California Electoral Nonsense is back.

[SirNitram]

Link

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 2 — Republican donors are pumping new life into a proposed ballot initiative, considered all but dead by Democrats a month ago, that would alter the way electoral votes are apportioned in California to the benefit of Republican presidential candidates.

Though the financing remains uncertain, the measure’s leaders said Friday that they were confident they would get the signatures required by the Nov. 29 deadline to qualify the initiative for a statewide vote next June. The effort, begun in the summer by a prominent Republican lawyer, lay in peril in October after its top proponents quit over questions about its financing.

Last week, a new organization began raising the roughly $2 million thought to be needed to get the initiative on the ballot. The new effort is being spearheaded by David Gilliard, a Republican consultant in Sacramento, aided by Anne Dunsmore, a prolific fund-raiser who recently resigned from the presidential campaign of Rudolph W. Giuliani.

“You can’t just fold up every time somebody says they killed you,” Ms. Dunsmore, in a telephone interview, said of the effort to resuscitate the initiative.

The initiative would ask voters to replace California’s winner-take-all system of allocating its 55 electoral college votes with one that parses the votes by Congressional district. It has attracted strong opposition from Democrats because it would transform California from a reliably Democratic state in presidential elections by handing the Republican nominee roughly 20 votes from safe Republican districts.

If the initiative qualifies for the ballot, Art Torres, the head of the California Democratic Party, has promised a constitutional challenge, arguing that only state legislatures can determine how electoral votes are allocated.

Under state law, backers of the initiative must collect the signatures of roughly 400,000 registered voters; supporters said they intended to collect 675,000 signatures to make sure enough of them actually qualified.

“At the pace we’re on, I think we’ll be done mid-November,” said Michael Arno, who is leading a professional signature-gathering effort.

“I have 300,000 signatures in hand and 100,000 in the pipeline,” Mr. Arno said, adding that he believed another 100,000 might have been gathered by others.

The group is behind, however, in raising the money needed to pay the signature gatherers and finish the process.

Representative Darrell Issa, a Republican from San Diego whose donations helped qualify a recall vote against Gov. Gray Davis in 2003, has written a $50,000 check. Mr. Issa said Friday that other Republicans had given “far more,” though the group had not disclosed its donors.

“I’m encouraging others to give generously,” Mr. Issa said. “I think $50,000 is a fair amount for a person to give.”

How much money is needed is a tricky question. For now, the group is paying signature gatherers $3.75 a signature, but Mr. Arno has agreed to take less for now to conserve cash.

The initiative began under the aegis of Thomas W. Hiltachk, a lawyer and a Republican. Mr. Hiltachk quit in September after it was revealed that the effort’s only donation at the time had come from a top fund-raiser for Mr. Giuliani, Paul E. Singer, via a remote group in Missouri run by a lawyer, Charles A. Hurth III, who had also donated to Mr. Giuliani’s presidential campaign.

Chris Lehane, a Democratic consultant, helped by Howard Dean, the Democratic Party chairman, and some elected officials, steamrolled the earlier effort with a relentless campaign that included complaints to federal agencies about the connections between the Giuliani donors and the initiative.

Suggesting that June was still a realistic goal for a statewide vote, Ms. Dunsmore said: “You’ve got to try. You never know. Time is the impediment.”

Ah, the pretending it's changing it away from Winner Takes All, the accusals of wild partisanship to anyone who doesn't want to throw in.. I mean, it's not like the result is anything but creating what amounts to a meta-State, only for Presidential elections.. ANd only in one place. As for making people in California 'count'? Heh. If you're a Dem in a red district, your voice just goes.. Poof!

[Eleas]

I say the US should just quit their pretend elections altogether. Nobody outside the country is fooled by it, and any citizen who actually thinks the system works is too stupid to vote anyway.

[Glocksman]

As for making people in California 'count'? Heh. If you're a Dem in a red district, your voice just goes.. Poof!

Ditto (heh ) if you're a Repub in a blue district.
As for the idea itself, I kind of like it on a nationwide basis.
Limited to California only, it's too transparent an attempt by the Repubs to diminish the Democrats' vote.

[Glocksman]

The whole initiative idea is moot anyway.

If the initiative qualifies for the ballot, Art Torres, the head of the California Democratic Party, has promised a constitutional challenge, arguing that only state legislatures can determine how electoral votes are allocated.

He's absolutely right.

Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector

What the fuck Ghouliani's people think they're going to accomplish is beyond me.

[SirNitram]

Constitutions don't apply to Ghouliani, because he's carrying on Dubya's War On Terra?

That's my guess.

[Medic]

As for making people in California 'count'? Heh. If you're a Dem in a red district, your voice just goes.. Poof!

Ditto (heh ) if you're a Repub in a blue district.
As for the idea itself, I kind of like it on a nationwide basis.
Limited to California only, it's too transparent an attempt by the Repubs to diminish the Democrats' vote.

If there was at least some bare semblance of symmetry and the same initiative found life in Texas, I'd almost be able to stomach it. As-is doing it in JUST California's blatant electioneering nonsense.

But RAR if it did get passed RAR but the right still loses the election, I'd LOL-out-loud and rub it in to every right winger's face I bumped into, on- and off-line.

[Eleas]

Constitutions don't apply to Ghouliani, because he's carrying on Dubya's War On Terra?

By golly, I think you're onto something. Especially with that title; it does seem like they're waging war against the whole planet.

[Guardsman Bass]

Oh, for fuck's sake, not this shit again. Didn't the sons of bitches get the bloody hint when the democrats quite reasonably went apeshit in terms of organizing and money against this? I'm almost wondering if they are doing this in the hopes of forcing the Democrats to spend limited national level finances fighting this.

[drachefly]

The funny thing is, there's a bipartisan move afoot to do this the right way, which is:

IF a set of states states with enough votes to determine the electoral winner all have a law to the same effect as this,
THEN all electoral votes from this state shall be awarded to the winner of the national popular vote.

In other words, CA wouldn't go it alone.
IIRC, several states have passed such laws, but they are only a few percent of the college all put together.

The reasons California would have to do this are not exactly simple, but I can explain them if desired.