The Supreme Court has ruled that states can punish so-called “faithless electors” who rebel against their states in the electoral college.
Faithless Electors Stopped In Their Tracks
America, being a constitutional republic, has always elected her presidents through the electoral college, whereby a state receives a number of “electors” who would cast their vote for the president, creating an indirect link between voters and states. Usually, these are cast for the state’s popular vote winner, although in two states, Nebraska and Maine, they are divided up along different lines.
BREAKING: The Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that state “faithless elector” laws — which allow states to remove or fine Electoral College delegates who don't vote for the presidential candidate they were pledged to support — are constitutional.
— NPR (@NPR) July 6, 2020
However, “faithless electors” have been able to ignore the instruction of the states in how to cast their vote, and instead vote for somebody else, usually as a protest against the system. 32 states, including DC, have legislation in place to punish faithless electors, and the Supreme Court has upheld this decision, voting 9-0 that the states have the right to choose where their electoral votes go.
“A State follows in the same tradition if, like Washington, it chooses to sanction an elector for breaching his promise. Then too, the State instructs its electors that they have no ground for reversing the vote of millions of its citizens. That direction accords with the Constitution — as well as with the trust of a Nation that here, We the People rule,” Justice Elena Kagan wrote in the court’s ruling.
A Potential Future Disaster For The Electoral College
However, what may be a small victory now, could be a significant problem later down the line. The real threat against the electoral college is not faithless electors, but something called the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, or NPVIC.
When enough states adopt legislation to join the compact, totalling 270 electoral college votes, then all the states will then cast their vote not for the winner of their state’s popular vote, but for the winner of the national popular vote overall.
The NPVIC has been adopted by 15 states and DC, with a total of 196 electoral votes on their side currently (including Colorado, which has suspended membership pending a referendum).
This ruling by the Supreme Court would actually hurt any electors who dare to rebel against this usurping of the electoral college, as it reinforces the right of the states to choose, and says nothing about the popular vote of the states.