Bloc Voting in the Electoral College: How the Ignored States Can Become Relevant and Implement Popular Election Along the Way

Abstract

The electoral college is enshrined in our Constitution, yet it is widely viewed to have outlived its usefulness. Constitutional requirements and the state of national politics make it unlikely that direct popular election of the president could be achieved through amendment of the Constitution. The alternative, action at the state level, is currently a topic of discussion. However, efforts by the states are hampered by a collective action problem, i.e., a lack of incentives to act alone without a guarantee that others will follow. This article examines a set of four alternatives for electoral college reform which can be accomplished through legislation at the state level, all of which lead to national popular election of the President on a basis of "one person, one vote," and two of which provide powerful incentives for all states to join. The advocated approach is for a given state to pass legislation that appoints its electors according to the popular vote of, not only its own voters, but those of all states that pass similar legislation. This approach, explicitly allowed by the Constitution, creates a powerful voting bloc whose electoral votes will all go to one candidate. Presidential campaigns which normally ignore the citizens of a majority of states will be unable to ignore this bloc. As other states join the bloc in order to gain this increased influence, the power, and incentive to join, only grows. The result may be popular election of the President without a constitutional amendment through action by as few as eleven states. This article looks at the political viability as well as the constitutionality of such a system. It also examines in detail how such an approach would work within our current federal system of elections.