The Use Of Electors-Clarification Part Nine (Excerpts One-Four)

 

The Use Of Electors-Clarification Part Nine (Excerpt One)

The choosing of the Governor and Vice-Governor by the proposed two different sets of electors has to be mainly governed in a manner as similarly described by the current 12th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

A majority of choices given by its electors is needed to choose both the Governor and Vice-Governor. The states' head executives have to receive a mandate in order to be deemed fit to occupy their respective offices. In addition, any choice for these two positions has to meet all proper eligibility requirements. 

Since the odds of numerous electors at each the state delegate/assembly district and state senate level achieving a majority in their selection of the state's head executives are minute and remote, the top four candidates for each of these positions who received the highest number of votes must runoff against each other in the second election by these respective electors. As cited previously, a candidate must achieve a majority of votes by their respective electors.

If no Governor candidate gets the majority of electors to choose him or her, then the House Of Delegates/Assemblymen will choose the Governor out of the Top Three candidates with each elector expressing his/her choice. A majority of Delegates/Assemblymen choices is still needed to choose the Governor from these three candidates. 

If no candidate, out of the narrowed field of three, gets that majority of Delegates/Assemblymen to choose him/her, then the chosen Vice-Governor acts as Governor and occupies the office for its full term.

Due to the fact a vacancy will arise in the office of  Vice-Governor if this event occurs, the individual who should serve as Acting Vice-Governor should be the candidate for Vice-Governor who earlier had just received the 2nd highest number of electors' votes. That should be incorporated in each state's Constitution.

The reasons for the preceding are simple.

1. The state's Speaker Of The House of Delegates/Assemblymen should not serve as Acting Vice- Governor because succession should only happen when there are vacancies in both the offices of state head executives and also when the newly chosen head executives (Governor and Vice-Governor) are both serving their terms in their respective offices. Succession should only be utilized in case of highly extenuating circumstances. Lack of qualification during the lame duck session is not to be considered as such.

2. The chosen Vice-Governor who acts as Governor should not have the authority to unilaterally choose the Vice-Governor. That confers to that office, held that too by the Acting Governor, too much authority and centralization of power. 

3. A runner-up in a specific race has much more legitimacy in serving in that specific office than anyone else. 

The Use Of Electors-Clarification Part Nine (Excerpt Two)

If no Vice-Governor candidate gets the majority of votes by their electors to choose him or her, then the Top Three vote-getting candidates are subject to an election runoff. The candidate who receives a majority of electors' votes becomes the Vice-Governor. If none of these three candidates are still not able to obtain the majority of electors' votes, then the State Senate will choose the Vice-Governor out of the Top Two vote-getting candidates in the election runoff. If there is a tie between these two candidates, then the outgoing Vice-Governor should cast his/her choice to break the tie. 

The Use Of Electors-Clarification Part Nine (Excerpt Three)  

In the event both the chosen Governor and the chosen Vice-Governor are not able or eligible to serve during the lame duck session, each state constitution should state specifically the following course of action needed when this event occurs. 

When both chosen head executives are unable and/or ineligible to serve during the lame duck session, the House of Delegates/Assembly should choose the Governor from the list of the next three top vote-getting candidates with a majority vote for the winning candidate in each state. If a candidate for Governor cannot get a majority, then the State Senate's choice for Vice-Governor, out of its next two top vote-getting candidates, serves as the Acting Governor till the end of the Governor's term. The outgoing Vice-Governor would break any tie if a tie occurred. Also in lieu of this event, the Vice-Governor candidate who was not chosen as Acting Governor by the State Senate would proceed to serve as Acting Vice-Governor till the end of the Vice-Governor's term.

In the event either the Governor-elect or Vice-Governor-elect is unable and/or ineligible to serve during the lame duck session, the constitution of each state should be specific in providing remedy so that the discretionary authority of the state legislative branch is not unduly expanded. The constitution of each state should cite that if the chosen and eligible Governor-elect is declared unable to serve during this period, then the Vice-Governor-elect serves as Acting Governor till the end of the Governor's term. The candidate who received the 2nd highest number of Vice-Governor Electors' votes becomes the Acting Vice-Governor till the end of the Vice-Governor's term. If the chosen and eligible Vice-Governor-elect is declared unable to serve during this period, the candidate who received the 2nd highest number of Vice-Governor Electors' votes also becomes the Acting Vice-Governor till the end of the Vice-Governor's term.   



The Use Of Electors-Clarification Part Nine (Excerpt Four)  


For all State Senate and House Of Delegates/Assemblymen voting activities, a quorum of 2/3rds of the total number of its members is needed. 

The reason why these certain revisions of each state's Constitution are needed is because state governments plays a different role now than when the U.S. Constitution was written. Excessive de- centralization of power should be kept to a minimum. Moreover, giving the electorate the sole authority to choose the Governor and Vice-Governor would only breed tyranny because it increases the influence of money, party politics, and electorate pandering. 

The current existing practice is based on the direct democratic model. It gives the state executive branch too much discretionary power because a candidate for Governor and Vice-Governor only has to answer to the electorate as one whole unit. 

Cliff Notes Version: The current existing practice is based on the direct democratic model. It gives the state executive branch too much discretionary power because a candidate for Governor and Vice- Governor only has to answer to the electorate as one whole unit.

The choosing of the Governor and Vice-Governor must occur by the proposed two different set of electors. The electors must choose these two positions via a simple majority vote.