Whether or not members of the electoral college can use their discretion when voting, or if states can require electors to vote a certain way, remains in the news. Last week, in episode 48, we discussed the 10th Circuit’s ruling on the issue in Baca v Colorado. This week, we discuss a recent Washington state Supreme Court ruling that absolutely contradicts Baca. How do the two cases arrive at completely opposite conclusions? We discuss it.
Links:
The case itself:
Guerra v Washington (WA State Sup Ct 2019)
A Historic Number of Electors Defected, and Most Were Supposed to Vote for Clinton (NY Times, Dec 19, 2016)
A small sample of major articles about the electoral college posted within the last week:
George Will, The electoral college is here to stay (Washington Post, August 28, 2019)
Richard Hasen, The Coming Reckoning Over the Electoral College (Slate, September 4, 2019)
David G. Savage, Can states restrict how electors cast presidential votes? Supreme Court may have to decide (LA Times, August 28, 2019)
