The Equal Protection Argument Against “Winner Take All” in the Electoral College
Lawrence Lessig @ BillMoyers.com Dec 12, 2016
In 2000, Republican lawyers, desperately seeking a way to stop the recount in Florida, crafted a brilliant equal protection argument against the method by which the Florida courts were recounting votes. Before that election, no sane student of the Constitution would have thought that there was such a claim. When the claim was actually made, every sane lawyer (on Gore’s side at least) thought it was a sure loser. But by a vote of 7 to 2, the Supreme Court recognized the claim, and held that the Equal Protection Clause regulated how Florida could recount its votes. That conclusion led five justices to conclude the recount couldn’t continue. George Bush became president.
Most people, even Dems, can’t seem to allow themselves to even think about a constitutional challenge to the Electoral College — because they’re convinced our current Electoral College system is embedded in the Constitution.
I’ve been struck in this election cycle by just how timid Democrats have been about thinking in the same way. I’m not (yet) saying they necessarily should. But it is striking to see how committed they are to allowing this train wreck to occur. And more surprisingly, how little careful attention has been given (at the top at least) to just how vulnerable — given Bush v. Gore — the current (system for counting votes in the) Electoral College is.
Lawrence Lessig @ Medium: EqualVotes.US: Where we are, where we’re going
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read moreLawrence Lessig & Richard Painter @ USA Today: Let’s fix Electoral College. It’ll be easy compared to gerrymandering
Let's fix Electoral College. It'll be easy compared to gerrymandering Lawrence Lessig & Richard Painter @ USA Today Oct 13, 2017 In each state, in a clear denial of proportionality, millions of votes for president don't count. This concept needs urgent legal...
read moreJason Harrow @ Medium: The Road To The Supreme Court
The Road To The Supreme Court Jason Harrow @ Medium Oct 5, 2017 The ultimate goal of the Equal Votes project is to have the U.S. Supreme Court find that the winner-take-all method of allocating electoral college votes violates the core “one person, one vote” principle...
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Why Equal Votes And The National Popular Vote Work Well Together Jason Harrow @ Medium Sep 29, 2017 On September 22, Equal Citizens founder Lawrence Lessig went on Reddit “Ask Me Anything” to answer questions about our Equal Votes project. He received several...
read moreJason Harrow @ Medium: Why Courts, Part 2: Courts Are Good At Analyzing Equality
Why Courts, Part 2: Courts Are Good At Analyzing Equality Jason Harrow @ Medium Sep 26, 2017 In my prior post, I explained why it’s helpful that, after we file our legal complaint, a court has to take up our case and tell us whether we win or lose. But that raises the...
read moreLawrence Lessig @ Reddit AMA: Ask Me Anything about Reforming the Electoral College and Equal Votes
Ask Me Anything about Reforming the Electoral College and Equal Votes Lawrence Lessig @ Reddit AMA Sep 22, 2017 "I’m Lessig of Harvard Law School, here to answer questions about the case EqualVotes.US want to bring to reform the Electoral College. AMA!" More...
read moreJason Harrow @ Medium: Why Courts, Part 1: The Court Has To Give Us An Answer
Why Courts, Part 1: The Court Has To Give Us An Answer Jason Harrow @ Medium Sep 19, 2017 Equal Votes is the first public campaign that has attempted to change the way the electoral college functions through multiple coordinated lawsuits. The stakes are huge: two out...
read moreLawrence Lessig @ Medium: “Selective constitutionalism”
"Selective Constitutionalism" Lawrence Lessig @ Medium Sep 16, 2017 Last week, we launched a campaign to raise the funds we need to bring an Equal Protection challenge to the winner-take-all system for allocating electoral college votes. Tons were really excited about...
read moreLawrence Lessig @ IVN.US: Removing the Least Democratic Part of America’s Elections
Removing the Least Democratic Part of America’s Elections Lawrence Lessig @ IVN.US Sep 15, 2017 Voting in America is not easy. You first have to register. You have to find your polling place. In most states, you have to take time before, during, or after work to get...
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