Headline Roundup • July 6th, 2020
Supreme Court Rules Against 'Faithless Electors'
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Featured Coverage of this Story
Slate
The Supreme Court declined an invitation to blow up the 2020 presidential election on Monday. The justices ruled unanimously that states may compel electors, the individuals who make up the Electoral College, to vote for the winner of the statewide presidential race by either removing or fining “faithless electors.” In truth, this decision should not have been necessary: There is no serious constitutional argument that states are powerless to dictate electors’ votes. But the nation can breathe a sigh of relief that the court did not take the bait to...
Reuters
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to free “faithless electors” in the complex Electoral College system that decides the outcome of presidential elections from state laws that force them to support the candidate who wins the state’s popular vote.
Washington Times
The Supreme Court ruled Monday that states can penalize presidential electors that go rogue and do not vote for the candidate who won their state, also known as faithless electors.
The decision was unanimous from the high court and a blow to a Democratic-aligned movement to chip away at the Electoral College.
The court in Chiafalo v. Washington and Colorado Department of State v. Baca evaluated legal challenges to state laws that required electors to follow the will of their state’s voters.
