popular vote and in the EC a win is a win.

Honestly, though, if that happened it would not end there. Bush would have recounts and lawsuits in every state he lost. And it wouldn't be over until the SCOTUS said so.

MzPip
:dem:

[msongs]

7. Kerry might not win BECAUSE..........

do not forget that the "electors" can vote any way they want. they are NOT required to vote based on popular vote counts. for example if kerry wins 30 electoral votes from a state, one of those electors can shift its vote to bush, thus kerry only get 29 and bush gets one. this is perfectly legal. the elector can be bribed, and that is perfectly legal too.

[cardlaw]

10. I believe

in many states, electors are required by statute to vote for the state's popular vote winner.

[Progressive420]

15. I'm pretty sure every state binds there electors.

[rogerashton]

38. Welcome to DU!

Good points.

[EmperorHasNoClothes]

8. He still wins

It's pretty clear-cut. Not that the repubs won't bitch and moan about it (conveniently forgetting that shrub did the same thing). They complained about Clinton not having a 50% majority after all!

I think the more likely scenario is what happened in 2000. They will target key states for vote tampering (as they did in Florida in 2000 and are already trying to do again in this election), thus ensuring shrub gets a electoral majority regardless of the popular vote.

[bahrbearian]

9. This will happen......

[onehandle]

17. I think the woman is photoshopped in.

I'm sure that crowd was just a bunch of male GOP Gorillas.


;-)

[Bridget Burke]

21. Nope, that's an old picture.

And she's been there since the beginning.

[onehandle]

36. uh...I was kidding. nt

[DieboldMustDie]

29. I think she's Ann Coulter's kid sister.

:evilgrin:

[bahrbearian]

43. The 800lb Gorilla ?

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

11. No

the SCOTUS only comes into play if there's a question on who gets electoral votes/or the electoral college count is extremely close. If Kerry wins the college by a margin and there is no contention over the results in any state, he's the Pres.

[HFishbine]

34. Actually

There is no statutory or constitutional provisions for the SCOTUS to come into play at all. Electoral college disputes are to be handled by the House of Representatives.

[HFishbine]

35. Actually

There is no statutory or constitutional provisions for the SCOTUS to come into play at all. Electoral college disputes are to be handled by the House of Representatives.

[noahmijo]

12. Given that 1/3 of Americans identify themselves as Republicans

Don't see how it could happen. If Bush couldn't get the popular vote last year just how the hell could he possibly get it this year?

He's only going to "win" if he cheats pure and simple.

[wildeyed]

13. Well he would be president.

And the repugs would know how it feels. Although they won't really know how it feels until thousands of their fellow party members are disenfranchised, too.

[Scorpious_Maximus]

14. President Kerry n/t

[onehandle]

16. General polls are misleading.

If someone wins the electoral, they are more likely to win the popular. More likely than vice-versa.

[Chichiri]

18. I'll see it as a balancing of the cosmic scales. (n/t)

[snippy]

19. Bush will do the same thing he did in 2000. Sue. n/t

[nosmokes]

20. we spend 4 years relishing the sound of "get over it"

[ClassWarrior]

22. You mean legitimately, or by the good graces of GHWBush's Extreme Court?

[rogerashton]

42. Legitimately

I don't think a popular plurality for the shrub is likely, but if it comes, it will come from large margins in red states.

[RamboLiberal]

23. I'm calling talk radio the day after and telling Repugs

"To Get Over It."

Then I'll keep my fingers crossed that the thieves don't have a plan in place to sway some electors.

[DieboldMustDie]

31. We'll have to keep Kerry electors away from small planes.

x(

[elfin]

24. Well then the Repugs will just have to

"Get Over It!"

[Pushed To The Left]

25. Sweet revenge!

It would be funny hearing all of the right-wing talk show hosts talk about how terrible the electoral college is, after they talked about how wonderful it was four years ago. What would really be good about this is that now both Republicans and Democrats would have a reason to hate the electoral college, and there would be a bipartisan effort to get rid of it and go with the popular vote.

[Zen Democrat]

28. Junior set the standard. Kerry governs with a MANDATE.

[merbex]

30. I'd knock on my Repug neighbors door

and ask him how it feels

It did not matter one iota to him that B* lost the popular vote in 2000;he wanted to shut down recounts in Fla. immediately. I kept pointing out to him that Fla state law required a recount with a result that close.

[umtalal]

32. John Trippi on a Charlie Rose interview

said that the public is going to change the electoral vote to a popular vote. The founding fathers were talking about small states that were almost equal in number. But now the reality is different.

[DURHAM D]

33. Repubs would draw up articles of impechment on Nov 3rd.

Seriously, if Kerry wins and the democrats don't take either the house or the senate he will be impeached.

[kentuck]

39. Then he will have a mandate to change the world

Just like the Repubs...

[DaveSZ]

44. I hope it does happen

Then Kerry can call for a constitutional amendment that mandates states allocate their electoral votes proportionally to the popular vote of that state, and it would have a chance of passing.

[AndyTiedye]

45. Repug State Legislatures Would Legislate Their State's EV's for Boosh

They would certainly do that in Florida if all theft methods fail.
They were prepared to do it in 2000.

They will try to do the same in other states where they control the legislature but Boosh loses.
If there are any red states with Dem legislatures and Dem governors, we might get back
a few EVs via the same means, but it would probably not make up for the loss of Florida
and Ohio's electoral votes.

The Constitution does not mandate that state Electors follow popular vote. That is
state legislation, which can be changed very quickly if the legislature and the governor
are of the same party.