Everyone who believes in the Popular Vote, the Bedrock of any Democracy, should Read and Heed the Guarantee articulated in Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment.
That Constitutional Text, specifically provides that if State Legislatures Interfere with the Popular Vote for the Electoral College Electors, such States are to be Punished, by having the Size of their Congressional Delegation Reduced. When a State loses House Seats, it thereby also Loses Electoral College Votes.
The 39th Congress wrote the Fourteenth Amendment in the wake of the Civil War, when the Terms for Readmission of the States that Seceded, were entirely Unsettled and Passionately Debated.
The Drafters of Section 2, conditioned State Readmission on a Specific Guarantee that, for numerous Public Offices, States could Not Interfere with the Vote by All those Eligible. When the Fourteenth Amendment was Ratified in 1868, this included Black Men for the First time, as well as All other Male Citizens at least 21 years old "except for participation in rebellion, or other crime." Their Votes, the Constitution now Proclaimed, could Not thereafter be "denied ... or in any way abridged."
In fact, the First Office Specified, within Section 2's Guarantee of an Unimpeded Popular Vote was in "any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States." And Section 2 dictated an Explicit Penalty. If a State "denied" or "in any way abridged" Votes by any Eligible Voters, that Stateʻs Representation "shall be reduced." This Clause has never been Invoked.
Clearly it should have been used when States used Multiple ways, some Ingenious, a great many Brutal, to Block the Votes of Black Citizens over many Decades. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was badly needed to address Systemic Barriers to Free and Fair Voting Processes.
Recently, however, the U.S. Supreme Court has demonstrated remarkable Unconcern about Burdens on Voting, not least by Refusing to Intervene against the most Overt Political Gerrymandering. A Court Majority has also Invalidated or Severely Limited several Key Provisions of the Voting Rights Act.
The Framers of the Constitution, following the Fundamental Principle that Just Powers derive from the Consent of the Governed, repeatedly Affirmed that the People are to Choose the Electors. They so declared in the Federalist Papers and through the State Ratifying Conventions. Nonetheless, when Thomas Jefferson was Elected President in 1800, John Adams sought to cling to Power by relying on Lame-Duck State Legislators, some Elected as early as 1796. Adams's Strategy was roundly Condemned as Unconstitutional, and in several States Voters directly Rejected it.
At that time, several State Legislatures chose their Electors. By the mid-1820s, however, this practice was Denounced as contrary to the Founders' Intent and was Abandoned. Only South Carolina held out, yet finally Acknowledged in 1865 that this had been a "gross error" and "usurpation."
A plan in 1868 to revive the Practice in Southern States was similarly Denounced. The National Conclusion was that the People Elect the Electors. Nonetheless, there is a Clear and Present Danger, that State Legislators in the 21st Century, will try to Assert Power to ignore the Popular Vote, as some have begun to do. It has become Vital to underscore our Nation's Commitment to Direct Popular Voting.
And with the Talk that the Electors Vote can be Changed, most States have Laws that Replaces with Elected Alterative Electors, and in some cases, Fines Electors that don't Vote their States Popular Vote's Candidates.
The People's Authority is very much at Risk right now. Choosing our National Leaders surely must remain "of the people, by the people, for the people."
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
