Cable Forum - View Single Post

**Hugh** · 19-11-2020, 22:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damien

They're moving away from legal cases it seems now. Trump is meeting with Michigan lawmakers at the White House tomorrow presumably to get them to vote for different electors.....

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/1...e-works-437749

Quote:

Having delegated the power to choose electors to voters in their states and having passed laws setting that process out for the 2020 election, legislators can’t just take it back without changing state law. Among other things, Democratic governors would also stand in the way in states like Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

But there are other obstacles. The Campaign Legal Center’s Noti says that proponents of the “rogue legislature” theory for putting Trump back in the White House have also already run out of time.

They are ignoring a key clause of the Constitution, Noti says, which gives Congress the ability to dictate “the Time of chusing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes.”

"What people are saying is, ‘Well, we can determine to appoint electors ourselves.’ Which is true, if that had been the determination they made for the 2020 election,” Noti said. “But every state in the nation, as they have for more than a century, has made a different determination, which is to appoint electors by popular vote. And that’s what the legislature decided, and that is what, in fact, happened on Election Day.”

In effect, Noti said, states are bound by election laws they have previously passed. Congress “set the time of appointment as Nov. 3,” he continued. “So the legislative power to determine the method of appointment lasted until Nov. 3.”

https://www.michigan.gov/sos/0,4670,...7662--,00.html

From the Michigan Secretary of State

Quote:

What is the Electoral College?

Often misunderstood today, the Electoral College was established early in our country's history and continues to play an important role in the American political process. Although the name suggests ivy-covered walls and classrooms filled with books, the Electoral College is responsible for formally selecting the next president and vice president of the United States.

On the night of the Presidential Election, most Americans stay tuned to news reports to find out who won. But even after the final votes are tallied and the winner is announced, our choice for president and vice president is not official until the Electoral College casts its votes.

The Electoral College is comprised of 538 people, known as electors, chosen nationwide to meet in their home states and cast one vote per person for president and vice president. Michigan has 16 electors to reflect the number of senators and representatives it has in the U.S. Congress. Presidential candidates on the Michigan ballot submit a list of 16 qualified electors to the Secretary of State's Office. [B]The 16 electors whose candidate wins Michigan's popular vote will participate in the Electoral College at the State Capitol in December.

Electors pledge to support the candidate they represent and may not vote otherwise. Michigan voters can be assured that all 16 Michigan electoral votes automatically go to the presidential candidate winning the popular vote.

Most states distribute their Electoral College votes in the same "winner takes all" fashion as Michigan. However two states, Maine and Nebraska, apportion their electoral votes by congressional district.