If electoral votes were all apportioned to candidates according to each state's popular vote like in Nebraska and Maine, then what would happen?

A close race like this would end up being a tie. There would be no president elected by the general population. The vote for president would go to the House. If this were the case, it could allow for the growth of third parties and a parliament style government like in Europe where the prime minister is the head of government.

Has no one ever thought of this?

11/6/2012 10:17:22 PM

IIRC Nebraska isn't exactly apportioned to the popular vote. Each district votes for it's individual electoral vote and the overall state vote gets the two electoral votes which represent the senate seats.

11/6/2012 10:22:39 PM

If every state used district-based assignment, the incentive to gerrymander would never be greater; in particular, Obama would end up getting just under half of Ohio's electoral votes: Two statewide and like 6 of the 16 district-based ones.

11/6/2012 10:28:01 PM

Gerrymandering is a pretty easy fix if you have an aware constituency. Or we could make a federal law outlawing gerrymandering.

11/6/2012 10:29:46 PM

more like a constitutional amendment or a state-by-state series of referenda, like the one that sadly failed in Ohio

11/6/2012 10:39:01 PM

Fixing gerrymandering seems like something that would be incredibly popular if people were actually aware of what it was.

11/6/2012 10:42:20 PM

and if the Rethugs who seek to preserve it don't force some convoluted and nearly incomprehensible ballot language on the voters

with the help of SuperPAC ads falsely calling the independent commission an unaccountable and wasteful entity

11/6/2012 10:44:45 PM

Just say that you're "privatizing" the redistricting process because government is too incompetent and corrupt to do it.

11/6/2012 10:49:03 PM

oh look, lewisje is using his cute names again. keep looking stupid, dude
and are you REALLY trying to suggest that only republicans are guilty of gerrymandering? Have you ever taken a look at the 12th district? You know who drew that one up, right? Get off your faux outrage

[Edited on November 6, 2012 at 10:50 PM. Reason : ]

11/6/2012 10:49:05 PM

oh no it's not only the Rethugs

but when the Democrats do it they're more guilty of dummymanders, like Arkansas in the previous decade

in Ohio it's the Rethugs behind it, along with the preponderance of the states

[Edited on November 6, 2012 at 10:53 PM. Reason : honestly surprised they didn't gerrymander the fuck out of Indiana

11/6/2012 10:52:48 PM

you realize that you sound like a complete fucktard when you say "rethug," right? literally no one thinks it's cute, no one thinks it's insightful. In fact, you sound like Sarah Palin when you say it. You know that, right?

11/6/2012 10:58:23 PM

I don't think "Rethug" sounds cute either; rather it describes the modus operandi of the GOP.

11/6/2012 11:06:20 PM

So does dummycrats, Ms. Palin

11/6/2012 11:16:09 PM