Texas Electors Not Required To Follow Popular Vote

[Catherine Vincent]

Mon Nov 1,10:26 PM ET Local - KEYE

As long as he's breathing, Peter Wrench says he'll cast his electoral vote for GOP President Bush (news - web sites). But as one of the state's 34 Republican electors, Wrench could vote for Democrat John Kerry (news - web sites) even if Texas voters back Bush. Texas is one of 22 states that doesn't require members of its electoral college to vote in alignment with the results of the election. The 538 member electoral college gathers on December 13th to select the nation's next president based on the election. Wrench says he and other Republican electors signed pledges promising their vote to Bush if he wins the Texas vote. The Texas Democratic Party has its own set of 34 electors. Each state's number of electors is equal to the total number of the state's delegation. For Texas, that's 32 US House members and two senators.

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I guarantee if either one of those Texas electors vote for John Kerry, their days would be numbered. The Bush crime family don't play.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

1. 32 House members.

The telling of the tale.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

4. Of those 15 were Dem now we only have 11

We lost four with a lot of seniority in the House that really hurt.

[hedda_foil]

2. 22 states don't require the electors to vote per the popular vote!

This is even more hideous than I thought.

[CindyDale]

3. Isn't this one of the reasons for having an electoral college?

To keep we, the ignorant masses, from electing an inappropriate president?

[Yupster]

5. The original plan was

for state legislatures to choose electors who were noteworthy citizens but not office holders.

Those electors would vote for people they thought would make good presidents.

When the electoral votes were counted the House of Representatives would elect the president from the top three electoral vote winners.

The voters were not part of the system and there was (and still is not today) any requirement at all for any popular vote of the people.

South Carolina, one of the 13 original states in fact did not hold a popular vote for president until 1868.