Tag Archives: electoral college

Today’s The Day – The Electors Can Vote With Their Conscience

New Medium Post on today’s nail biting events…

Today’s the Day

Today the Electors will cast their ballots for the next President of the United States. For better or worse, that is our current system in action.

Since Donald Trump is a rather constitutionally compromised President, specifically with regard to the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause. (Stephen Colbert also explains the subject quite well.)

The electors could choose to vote their conscience, and choose Hillary, or send the decision to the Republican-controlled House to choose, or merely make a statement by abstaining from voting for Trump.

Here’s a song I’ve written about this historical time.

 

 

My Song To The Electors: Who Do You Stand For?

I_Voted_StickerHere is my song to the Electors. (References below that explain everything! 🙂

Who Do You Stand For? (MP3)  (Lyrics below)

Not only did Hillary get more votes than Trump, Trump is disqualified in at least one very important way.

The electoral college was created just for this reason: as a safeguard against an unqualified or disqualified president-elect. (In this case, we have both a disqualified president and millions of votes proving the electoral college is broken. Time for the electors to do their job, and stop the madness.

And yeah, next we get rid of the electoral college!

Who Do You Stand For? (MP3)  (CC-BY-SA)

Music and Lyrics by Lisa Rein.

Here we go on the roller coaster of our lives
The smoke is still clearing slowly
as we’re all scrambling
I can’t help wondering

Who do you stand for?
I’m asking you
asking you
Give me your answer
I’m asking you
asking you

We went to vote
We cast our ballots on that day
The people have clearly spoken
We told you what to do
Now it’s all up to you

Hey are you listening?
I’m asking you asking you
give me your answer
I’m asking you
asking you

Cause we’re running out of time
And there’s too much on the line
So start showing me a sign

I think you know how much it matters

Give me your answer
I’m asking you asking you
Who do you stand for?
I’m asking you asking you

I can’t ask anymore

References:

And So They Will Decide – Lawrence Lessig
The Electors Can Do It Monday: We Can Demand They Recognize the Popular Vote, On Lisa Rein’s Radar
Will Electors Vote Their Conscience and Prevent a Trump Presidency?, Rolling Stone
The Constitution lets the electoral college choose the winner. They should choose Clinton., Lawrence Lessig
Stephen Colbert Asks: Is Trump Only Violating Norms or Laws? (Video)
Lawrence Lessig: Electors Are Constitutionally Permitted To Vote Their Conscience, And Should Do So – Video and Video Transcript

 

The Electors Can Do It Monday: We Can Demand They Recognize the Popular Vote

I’m keeping this simple:

The Electors can decide to exercise the Constitutional right to choose Clinton, based on the popular vote.

This is explained in a great new Rolling Stone article, but here’s more links for those who desire them:

The Constitution lets the electoral college choose the winner. They should choose Clinton.(Lawrence Lessig)

Stephen Colbert Asks: Is Trump Only Violating Norms or Laws?

Lawrence Lessig: Electors Are Constitutionally Permitted To Vote Their Conscience, And Should Do So – Video Transcript
 

Stephen Colbert Asks: Is Trump Only Violating Norms or Laws?

Stephen Colbert explains how much of the Presidential behavior, such as publishing one’s tax returns, are merely norms we have come to expect from a President, not actually required by law.

Except for Trump’s blatant conflict of interest with his hotel chain (as diplomats are already lining up to stay there, hoping to gain favor). It turns out the good old U.S. Constitution has something to say about that:

The Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, explicitly states that:

“no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince or foreign State.”

Here’s Stephen Colbert explaining “The Emoluments Clause,” which, as he puts it, is a fancy word for “bribe.”

Developments in the Recount and Electorate Situation

The pieces are starting to come together. Luckily, the recount has begun. Hopefully, the electors will exercise their constitutional duty and choose Clinton anyway. As Lawrence Lessig explained in a Washington Post OP-Ed, they have every legal right to do so.

But at the very least, hopefully, moving forward, let’s make sure we have an audit trail for future elections.

How I Came to See That the Election Needs to be Audited and How You Can Too

By Beth Martinez

What kept coming back to me that day was a 2006 Rolling Stone article about the strong evidence that Diebold voting machines in Ohio switched votes from Kerry to Bush in 2004, thus “rigging” the outcome of the presidential election. As the votes were being tallied and the majority of the country was in shock, I started thinking, was THIS election also hacked?

It’s a theory I posited to a friend on election night, accompanied by the observation that Trump often calls out his own failings as faults of others. Did he know the election was going to be rigged, so he put Dems on the defensive early on? Or is he just the king of “whoever smelt it dealt it?”