Fighting a Mockery of Democracy (E.J. Dionne at Truthdig)

[marmar]

Fighting a Mockery of Democracy

Posted on Apr 3, 2007
By E.J. Dionne

WASHINGTON—“The individual citizen has no federal constitutional right to vote for electors for the President of the United States.”

That is not some reactionary piece of propaganda denying your right to choose the next president. It is one of the more memorable sentences from the Supreme Court’s decision in Bush v. Gore, the hard-to-forget 2000 case that put the current occupant in the White House for his first term.

And strictly speaking, the court was right. As the majority opinion went on to note, we have the right to use our ballots to pick members of the Electoral College—which in turn chooses the president—because every state legislature has decided on “statewide election” as the way to get the job done. In theory, legislatures have the power to pick electors without even consulting the voters.

The American way of electing the president is antiquated, impractical, and dangerous. It is odd indeed that in 2000, a nation devoted to bringing democracy to the world gave power to the man who actually received 543,895 fewer votes than his opponent.
...(snip)...

Opponents of popular election invent scary scenarios to continue subjecting our 21st-century nation to a system invented in the far less democratic 18th century. Most frequently, they warn about having to recount the entire country in a close election.

But popular election of presidents works just fine in other countries, notably in France, which votes later this month, and in Mexico, which managed to get through a divisive, terribly narrow presidential election last year. Are opponents of the popular vote saying our country is less competent at running elections than France or Mexico? And does anyone really want to risk repeating our experience from 2000?

Here’s hoping that Maryland sets off a new American Revolution aimed at bringing our electoral practice into line with our democratic rhetoric. Our states have the power to give individual citizens the right to elect their president—directly. .......

The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/fighting_a_mockery_of_democracy/

[EST]

1. While I agree in sentiment, I find the use of Mexico to

justify or explain the reasonableness of popular elections to be on par with bush's criticism of democrats who are taking a working vacation away from DC. The truth is there; the analogy soft.