Representative Jack Harper of Arizona has introduced HB 2027 into the 2012 session of the legislature. It moves the names of presidential elector candidates on the November ballot so they come before the names of vice-presidential nominees.
Under current law, the November ballots carry the names of a presidential candidate, and then the name of his or her vice-presidential running mate, and then the names of the eleven candidates for presidential elector pledged to that ticket. If the bill passes, the ballot will instead show the presidential candidate, and then the candidates for presidential elector, and then the vice-presidential candidate.
Governor Jan Brewer caused this bill to be introduced. Before 2011, Arizona didn’t list vice-presidential nominees on the ballot at all. Governor Brewer signed a bill in 2011 to add vice-presidential nominees’ names to the ballot, but she didn’t like the fact that the 2011 bill put the vice-presidential nominee’s name above the presidential elector candidates’ names on the ballot. She told the 2011 bill sponsor that she would sign his bill, but that he must promise to introduce a new bill in 2012 to switch the order, and he has now kept his promise.
Arizona is one of only six states that still prints the names of presidential elector candidates on the ballot. The others are Louisiana, Oklahoma, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Idaho. The names of the presidential elector candidates in Arizona take up quite a bit of room on the ballot. Chances are there will be 66 or so candidates for presidential elector from Arizona this November.
All the more reason to go with district election of presidential electors. Even with a Maine or Nebraska style system with two of them being at large, there will at most be three per political party which would yield perhaps no more than fifteen at a time.
Furthermore, need to list presidential electors as completely non-partisan and alone with no presidential nominee or political party affiliation/pledge and no straight-ticket selection. Our founders intent was to have these people be KNOWN in the local area, i.e., presidential elector district, and also be able to act independently upon their known philosophies and ideologies in the careful selection of our chief executive.
FYI, West Virginia Code 3-1-14 explicitly prohibits listing the names of presidential electors; Something which is very deceptive and disenfranchising to our voters. I will soon be proposing and lobbying for legislation for its repeal.
Of course, ballot-qualified parties will have automatic ballot access of their convention or primary nominated electors even though they would be listed without party designation on the physical ballot. Independent and minor party candidates for elector should be able to gain individual listing by petition. However, electors to reside in their PE district, so no more of these out of state folks “running for president.” They would have to run for presidential elector within their own state.
District election of nonpartisan presidential electors. “Now that’s the ticket!”
The Electoral College is 1 of the 3 ANTI-Democracy gerrymander systems in the EVIL rotted to the core U.S.A. regime of death, destruction, undeclared wars, annual deficits and bankrupt national debt.
About 8 marginal gerrymander States in the E.C. at the moment.
Some robot party hacks would love to have the 435 gerrymander U.S.A. Rep districts/areas added to the 50 States plus DC gerrymander areas for E.C. machinations — or even have all 538 E.C. gerrymander areas 435 + 100 + 3.
1/2 votes x 1/2 gerrymander areas = 1/4 control — leftwing or rightwing extremists.
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Abolish ALL timebomb gerrymanders – Fed, State, Local
P.R. and nonpartisan App.V.