Non Sequitur by Wiley Miller for November 06, 2012

as long as the electoral college exists, an individual’s vote will never count.

Your vote DOES count. How do you think electoral college delegates are chosen?

Enlightenment can be a real downer sometimes.

When you begin to believe that your vote doesn’t count, just remember Florida in 2000 ! I urge everyone who hasn’t yet done so, to get out today and vote – even if you don’t like the choices, make your choice, and VOTE !

The electoral college doesn’t matter because the frauds have long since decided the election. A few examples: Video of pols on camera talking about how to steal votes by the hundred. Busloads of non-citizens being driven to the polls and told how to vote. Voting machines in at least 6 states recording the vote for one candidate as being for the other one. Pols being arrested for voting multiple times. Pols posting on facebook how they’ve voted 4 times and plan on voting more. Military ballots not being mailed on time. Military ballots vanishing in fires. Military voters being removed from the rolls because they didn’t vote while they were deployed. etc. etc.. etc.

Our elections are slightly less honest than those in North Korea, the USSR, or any respectable banana republic.

Orion

Every vote counts, but it doesn’t do any good if your state always votes the opposite of your choice…..When I see both candidates speak for more than a few minutes, I can’t help but notice that Obama knows what he’s talking about, and Romney won’t even give us a clue about what he’s talking about…or intends to do He’s been all over the map on everything…At least with the President we know what we get….a moderate Democratic President….And they are basically harmless, but good for business…And workers too…

Bet we get 200 comments on this one..Note: Please read ALL of the comments before you chime in….Odds are, with this crowd, somebody’s already said it…Try to keep up….

Hey, electoral college? It would be wiser to let the freshman class at Western Michigan University chose the president….just not on Saturday morning…

Seriously, Friday night would be better, and a lot more entertaining…

Look, I really try to be cynical about this process, I really do…But the fact of the matter is we get to freakin’ vote…That’s gotta count for something…I wish we used the purple finger here…Stop. Think. Vote….

People who say we should eliminate the electoral college probably don’t realize it’s purpose. If elections were done by straight popular vote the more densely populated states such as New York and California would have the lion’s share in determining the future of our government. About 1/2 of the states wouldn’t be worth campaigning for at all because their population numbers simply wouldn’t matter enough. So by popular vote alone a select few states would have almost all the say in our government and too many states would have little or no say. The electoral college is divided up exactly the same as the congressional seats are divided amongst the states. There’s a reason the founding fathers structured things this way. This nation is a union of states after all and all states must be fairly represented in governance and vote. Not just the few really crowded ones. If you can’t see the logic in this still, maybe if we switched to popular vote like you say perhaps they’ll just stop bothering with elections in your state entirely. I bet you’d get it then.

Keep in mind that if you don’t like any of the candidates, and don’t understand the issues, it is perfectly okay to stay home and not vote. And yes, you can still gripe about the results afterward thanks to our friend, the First Amendment.

Come on people : Vote! It does matter, and it is important.

The counting of the vote is balanced for a reason; I see this kind of complaining everywhere, but I have never heard anyone with a sound solution to the problem arising from “one man, one vote”

Until we get a solution, the way we do it today is as good as it gets.

I will be rooting for the Donkey tonight, but what I will really root for , is high turnouts. (I’m European, I cant do sqat about the vote, but I live with the outcome.)

Voting today is like being taken to an ice cream parlor that has two flavors – both too obscene to name. Big treat…

Of course a parliamentary system where the majority party in Congress selects the executive and so, would have to take responsibility for all the nonsense they pass would be even better. I know, I know holy separation of powers. Times change and maybe government needs to evolve.

It’s hard to say for sure which election results would have been different, since in each election the focus of the campaign would have been different. For instance, in 2000, Bush might have focused on getting more support is states like Texas where (as it was) he already knew he would win. If there was no E.C. it would also change voter turnout in “locked up” States.

Let us in, Let us in !!!

If an individual’s vote changed anything, it would be made illegal.

We could talk about my French Bulldog, Lulabelle instead. She’s a LOT more entertaining than politics anyway. Though she can be just a stinky on occasion, but that’s Frenchies for ya.

Tagg Romney, his mom and some other relatives own the company that makes the voting machines, but I am going to vote anyway.

Your vote being irrelevant has nothing to do with the electoral college. Your vote is irrelevant because elections are the entertainment section of bread and circuses designed to direct citizen anger away from government ( by making it appear you actually have a choice). Voting is an aggressive act against your fellow citizens since you are authorizing a gang of criminals to steal their money at gunpoint.

There are more things on the ballot than just one office. You are voting on local issues, levies and judges. Of course your vote counts, in more ways than most realize.

Go! Fight! Spin!

Problem is that the UN is the most corrupt organization on earth. Saudi Arabia and Iran on the Human Rights Council. Yeah right!

The Electoral College is a disgusting misuse of the political process and not at all an honest representation of government by the people, etc. And yet I still vote.

Please people, do vote!The popular vote on the STATE level that determines the electoral college vote. It’s not the national popular vote that matters.

Actually it did, inspite of the democrats stuffing the ballot boxes.

yes they can’t manipulate your vote if you don’t give it to them. be sure to vote for one side of the 1%. the Plantation Owner/Corporate Raider or his Protege’, bush 3

choices, choices, choices.

lol at varnes needing 5 posts to express his opinions.

And, now, back to the comic strip… They’re free to sit around, have a drink and discuss politics. Not all bad. Life does, indeed, go on.

Utter and complete bull. He “stole” nothing. So tired of that. Not sure what is worse…the far left whackos screaming “Bush stole the election” or the the far right whackos screaming “Obama isn’t American”. Both make me sick. The worst part of it is that 95% of us don’t believe either of those things and have to put up with the 5% whining all the time.

Holy crap! This is a comic strip, people!

I received my PHD after attending the Electoral College. (That was before the tuition rates skyrocketed.)

Your comments today are awesome…nice job of civil explanations of a difficult concept.

OMG I’m am so sick of people complaining about the Electoral College like its something new. It was enacted on September 6, 1787. Lean your history and get over it, it doesn’t matter what puppet they put in anyway, we are all just slaves.

Yes and very long-winded. I have more important things to do. Stopping here – will be back tomorrow to read the gloating and whining.

yeah, all those cows and crows have votes too…..and then there are some old guys who meet later in DC…..

for better or worse, i’m just so glad it’s all over. my mute button was yelling uncle.

Nebraska and Maine don’t have that many electoral votes, but they both increased their potential to affect change in a close election by splitting their electoral votes by proportion of popular votes the candidates get.

Omaha typically votes more Democratic than the rest of the stgate, so the Congressional district with Omaha gave Obama one electoral vote in 2008 that would have gone to McCain under the old law where the parety with the majority of votes in the state got all electoral votes.

The idea of the electoral college was to keep a watchful eye on candidates, and make sure the incompetent, crooked, and worse couldn’t fast talk their way into the presidency. If it worked, GWBush would have only gotten into the White House as part of a tour group.

Do not let this keep you from voting!

It’s hard to believe we don’t elect our own president. I vote in a red state, so my vote has never counted since I vote for democrats.

As an exercise, I took the 2000 vote totals and figured out what it took to win the Electoral College vote (50%+1 in the small states, zero in the large states.) It is theoretically possible to win with 27% of the vote. Extremely unlikely, but possible.

At least I live in a blue state where I tend to vote more Democrat than Republican. The only contest I’m stressed out on is my redrawn congressional district that’s supposed to be swing. The Republican candidate believes a woman who’s been raped should carry the pregnancy to full term & doesn’t support taxpayer assistance for contraceptives.

Oh please. When someone posts (Varnes) that has difficulty spelling or chooising the correct word, I lose what little confidence I had to start with. What fairy dust has he been snorting? Mr. O a moderate!? What have you been reading, or not? Interesting how Romney gets jumped on for his comment that he’s not concerned about trying to convice certain folks (47%) but Obama gets a pass in the media when he won’t even make a campaign appearance in some states, i.e. Oklahoma. If the worst comes, I have confidence America can ride out four more bad years of B.O. But it will be interesting when the gravy train stops for those unwilling to take advantage of opportunity.

Could not have expressed it any better. Thanks !

@TheTrustedMechanic

Good for you. Just because your vote for President may not count due to the electoral college, doesn’t mean you should not vote. There are many many important down ballot races such as judges, State senate and representatives, that need you consideration and perhaps your vote. And you don’t have to vote for everyone.

And it is these down ballot races that will have a bigger effect on your lives then the President on a daily basis. The more local the more effect on your life. The President doesn’t decide what roads to repair or when the garbage will be picked up.

Hello Mr. Sharuniboy and Linguist:-You just called me a stupid jerk because I don’t vote. Because I don’t vote I understand that I have to accept whatever laws and leaders the voting majority determines for me.-However, consider this: I can not conscientiously vote for someone who is lying, being opportunistic, taking money, and cares more for political ends than the citizens best interests. That sums up most candidates.-Is it my fault things are deteriorating because I refuse to support those people? How can the results be the fault of one who declined to contribute to the cause?-Actually, if things are bad…it’s the voters fault for putting those folks in office. Voters try to blame non-voters, but we didn’t do it…you did.

If we did away with the electoral college then every state would have to put up with all the political ads. Thanks Ohio for taking one for the team.

I live in a solid-color state, so my vote won’t change anything.

You have put a lot of thought into this. I like it. It would also provide for a more centrist and populist election. Perhaps the party lines would be blurred but, in my humble opion, it would benefit the country more evenly. It would open up discussions on the realities of one healthcare plan versus another. It would give all of us the voice we so desire. And, perhaps, there would be less of the insulting and ugly diatribes that I read here and elsewhere. One could only hope that it would.

Popular vote only gets you one that most of the country doesn’t want. Popular vote with instant runoff (vote first, second, etc. choice, the least is dropped and alternates added, until a majority is reached) at least gets you someone the majority can at least stand. As it is now, “It won’t mean a thing if your state cannot swing”, and even there it is non-binding. Jill Stein and the Green Party support IRV, so, since your vote for president is meaningless, vote Green and build a real democracy – the rule of all the people. And be sure and vote for the rest of the offices where your vote really counts.

More regulations, higher taxes, more expensive energy, more powerful unions should have our economy booming in no time.

PEOPLE! PEOPLE!!! LET’S NOT LOSE OUR FOCUS HERE!!We still need 93 more comments if we are going to reach 200!!!

In 1964, I joined the “club of registered voters” In 2005 I finally quit. 41 yrs of following the fantasies and accomplished nothing. Now I see the process as entertainment and have learned so much from the outside. Y’all are fun to watch. Dance on.

Please, if you live in California, vote yes on Proposition 37.

Vote if you think you have a right to know exactly what is in the food you pay for and eat.

Vote yes on Proposition 37 if you don’t think Monsanto has the right to deliberately create “Round-Up Ready Genetically Modified Organisms” that are becoming more and more resistant to Round-Up, to the point that Monsanto is now working on creating “2,4-D Resistant Genetically Modified Organisms” so those superweeds that are mutating can be killed. They will wind up with superweeds that cannot be killed by chemicals. They have “food” that is so laden with Round-Up right now, it isn’t safe to consume.

Just vote yes on Proposition 37 if you think that the companies that make the food you buy and eat don’t have the right to hide what’s in that food.

I noticed that in the news, myself.

We’re some stupid, totalitarian, 3rd rate country with such corruptness in the government that we need an international committee to monitor our election process!

Texas just proved it!

So the votes of the many are marginalized and the votes of the few are inflated in the electoral vote? Is that what you guys are explaining it as? And you see this as GOOD? One vote should count as ONE VOTE no matter what state you live in! Being punished or rewarded for living in a certain state should never ever ever happen! I happen to live in a state that is ‘rewarded’, and I even feel slighted by this system!

Also, Bush was NOT the first time the electoral vote was different than the popular vote and it didn’t change anything back then, either.

It’s true. The Electoral College makes the individual voter’s choice moot. I’ll be living in “interesting times” if Obama wins; 99.99993% of Utahns voted for Romney. I can already hear the accusations and outcries.

The Democrats lost the Gore election. They got the Presidency, Senate, and House in 2008. They had two years to start the process of getting rid of the Electoral College.They chose not to.Please, No More Whining about the Electoral College.

The one college we don’t need!!!I live in California and have NOT seen a single presidential add or mailing.No one wants my vote!!!

There was an “Elector” on TV who stated he didn’t care how he was to vote, he was putting his states vote the way HE wanted.

Not the UN. The independent election monitors were from Europe, though I’m not sure they’re officially affiliated with the EU. Interestingly enough, the same European monitors, accompanied by American monitors, have routinely watched elections in such places as Russia and Venezuela..Of course, it really doesn’t matter whether the elections in Texas are monitored; that state’s going to go for Romney by a big margin. Monitors are needed in Ohio, Florida, and the other “swing” states. Which may be an argument in favor of keeping the Electoral College—at least we know in which states we should concentrate our fraud-detection efforts.

If you have electronic voting, doublecheck before you hit confirm: someone took a video of the machine changing his choice to Romney repeatedly.

Here in Tenn we all has to fill out a voters appliaction.Anyone else?

I will agree the media is looking for money and influence and so non-reporting is their trend…but, just for the record…I am not a Libertarian. I am nothing, or a little of everything. It says more about you than me that you feel a need to pidgeon hole me politically.

Despair with politics is the reality for more and more, my friend. Not laziness. Many turn to simply trying to be the best neighbors we can be, helping out wherever we can while eschewing the corrupt political arena. Where I live, even local politics (like school board and judges, etc.) is flagrantly corrupt. So, help the needy, instruct those who wish to learn, and stay happy. Don’t allow ourselves to get caught up in the partisan divide that threatens all of us and only serves the money masters.

I just read in the last couple of weeks that someone won the election according to the electoral college, but had less than 40 per cent of the popular vote. Don’t remember who it was though.

I believe voting should be a “requirement” for all adults. There should be “NO” exit polls and “NO” reporting of results until “all” polls in the US have closed including Hawaii(lots of people in Hawaii don’t bother to vote because the election has long been decided before their polls close). Believe that it should be a majority of the popular vote and do away with the electoral college. No election should come down to a couple of battleground states with lots of electoral votes like the way the candidates flooded Ohio in the last weeks of this election.

A couple of notes on the election:

The Electoral College does have the advantage that recounts are limited—what if there was a close race, with recounts across the country, and disputed ballots everywhere. . . . It would be chaos. This way, most of the recounts are not needed.

Also: While there was not sufficient time to do a proper recount in Florida in 2000 before the Electoral College vote, some media people did do the “legwork” until it was done—and they determined that Bush did have a small but real majority of the votes.

I like the Electoral College. Without it the election would be solely decided by the large cities. The rural areas would have no say at all. I think it is a good balance between large and small

Link.

Marconi? It was Nikola Tesla!

masterscrain has a good idea, proportional representation ith the EC……But let’s face it. It’s not gonna change…we can’t agree on the time of day…

renewed, look it up…a liberal is somebody who has compassion for their fellow countrymen…Without being forced to by a religion that demands you go to Hell if You don’t. A liberal believes it should be one for all and all for one, not I’ve got mine so screw you…Gettin’ the idea? A conservative is one who feels the need to tell young girls (Republicans evidently call them sluts and prostitutes, who knows why..) what do do with their lady parts…and that poor people don’t want to work…Know what? It’s republicans of both sexes who are sluts and prostitutes…and so much worse, but I’m trying to be civil here…Stop. Think. Vote..

The problem with the EC is not the EC, but how states choose to apportion their EC votes.Most states use the “winner take all” system, which results in the nearly all of the problems with the EC that posters have been complaining about.

A state’s EC votes are determined by how many Senators and Representatives a state has.

If the states were required to apportion their EC votes based on the results of each Congressional District, with the two Senatorial votes being apportioned by winner take all, there would be no swing states, no flyover states, no Red or Blue states, and a single person’s vote could have a real effect on the EC results.

Possible fallout of this proposal:Third parties getting EC votesIncreased chance of no candidate getting a majority of the EC votes, which throws the decision to Congress.

This shouldn’t be in the comics; it should be in civics textbooks.

Obama wins!!

Even if the EC system voted the same percentage as the state’s population, the states with large populations would be under represented.

obama won. those people who supported mitt are suckers. millions of dollars wasted, all down the drain.

Actually it did. The electoral college exists to give the vote value to everybody, not jsut those in the most populated states. if it was based on popular count alone the race would be decided by three or fours states. New York, California, Florida and Illinois. Maybe texas, everybody else, don’t bother.

Did you even read my comment? It certainly doesn’t look like it. I took the majority argument to the extreme in order to make a point. I guess it was too subtle for you.

To everyone who thinks we should get rid of the EC. Do you want the policies of the entire US be determined by the people in the cities? Do you want NYC to tell farmers in Iowa what they can or cannot do? Personally, I would like to see a city vote be worth half of a country vote. It would be only fair since they only have half a brain.

Rarely has the phrase “Every vote counts” been more apropos than it was in November and December of 2000, LOL.