bY JOHN GRIMALDI | APRIL 30, 2014
Movement to undermine the way we elect our presidents gains support
Group led by socialist billionaire George Soros would make the Electoral College irrelevant
WASHINGTON, DC – "A new challenge to Constitutional authority threatens to tear the very fabric of American democracy. The National Popular Vote Compact, an organization funded by immigrant socialist billionaire George Soros, is behind an insidious movement to circumvent the Constitution," according to Dan Weber, president of the Association of Mature American Citizens.
"Conservatives are understandably outraged by this end run by liberal extremists, but so are loyal Democrats and Independents. If the liberal ideologues behind this scheme have their way, the Electoral College would effectively become irrelevant. It would, in effect, allow future American presidents to be elected by a gathering of elitists. It would impose the will of the left-leaning, urban regions of the country on the rest of us," Weber added.
So far, 10 states with 165 electoral votes have signed on to the "Compact" in its quest to sign up states with a combined total of 270 votes, the number needed to elect a president. Once they achieve that goal, those states will pledge to elect the candidate who has won the national popular vote.
"It may sound like a very democratic way of doing things. But, in fact, it would be an ominously blatant nullification of the Constitution and it has riled activists on the left, as well as the right."
The popular vote movement has, indeed, garnered "vehement" bi-partisan opposition. Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf told reporters this week: "It's nuts ... here's a case of where they're trying to go around the Constitution, around the law, to do something that's patently illegal and wrong. It's the same way the Obama administration issues executive orders." And, famed liberal lawyer Alan Dershowitz had this to say: "The compact certainly violates the spirit of the Constitution. Plainly, the founders of the Constitution did not intend for there to be a conspiracy among certain states to essentially abolish the Electoral College."
The Constitution specifically rejects the notion that American presidents should be elected by a direct popular vote. Instead, it adopted a mechanism, the Electoral College, to give the people of each state a way of evenhandedly choosing the country's leadership.
When voters cast their ballots in a presidential election, they are actually choosing the electors who represent their states in the Electoral College. The electors are bound, in turn, to select the candidate who wins the most popular votes in their states. The candidate who gathers the majority of the College's 538 votes becomes the Chief Executive.
"It's a way to ensure the election of a candidate who represents our national interests rather than regional interests," Weber explained.
