Once again, the Delaware General Assembly is tinkering with a new way of picking presidents. And, once again, we still say it is a bad idea.
House Bill 55 follows something called the National Popular Vote. It would swing Delaware’s three Electoral College votes to whoever wins the popular vote across the nation.
In other words, if the total popular vote from every state across the nation picked Donald Trump to be president, then Delaware’s Electoral College votes would go to him even if Barack Obama won the vote here.
Don’t laugh. Donald Trump may be a long shot, but once you set something like this in motion, no one knows where it will end up … or whom it will get elected. As we wrote the last time this came up, “Suppose a third-party candidate siphons votes from President Obama in 2012. Then suppose Sarah Palin won the plurality of votes. Delaware, even if it had supported Mr. Obama, would be forced to turn over its electoral votes to Mrs. Palin.”
Pick your own nightmare scenario. It works either way.
John Koza of Stanford University developed the idea. It has been pushed by people still sore that George Bush got more electoral votes than Al Gore in the 2000 presidential election, even though Mr. Gore got more votes. In that election, votes supposedly were stolen from Mr. Gore. The National Popular Vote does nothing to stop theft.
Full Article: Don’t toy with the US Constitution | The News Journal | delawareonline.com.