GOP Plan to the Steal the White House is Back
Earlier this year, Republicans in several swing states unveiled sore loser plans to allocate their electoral college votes by congressional district or in some other proportional manner rather than the current winner-take-all system in place in 48 states. This would result in votes that would likely go to the Democratic nominee being pushed over into the GOP column. Tellingly, the GOP is not proposing to split the electoral votes of red states.
Had such a plan been in place in every swing state last year, Mitt Romney would most likely be president right now despite having lost the popular vote by nearly 5 MILLION votes.
Fortunately, massive outcry quickly killed this plan in Virginia, Florida, and other states where it reared its head.
Unfortunately, this GOP plan to steal the White House is now back in two key swing states:
- Pennsylvania: 13 GOP state senators, including the senate majority leader, have formally introduced their electoral college rigging bill. Republicans need a total of 26 votes to pass the bill. They currently control the chamber and hold 27 seats total. As they also control the state house in Pennsylvania, the GOP could theoretically ram the bill through in as little as 4 days as soon as they have the votes to pass it.Pennsylvania has been at the forefront of recent efforts to rig the electoral college, with Republicans from Gov. Tom Corbett on down first considering this scheme way back in 2011.
- Michigan: On Saturday, Republicans gathered for their state convention voted overwhelmingly (1370-132) to back a scheme to divide their state’s electoral votes by congressional district. For his part, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) has opposed the scheme, saying it’s not the “appropriate time” to consider it. This, however, is cold comfort, as Snyder once said the exact same thing about an anti-union bill that he later signed after it was rammed through the legislature with little debate.
BOTTOM LINE: If the GOP wants to win elections the old fashioned way — by winning more votes — then they should change their unpopular policies instead of trying to change the rules in the middle of the game.
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