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 recognition.
Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer had just described a system in which “if party A wins a majority of votes, party A controls the legislature. That seems fair,” he said. Chief Justice John Roberts then jumped in: “If you need a convenient label for that approach,” Roberts offered, “you can call it ‘proportional representation,’ which has never been accepted as a political principle in the history of this country.”
Most Americans would agree with Breyer that in a democracy, it is only “fair” that the party that gets more votes gets more seats. But Roberts was making a narrower point: His claim could not have been — because it would have been absurd — that in our tradition of representative democracy, the winner shouldn’t win. He meant instead that the court has never held that party proportionality was an overriding value in structuring legislative districts. Other values, like a connection to the community or districts that are compact or equal in size, are also important — and sometimes outweigh a simple interest in proportionality.
Lawrence Lessig @ Medium: EqualVotes.US: Where we are, where we’re going
EqualVotes.US: Where we are, where we’re going Lawrence Lessig @ Medium Oct 21, 2017 Almost a year ago, a bunch of us began talking about how to fix an increasingly dangerous flaw in the mechanics of our Republic — the Electoral College. We had just witnessed the...
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...
read moreJason Harrow @ Medium: Why Equal Votes And The National Popular Vote Work Well Together
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...
read moreLawrence Lessig @ Medium: The Equal Protection Challenge to Winner Take All: A Legal Guide
The Equal Protection Challenge to Winner Take All: A Legal Guide Lawrence Lessig @ Medium Sep 14, 2017 Today, the non-profit that I founded, EqualCitizens.US, announced it would crowdfund support for two lawsuits to challenge the way votes are allocated in the...
read more
STAY UPDATED
Tell your grandkids you helped save American democracy—join the grassroots effort to make our presidential elections more equal. We’ll keep you updated on our progress.
SPREAD THE WORD
Help build this team—tell friends you know are frustrated by the way we elect our president to join you in the fight to challenge the Electoral College.
DONATE
Just like every vote, every donation counts in a grassroots movement like this.
Our success depends on Americans who believe in this work chipping in.
