Illinois' Electors Don't Like The Electoral College Either

By Stephen Gossett in News on Dec 19, 2016 6:39PM

Getty Images; Photo: Mark Wilson

As expected, Illinois’ 20 electors gathered in Springfield on Monday morning and cast their ballots for Hillary Clinton, one of the few Midwestern states that was won handily by the Democratic presidential nominee. While hopes on the left of a “faithless elector” revolt haven’t materialized as of this writing, the point was largely moot in Illinois, since any such movement would hinge on GOP electors switching from Trump.

But while the state electors played their part in the process, only a minority among them thinks the method should remain in place as is.

The Associated Press reports that among the 13 out of 20 Illinois electors contacted, only four replied that the Electoral College should remain in place. Six advocated repeal, and three “were undecided or said it should at least be reviewed.”

William Marovitz, 71, a former state senator, is one of the electors who’s fine with the Electoral College status quo."I'm not totally convinced that we should change the system because then a lot of the states would be ignored," he said. (Although one could argue that a popular-vote system doesn’t ignore smaller states so much as it doesn’t absurdly overvalue them. To wit: Wyoming.) He did note, however, that electors should be allowed to change their votes if, say, by chance a foreign power interfered with the democratic process to help a particular candidate win.

Elector Mark Guethle, 58, a Kane County Democratic chairman, was more full-throated. "I think popular vote means something. Last time I checked, Clinton was up," he said, quoted by the AP.

Higher-profile electors, such as Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and Cook County Commissioner Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, have not specified their position.

Illinois is one of 11 states that has signed the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, which if enough other states signed on, would mandate signatory states to cast electors' ballots for the popular-vote winner.