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In reply to the discussion: Trump won the 2016 election on a technicality. [View all]
Tommy Carcetti
(43,431 posts)45. Cambridge Dictionary's definition:
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/technicality
The general worldwide principle of a democratic election is whoever has the most votes wins.
The Electoral College, on the other hand, is a mechanism exclusive to the US Constitution and nowhere else.
So where one wins only because of the mechanism and not the the general principle, it is winning by a technicality.
technicality
noun [ C ]
a decision based only on a specific rule or rules and not on any other consideration:
The general worldwide principle of a democratic election is whoever has the most votes wins.
The Electoral College, on the other hand, is a mechanism exclusive to the US Constitution and nowhere else.
So where one wins only because of the mechanism and not the the general principle, it is winning by a technicality.
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This is really why democracy dies, there has to be a majority of the people behind the President
Walleye
Mar 2024
#1
Well, it's a constitutional technicality...not just some legal hairsplitting. Nt
Fiendish Thingy
Mar 2024
#2
I'm not saying a president who loses the popular vote but wins the electoral vote is illegitimate.
Tommy Carcetti
Mar 2024
#16
Hardly a technicality, it's been the mechanism we've elected Prez for a long time. It is frustrating at times, for sure.
Silent Type
Mar 2024
#8
When it's a mechanism that would otherwise be declared unconstitional...
Tommy Carcetti
Mar 2024
#28
What other Constutional requirements do you regard to be a technicality? NT
mahatmakanejeeves
Mar 2024
#9
We purport ourselves to be a democracy (at least a representative democracy.)
Tommy Carcetti
Mar 2024
#17
At the time of the founding, the office of president wasn't considered to be important.
J_William_Ryan
Mar 2024
#10
You're confusing "winning on a technicality" with "winning illegitimately."
Tommy Carcetti
Mar 2024
#39