The Voting Process-Should It Be Changed?

**Bumpy** · Civilian Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts

Presently, Barack Obama has 1,622 popular vote overall, with 1,413 pledge delegates out of this count, and 209 super delegates out of this count. Hillary has 1,485 popular vote overall, with 1,242 pledge delegates out of this count, and 243 super delegates out of this count. Obama is presently ahead of Hillary in the popular vote, and because Hillary Clinton does not have more of the popular vote than Barack Obama, the democratic race for the nomination for the presidency of the United States will boil down to the super delegates. There are approximately 850 super delegates in the democratic party (the republican party does not use this system). They consist of the people like Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, Al Gore, state governors, members of Congress, retired congressional leaders and all of the national committee members for the Democrats. They exercise more power in the nominating process than pledge delegates. The super delegates are picked by the democratic party itself-not the people-and, the super delegates can vote for whoever they want to. They can even announce their support for a candidate prior to an election, and because they are unpledged delegates to the democratic convention, they can shift their support to another candidate at any time. However, the super delegates also have people they have to be accountable to, and realize that it is best to follow the will of the people. The landslide loss George McGovern received in the 1972 presidential election to Richard Nixonand is the reason why the Democratic party created super delegates as a safeguard to guarantee party control over the nomination process, and to avoid mistakes by voters in nominating a candidate. The majority of the time, the super delegates do not go against the will of the people. (This is why Hillary Clinton is presently trying to make Barack Obama look as racist as possible, so she can convince the majority of the super delegates to cast their votes for her).
Presently, it is highly unlikely that Hillary Clinton will be the democratic nominee, because she doesn't have the majority of the popular vote-which is the will of the people. However, there is a slim chance that she could convince the super delegates to cast their votes for her-especially since Bill Clinton is a two term president, and a genius in dealing with economics, and foreign affairs. Many super delegates just might get behind Hillary Clinton in order to ensure that Bill Clinton is working behind the scenes on the economy, and foreign affairs. And, this is a powerful advantage that Hillary has-regardless if she doesn't have the majority of the popular vote, and regardless if she did flat out lie about flying into Bosnia under gun fire. However, at this point, if nothing like this happens, Obama will be the democratic nominee, because he has the majority of the popular vote. However, Obama still needs to work on getting the majority of the super delegates to cast their votes for him, because he doesn't have the 2025 minimum votes to automatically be the democratic nominee, and Hillary isn't that far behind him in total vote count. And, after the Pennsylvania primaries, Hillary could very well lead Obama in the popular vote, and even more than she does now in the super delegate votes (remember, the super delegates can change their votes at the convention for whoever has the most popular votes-or for whoever they want to). So, in order for Obama to try and sway the super delegates, he needs to stay ahead in the popular vote by winning at least three of the remaining state primaries-particularly North Carolina. However, in the end, the super delegates determine who is going to be the democratic nominee for president.
Once the Democratic and Republican parties nominate their candidate for president, and the people vote, the electorial college then takes over...
...The electoral College is not a place but a process that was created as part of te original Constitution of the U.S. It was created by the founders of America as a compromise between the election of the president by Congress, and election by popular vote. Political parties usually nominate the electors at their State party conventions, or by a vote of the party's central committee in each state.
Electors may be State elected officials, party leaders, or persons who have a personal or political affiliaton with the presidential candidate. Federal law requires that the electors must be appointed on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November (November 4, 2008).

Under the Constitution, State Legislatures have broad powers to direct the process for selecting electors. And, Article II, section 1, clause 2 in the U.S. constitution states that "no Senator, Representative, or Person holding an Office dof Trust or Profit under the United States" may be appointed as an elector.

The voters in each state then chooses the electors on the day of the general election. Electors names don't even have to be on the voting ballot, so long as they are registered with the Secretary of State.
It is the electors who end up casting the "real" vote-not the people.

Next, the Governor of each State prepares 7 original Certificates of Ascertainment which lists the persons appointed as electors, right after the November elections.
A vote for the candidates for President and Vice-President named on the ballot is a vote for the electors of the party or unaffiliated candidate by which those candidates for elector were nominated and whose names have been filed with the Secretary of State. This is called the "winner take all system". Electors cast their votes for the candidate who has received the most votes in that particular state. However, there have been times when electors have voted contrary to the people's decision, which is entirely legal. Although if they do vote against their party, they'll most likely be simultaneously forfeiting their post as elector and they may even incur a hefty fine. Presently, 48 U.S. states use this system. Only Maine and Nebraska use the "district system" in which two electors' votes are made based on the candidate who received the most votes statewide. The remaining electoral votes go by congressional districts, awarding the vote to the candidate who received the most votes in each district.
So, who do you think is going to be chosen as the democratic nominee for the presidency?
[b]Do you think Obama should receive the nomination-why/why not?
Do you think Hillary Clinton should receive the nomination-why/why not?
Do you think the super delegates and the electoral college are fair ways of determining presidential nominees and presidents-or do you think both should be abolished, and candidates should just be chosen by the people? Why/why not?[/b]

**Rupchuk** · Moderator Thanks: 0 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts votes: 4

It's a party, not the government. Who the democrats decide to nominate is not in the realm of the US government's power. They set up their own rules, just like the republicans and all other parties.

Really it is bad on the dems for letting it get this far. How can they claim to be "the will of the people" when their candidate might be decided behind closed doors by party leaders that could go against the popular vote? I hope the majority of the people see what the dems are really about and remember this during the election.