They've also apparently been getting signatures by putting several petitions together in a bundle, with something innocent on top, then saying 'you need to sign n times', so the signer does it *without knowing what they're signing*. They do this particularly on college campuses (inexperienced voters) and at shopping centers (people in a hurry).

Fraudulent signature gathering, anyone? To add to all their other illegal and imoral activities?

Another neat trick by tricky Republicans. Are other states going to do the same thing ? Of course not.

The ad campaign promoting this initiative will be utterly misleading of course: fake-sincere, with fake-real people and fake-reasonable-sounding voice-overs.

Stalin laughed at democracy, and we find the Republicans laughing along with him.

I think the latest poll showed it winning, but had less than 50%. It won't pass, but we'll have to spend money and waste time trying to defeat this bill.

How about Dems funding another initiative to insist that if said measure was passed it would only be applicable if all 50 states went along with it.

jjchange, that's an excellent idea.

Well then, I guess the good news it that Democrats do seem to have more money to spend than Republicans lately.

So let's say the Republican does in fact win the general election because California is skewed in this way. I'm afraid that that may just be enough to start a kind of serious internal conflict in the country, especially following the last electoral fiascoes.

How irresponsible can these people be?

There needs to be a nation-wide campaign against this madness.

Well,if.this.does.pass.and.it.results.in.20.or.so.electoral.votes.going.to.a.Republican.prez.nominee.and.they.WIN.then.the.state.legislature.should,after.the.next.census(2010).slant.every.congressional.district.so.they.lean.heavily.democratic...Yes,and.that.would.be.fair.and.legal,as.the.Supreme.court.ruled.in.Texas.favor.with.their.redistricting.shenanigans.in.2003...hey.if.CA.republicans.dont.care.to.win.elections.the.fair.way.then.fight.fire.with.fire.after.the.census.by.redistricting.heavily.toward.the.Dems...simple.as.that...

a smart dem will push a competing ballot initiative that apportions california electoral votes by percentage of population--i.e. it is fairer than the district approach which would disenfranchise more than it would enfranchise and force republicans to argue against both ends of the scale, or cal could try to run the npv gauntlet again. if you live in cali call your state senator to sponsor legislation, they could work on it over the recess.

I thought this had been abandoned. Did it turn into a stealth thing?

One more proof that Republicans are traitors. They put their party ahead of their country.

Of course Democrats were trying the same thing in North Carolina.

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2007/07/29/north_carolina_headed_towards_proportional_electoral_vote.html

We have to many anarchists and incompetents in government. California needs to flush the toilet. No, matter your political party affiliation, and setting aside your thoughts on issues. We all need to remember what it is to be an American Citizen. We need to make sure our elected representatives obey their Oath of Office and keep their Oath of Allegiance. See http://tinyurl.com/2znnvl Know whom you are voting for.

Darryl Issa needs to be unelected. He was fundamentally responsible for the recall of Gray Davis here in California, and here he goes again with this. He has also been involved in the Carol Lam firing, and is in general a pretty disgusting and nasty Republican politician. Again, he behind the resurrection of this petition drive to divide California's electoral votes. I hope with the election next year, his constituents decide they have had enough of him.

Why do Republicans want to shred the Constitution of the United States? To win. Money. Greed. Nothing evolved or for the higher good. Our country sits at the precipice.

California voters has an unique opportunity to
to change the future of California politics
It is called the Electoral College Reform Initiative.
ElectoralReformCalifornia.com is the website.
The voters from each Congressional District will
select a local elector that they know to represent their viewpoints.
A total of fifty three local electors will represent fifty three
congressional districts that will better reflect local views.
Today the system is Broken!
Right now a presidential candidate who wins in Los Angeles
County gets all 55 state wide electoral votes.
This is not democratic and is not fair.
In 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004 national candidates
did not campaign in California. They ignored us.
Yet California has 10% of the nation's electors.
They treated us like an "ATM". They took our money and disappeared.
Today, voter apathy is prevalent. People don’t care.
Why? Because California voters do not believe their vote counts.
In 1920 women finally won the right to vote.
In 1965 the Voting Rights Act helped to reduce obstacles preventing minorities from exercising their right to vote.
In 2008 we also want our vote to count. In 2004 5.5 million votes were wasted.
How will the initiative affect California?
The entire voice of California will be heard from the suburbs to small towns and rural areas - not just the voice emanating from the Los Angeles area.
Campaign money will be spent in California up to 100 million dollars.
California will become competitive again.
We will meet the candidates in person. The candidates will travel to California to share ideas and listen to California comments. It will help stamp out corruption making voter fraud impossible. It will virtually eliminate the possibility of California having a repeat of the debacle in Florida.
The social impact will mean less bitterness and will result in more social and political stability.
The opposition has no arguments against the initiative. However, they are back
As con artist using glittering generalities to discourage support. Words that they use are poisonous, dirty tricks, stealing, traitors, crooks, goons, on and on. All BS!

joel wrote: "this should be a nationwide law, the constitution needs to be changed to apply this all over the country."

-- He's right, in that the only way to ensure that it becomes the law of the land would be to CHANGE the law of the land ... something that should not be engaged in lightly, especially as this particular change would take away one of the rights reserved or (as in this case) delegated to the states. Why are some people so ready and willing to give up these rights?

What else are we going to make the same across all 50 states? Should we start by telling Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky and Massachusetts that they have to stop calling themselves "commonwealth"? Do we need to order Nebraska to make its legislature bicameral, so that it matches the two-house system used by every other state and the US Congress?

If this referendum fails, should the next thing we do be to force Maine and Nebraska (which already do things the way the CA referendum proposes) to start choosing electors the same way the other 48 states do? In other words, should the Constitution be changed REGARDLESS of the outcome in the California vote?

OR, is all of this talk of "if the referendum passes make it apply to all 50 states" just based on estimations of how red or blue each state would be as a result, and is only tangentially related to making the system more representative of the people?

Let's see; the two points I made in my previous posts were: 1) The California referendum does not violate the US Constitution; and, 2) Making this method mandatory for all 50 states is a bad idea, because that would take away one of the rights reserved for the states by the Constitution.

I'm not looking for one-party rule, I don't live in California, and I didn't endorse the referendum. The meanings behind my screen name are: Icy (cold, hard) Truth; I-See-Truth; and, I.C. (Independent Conservative) Truth. I wrote that long post about the constitutionality of the referendum because I'm for honest debate, regardless of which side I'm on.

Even though my politics are conservative, the last thing I would want is for a party I can't quite bring myself to join (despite sharing many of their values) to become all-powerfully dominant.

So, Icy Truth joins the long list of conservatives arguing for rank, unearned partisan advantage as part of a Platonic search for truth and honest debate. How precious.

A blithe, but lengthy, argument for the constitutionality of a thing constitutes support for that thing; and if debate is to be honest, then he who argues for a thing ougt to take responsibility for its likely consequences - or have them hung around his neck.