Originally posted by: Moonbeam
BaDa, you are a disengenuous sort, no? My comment about the electoral college was there to see if you possible could assume someone doesn't know about the electoral college. That's pretty alimentary, no?
I like your notion that the Florida electorate delegates could sort of just vote for bush if they wanted even if Gore won. I think you know better, no. Here's the law:
The People in Each State Vote for Electors in the Electoral College. In most of the states, and also in the District of Columbia, the election is winner-take-all; whichever ticket receives the most votes in that state (or in D.C.) gets all the electors. (The only exceptions are Maine and Nebraska. In these states, just two of the electors are chosen in a winner-take-all fashion from the entire state. The remaining electors are determined by the winner in each congressional district, with each district voting for one elector.)
-------------
The electorate is pledged to vote for a candidate and there isn't the slightest chance in hell that if the ballots had been properly counted and Gore was shown to be the actual winner that he was that the 25 electoral votes from Florida wouldn't have gone to him as well as the Presidency.
Please don't tell people they don't know what they are talking about when you're describing an airy fairy dream.
Tales of the Unfaithful Electors
One of the common criticisms of the U.S. Electoral College is that
the electors are not legally bound to vote for a candidate. The "faithless electors" have never been more than one or two isolated individuals in any election, and their breach of trust has never changed the outcome of an election. Still, the idea that a single elector could change the course of history is both romantic and frightening.
...
ELECTORAL COLLEGE
Each party within a state selects a slate of electors numerically equal to the state's congressional delegation--representatives plus senators. The electors normally pledge to vote for the nominees of their party, but
they are not constitutionally required to do so. When the American people vote for president and vice president, they are actually voting for slates of electors pledged to their candidates. Because the electors usually are chosen at large, the electoral vote of each state is cast as a unit, and the victorious presidential and vice presidential nominees in each state win the state's entire electoral vote. The candidates receiving a majority of the total electoral vote in the United States are elected.
List of Electors Bound by State Law and Pledges, As of November 2000
No Legal Requirement. Electors in these States are not bound by State Law to cast their vote for a specific candidate:
ARIZONA - 8 Electoral Votes
ARKANSAS - 6 Electoral Votes
DELAWARE - 3 Electoral Votes
GEORGIA - 13 Electoral Votes
IDAHO - 4 Electoral Votes
ILLINOIS - 22 Electoral Votes
INDIANA - 12 Electoral Votes
IOWA - 7 Electoral Votes
KANSAS - 6 Electoral Votes
KENTUCKY - 8 Electoral Votes
LOUISIANA - 9 Electoral Votes
MINNESOTA - 10 Electoral Votes
MISSOURI - 11 Electoral Votes
NEW HAMPSHIRE - 4 Electoral Votes
NEW JERSEY - 15 Electoral Votes
NEW YORK - 33 Electoral Votes
NORTH DAKOTA - 3 Electoral Votes
PENNSYLVANIA - 23 Electoral Votes
RHODE ISLAND - 4 Electoral Votes
SOUTH DAKOTA - 3 Electoral Votes
TENNESSEE - 11 Electoral Votes
TEXAS - 32 Electoral Votes
UTAH - 5 Electoral Votes
WEST VIRGINIA - 5 Electoral Votes
Legal Requirements or Pledges. Electors in these States are bound by State Law or by pledges to cast their vote for a specific candidate:
ALABAMA - 9 Electoral Votes
Party Pledge / State Law - § 17-19-2
ALASKA - 3 Electoral Votes
Party Pledge / State Law - § 15.30.040; 15.30.070
CALIFORNIA - 54 Electoral Votes
State Law - § 6906
COLORADO - 8 Electoral Votes
State Law - § 1-4-304
CONNECTICUT - 8 Electoral Votes
State Law § 9-175
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA - 3 Electoral Votes
DC Pledge / DC Law - § 1-1312(g)
FLORIDA - 25 Electoral Votes
Party Pledge / State Law - § 103.021(1)
HAWAII - 4 Electoral Votes
State Law - §§ 14-26 to 14-28
MAINE - 4 Electoral Votes
State Law - § 805
MARYLAND - 10 Electoral Votes
State Law - § 20-4
MASSACHUSETTS - 12 Electoral Votes
Party Pledge / State Law - Ch. 53, § 8, Supp.
MICHIGAN - 18 Electoral Votes
State Law - §168.47 (Violation cancels vote and elector is replaced).
MISSISSIPPI - 7 Electoral Votes
Party Pledge / State Law - §23-15-785(3)
MONTANA - 3 Electoral Votes
State Law - §13-25-104
NEBRASKA - 5 Electoral Votes
State Law - § 32-714
NEVADA - 4 Electoral Votes
State Law - § 298.050
NEW MEXICO - 5 Electoral Votes
State Law - § 1-15-5 to 1-15-9 (Violation is a fourth degree felony.)
NORTH CAROLINA - 14 Electoral Votes
State Law - § 163-212 (Violation cancels vote; elector is replaced and is subject to $500 fine.)
OHIO - 21 Electoral Votes
State Law - § 3505.40
OKLAHOMA - 8 Electoral Votes
State Pledge / State Law - 26, §§ 10-102; 10-109 (Violation of oath is a misdemeanor, carrying a fine of up to $1000.)
OREGON - 7 Electoral Votes
State Pledge / State Law - § 248.355
SOUTH CAROLINA - 8 Electoral Votes
State Pledge / State Law - § 7-19-80 (Replacement and criminal sanctions for violation.)
VERMONT - 3 Electoral Votes
State Law - title 17, § 2732
* VIRGINIA - 13 Electoral Votes
State Law - § 24.1-162 (Virginia statute may be advisory - "Shall be expected" to vote for nominees.)
WASHINGTON - 11 Electoral Votes
Party Pledge / State Law - §§ 29.71.020, 29.71.040, Supp. ($1000 fine.)
WISCONSIN - 11 Electoral Votes
State Law - § 7.75
WYOMING - 3 Electoral Votes
State Law - §§ 22-19-106; 22-19-108
FLORIDA Political Party central committee Fla. Statutes 103.021 unnamed slate (at-large) No
I see no reason to add any comment to this.