Scott Walker wants to rig the electoral college to fulfill his own presidential ambitions

If there are any doubts that Republican Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has presidential ambitions, they’ve just been erased in a big way.

Scott Walker has given vocal support for a proposal to allocate 8 of Wisconsin’s 10 electoral votes based on the presidential popular vote in each of Wisconsin’s congressional districts, with the other two going to the winner of the statewide presidential popular vote in Wisconsin. Currently, the winner of the statewide presidential popular vote wins all 10 of Wisconsin’s congressional districts.

Obviously, since Scott Walker is too conservative to be elected president under the current electoral college rules (every state except Maine and Nebraska is winner-take all, and the District of Columbia, which is not a state, has three winner-take-all electoral votes), he signed into law a Republican gerrymander of Wisconsin’s congressional districts last year and now supports allowing 8 of Wisconsin’s 10 electoral votes to be allocated based on presidential returns in each of the state’s congressional districts.

Had the 2012 presidential election in Wisconsin used the congressional district method, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, the Republican presidential and vice-presidential nominees, would have won 5 electoral votes based on the presidential returns from Wisconsin’s 1st, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th congressional districts, while Barack Obama and Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential and vice-presidential nominees, would have also won 5 electoral votes based on the presidential returns statewide and from Wisconsin’s 2nd, 3rd, and 4th congressional districts.

However, since Wisconsin is currently winner-take-all in presidential elections, the Obama/Biden ticket won all 10 of Wisconsin’s electoral votes.

Also, it’s not just Wisconsin where Republicans are trying to rig the electoral college in their favor. Republicans in Pennsylvania and Ohio have also proposed rigging the electoral college in their favor.

Personally, I believe that Wisconsin, Illinois, and every other state in this country should call for a national constitutional convention to draft and propose that presidential elections be determined by national popular vote instead of the electoral college, in effect, repealing and replacing the 12th Amendment of the United States Constitution.

About these ads