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As a voter in Washington State, an all vote by mail state, I used a Washington State phone app to track my ballot after I placed in a drop box. It informed me when my ballot was picked up and after my signature was verified. I'd recommend that procedure for everyone.
vote.org/ballot-tracker… has links for every state.
As a voter in Washington State, an all vote by mail state, I used a Washington State phone app to track my ballot after I placed in a drop box. It informed me when my ballot was picked up and after my signature was verified. I'd recommend that procedure for everyone.
vote.org/ballot-tracker-tools has links for every state.
Thank you Ellen, It is good to know Washington has a system too. In California, votes are counted as they come in so I not only know my ballot has been received but it has already been counted, the tally will be kept secret until November 5. From now until every last fascist has been stopped in the United States protecting our elections from mob rule must be first and foremost, then second must be nullifying the electoral college.
Abolishing the Electoral College would require a constitutional amendment, which would require three-fourths of the states (38 of 50) to approve it. So all it takes is 13 states to block an amendment (whether by voting it down or just not voting on it at all), and there are almost certainly at least 13 Trumpy states that would do so.
But there is a movement to implement a mechanism allowing the national popular vote to get around the fundamentally anti-democratic character of the Electoral College. This movement takes advantage of the constitutional provision that allows states to enter into binding agreements with one another, agreements known as interstate compacts.
In the United States Constitution, Article I, § 10, clause 3 (known as the Compact Clause) states: "No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, . . . enter into any Agreement or Compact with another state, or with a foreign Power . . . ." <https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/artI-S10-C3-3-1/ALDE_00013531/>. Put another way, if two or more states want to enter into an agreement, they can do so with the approval of Congress. The U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted the requirement of congressional approval to apply only to agreements that undermine federal sovereignty.
The National Center for Interstate Compacts maintains a database of interstate compacts, currently totaling 270 <https://compacts.csg.org/database/>. (Ballotpedia also has a chart of compacts formed between 1785 and 2014 <https://ballotpedia.org/Chart_of_interstate_compacts>.) The National Center database includes a compact intended to overcome a fundamental flaw in elections for President of the United States: the Electoral College, which allows a candidate to become President despite losing the popular vote by margins in the millions. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact <https://compacts.csg.org/compact/national-popular-vote-interstate-compact/>, sponsored and promoted by National Popular Vote <https://www.nationalpopularvote.com/>, "would guarantee the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia." The compact would take effect "when enacted by states with a majority of the electoral votes (270 of 538)." The states that enact the compact agree that the electors in those states will vote for the candidate who wins the national popular vote. Currently, 17 states and the District of Columbia, with a combined total of 209 electoral votes, have enacted legislation to join the compact. National Popular Vote offers a free downloadable publication, titled "Every Vote Equal," that explains the compact in detail <https://www.every-vote-equal.com/sites/default/files/everyvoteequal-4th-ed-2013-02-21.pdf>.
The National Popular Vote Compact would result in every voter's ballot carrying equal weight, unlike under the Electoral College system. The compact would also end the tyranny of elections focusing on a handful of so-called battleground states, also a consequence of the Electoral College system. Under the compact, because every vote counts equally, every state would become a battleground state, regardless of whether it's blue, red, or purple, which in turn means that every voter becomes a battleground voter -- a voter over whom the candidates will battle. And because this compact would not impinge on federal sovereignty, it would, presumably, not require Congress to approve it.
If you want your vote for President to count as much as every other vote, and if you live in a state that allows citizen initiatives but has not yet joined the compact, consider starting an initiative. Help correct a fundamental and anti-democracy flaw in the way we elect the President of the United States.
Smart person, CGW, that's exactly why I said nullify, not change the Constitution which can only be done by an amendment. Even before trumpism, an amendment to repeal the electoral college would never pass. After all how many small States would be willing to give up their power. But I believe we are within 17 points of passing that compact to unify to void the electoral college. The electoral college was placed in the Constitution to advert the "tyranny of the majority". But in recent times it is the "tyranny of the minority" which is harming our democracy - a situation beyond the imagination of the framers.
The word you want might be "neutralize." "Nullify" is generally used to mean "make legally null and void." In the case of the Electoral College, that requires a constitutional amendment. CGW's info about the National Popular Vote Compact is solid. The goal is to get to the point where participating states have a combined electoral vote count of more than 270 (hopefully a good deal more than 270!). However, I believe that some states who signed on want to withdraw from it. Whether they can do this is open to question. Whatever, the whole notion of "swing states" is deeply harmful to our democracy and thoroughly undermines the principle of "one person, one vote."
Originally, the presidential election was to be decided by districts. States voted to go to “winner take all” in their states, which could essentially disenfranchise some voters.
Aha, didn't know that. When did that happen? Did it happen state by state?
I succumb to neutralize, it would be a better choice than nullify. However, the work around National Popular Vote Compact will do the job, where an amendment would fail.
I've got my fingers crossed that it'll work!
Me too, Susanna, me too
ONE Citizen (not corporations) ONE VOTE. Period.
I am VERY interested in this in KY. It’s so sad to hear people say and to really know that my vote doesn’t count in KY. If we had this in place my vote would count. How would I go about getting started?
Well, your vote helped elect Andy Beshear, and that's something pretty big! CGW gives good counsel. If there's an active League of Women Voters chapter in your area, they might also be helpful.
Thank you for your question. A few off-the-cuff thoughts . . . .
o Contact a local pro-democracy group to find out whether Kentucky has a citizen-based initiative process and, if so, ask how to go about implementing it
o Contact your state or local Democratic Party to find out whether it would be interested in an effort to have Kentucky join the compact
o Contact a respected Democratic state legislator you know (and or have heard of) and sound out that legislator about her or his interest in pushing for joining the compact or, as a less likely but still permissible alternative, in pushing to change state law to award the electors to the winner of the national popular vote rather than just the Kentucky popular vote (states have the authority to decide how to award electoral votes -- see, for example, Maine and Nebraska, both of which award the electors according to who won in each congressional district)
o Contact National Popular Vote <https://www.nationalpopularvote.com/>, which likely has information and suggestions about how to proceed in each state
Those are just starting points, any of which could led to more options. Also, contact friends who you think would be interested and willing to help you in your effort. I hope you (and they) can get this ball rolling in Kentucky.
Thank you with all my heart CGW…
Thank you for the link to check whether a ballot has been received. Mine was and it's a relief.
If you are registered in Washington state, you can also track your ballot (and find lots of other info) at voter.votewa.gov.
I live in Washington State and tracked my ballot and it was accepted. I used voter.votewa.gov.
Me, too. And was I ever relieved to get that message!
Same in California; LA County.
I'm in Sacramento County - all of our drop boxes are now inside of safe places, such as libraries and other places that are locked up when closed for the day. They used to be out in front of stores and other places that were convenient, but accessible to someone who might want to mess with them. I'm really glad that we're in a place where we can vote by mail, drop-off, or in person. As a disable person, I like having options that are accessible and safe.
I did the same when I was living in Washington and I do it here in California! My ballot was received, accepted and counted. It's just so easy to sign up!
In Colorado we also use votetrax, which tells you when your ballot was picked up and when it has been counted.
Interesting that as usual the backward states which send republicans to congress are also the backward states who don't vote by mail.
Like Fay and others, thank you Ellen.
I just tried to use the info you thoughtfully provided. Unable to use it properly, I called our great Town Hall, and found out that it had been counted. 💐From a Massachusetts based voter, and avid democrat as most of us I’m assuming here are.💐
Thank you so much for the link!
We dropped off our absentee ballots at the drop box at the township hall several weeks ago. This morning, after reading you comment, I checked my state's website. The site showed my husband's and my son's ballots had been checked in, but mine hadn't been. So I contacted my township clerk using Facebook messenger to see what the problems was. They responded immediately and checked it out. The ballot was received but some glitch happened between the township and the state's website. They reentered the info and now it's fixed.
I urge everyone who has mailed or dropped off a ballot to check that the ballot has been received, just for your own piece of mind.