Yesterday, Feb 25th, the Arkansas State House by a 56-43 margin voted to undermine the Constitution of the United States and to disenfranchise the voters of the state of Arkansas in presidential elections. According to Arkansas HR 1339, the 6 electoral votes of the State of Arkansas would be cast for whoever won the popular vote in the entire country and would not be based on the vote of the people of Arkansas. The bill has now been sent to the Arkansas state senate. This bill would make Arkansas join with Hawaii, Maryland, New Jersey and Illinois in such legislation.
Under this provision, if the voters of Arkansas voted by a 90% margin for presidential candidate “A” and the popular vote of the country as a whole was 50.01% in favor of presidential candidate “B” the 6 electoral college votes of the state of Arkansas would be cast for candidate “B”. This is in total disregard of the expressed will of the people of the state of Arkansas. Why should we bother to vote at all?
The representatives that voted for this should be recalled!! This indicates they have no understanding of either US history or government and no intention to represent the people who elected them. Such persons should not be allowed to act as “representatives”!
American History 101: In 1786 this same principle was argued vehemently by the delegates sent to establish a constitution for the new nation. Some delegates from the larger states wanted a democratic republic represented solely on the base of population. Those from the smaller states wanted one with equal representation by states. In an effort to reach a compromise it was decided to create a legislative branch of government that was divided into two houses. One would be comprised of representatives from each state based on their population. (House) The other would be comprised of two representatives from each state. (Senate) This would allow a balance between the two viewpoints and avoid what the smaller states viewed a “Tyranny of the majority”. It would prevent the larger states from totally disregarding the needs of the smaller ones while at the same time allow more representation in recognition of the differences in population among the states. The executive branch would be invested in a president that would be elected by the states (not necessarily by the people) with the same balance of representation by state. Each state would cast votes for the presidency based on one vote for each US Senator and one vote for each US Representative in their US congressional delegations. This balanced the desires of those that wanted representation by population with those who wanted representation by region.
The framers of this new constitution wisely provided a process for amending it to allow for modifications over time as such changes were needed. As a result of the wisdom of the framers of our constitution it is now the oldest standing constitution in the world. It has become the world model for a republican form of constitutional government and has served our nation for 220 years.
Now the Arkansas state House of Representatives thinks that in their infinite wisdom they have found a better way. Deny the right of the people of Arkansas to have a vote on the presidency and base Arkansas’ votes in the electoral college on the will of the people of California, New York, Florida, Ohio and the other most populous states! Somehow there is something that “ain’t quite rite” about that.
This bill, HR 1339, is a blatant attempt to subvert the US Constitution without bothering to go through the process of constitutional amendment. It denies the expressed will of the voters of the state of Arkansas and would have the effect of turning the presidential selection over to the biggest population centers in the country. If such a change is needed it should go through the process of constitutional amendment. It should not be by a slick proposition by a bunch of politicians in a smoke filled room to “put in a fix” that strips the voting rights from the people of Arkansas.
This bill will truly strip rights of the voters of the state of Arkansas in presidential elections! If you vote in the state of Arkansas and want to have your vote count in presidential elections, you must contact your state senator now before it is too late. Please do not delay as this bill will come up for vote in the Arkansas state senate soon.
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