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Jul 7, 2020, 7 tweets

Let's talk faithless electors and the nails in the coffin of the electoral college being at all useful.

Today, the Supreme Court said that Washington and Colorado are entitled to fine and otherwise sanction electors who don't vote for their party's nominee. Electors are the folks who actually elect the president, even though approximately 0.05% of Americans understand that or why

Writing this part of the Constitution came at the end. People were tired and grumpy and done (#relatable) so they were pretty fuzzy on the details of how the electoral college should work.

A certain someone believed the electors should be wise and discerning and independent. But that didn't make it into the Constitution.

The Court said, basically, states can do what they want. The Twelfth Amendment pretty well enshrined partisanship in this process, and people expect the popular vote to determine the outcome. So, all the best to your judgment electors. Just write down what you're told.

All the details on tomorrow's Nightly Nuance.

If the Electoral College isn't a check on the popular vote, and knowing that the US population has changed so significantly since it's inception, we might reasonably ask what the ever-loving point is anymore.

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