Unconstitutional electoral college bypass approved by second state!

We are not a Democracy, we are a Republic!

January 15, 2008 - A second state has approved a plan that would bypass the U.S. electoral college, giving the presidency to the winner of a national popular vote.

The move came this weekend when New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine signed legislation that specifies the state's 15 electoral college votes would go to the winner of the popular vote.

Maryland, with its 10 electoral college votes, earlier approved a similar plan. Both are contingent on enough other states approving the plan to provide absolute control over presidential elections.

Another state plan also is headed for the desk of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich after lawmakers approved it just days ago.

Opponents say the plan threatens the nation's republican form of government and would give unstoppable control over the White House to any coalition the major population centers would choose to create.

It would allow New York City to outvote much of the Midwest; Los Angeles could determine the course of a national agenda for the Pacific Northwest.

Several other state plans are in various stages of legislative progress, with dozens of other proposals beginning the review process, according to the group National Popular Vote, which is lobbying for the change.

Among states whose lawmakers have considered proposals in recent months are Hawaii, Colorado, Arizona, Washington, Montana, California, New Mexico, Louisiana, West Virginia and Connecticut.

Although it was not the first time, George W. Bush's 2000 victory with fewer popular votes than Al Gore spurred activists. Bush won because the concentration of his votes enabled him to collect the necessary 270 of the 538 total electoral college votes for the presidency. Electoral college votes are equal to the size of a state's congressional delegation. States award the votes in different ways, but they generally are distributed based on the state's popular vote winner.

Republicans call the idea a constitutional "travesty."

"It's a backdoor end-run of the federal Constitution," New Jersey Assemblyman Richard Merkt told the Associated Press.

Critics worry the plan to dispense with the electoral college could take hold by legislation passing in fewer than a dozen key states.

Already, legislative bodies in Arkansas, Colorado and North Carolina have given tentative approval to the proposal.