Why Joaquin Gonzalez has joined the all-out effort to overhaul the Electoral College

The Openist - Podcast of Democracy Cafe/Socrates Cafe

When Joaquin Gonzalez heard about the effort of Harvard Law Professor Lawrence Lessig and other compatriots to challenge and prospectively overhaul the 'unrepresentative' way Electoral College votes are distributed via a winner-take-all system, he immediately reached out to offer his services and help bring a lawsuit in Texas. To Joaquin, a recent graduate of Yale Law School, radically changing the way the Electoral College operates is a key way to bring about a more egalitarian and participatory democracy --- his paramount aim. As Lessig readily recognized, Joaquin is a force to be reckoned with, and he enlisted him at once to join in the admirable effort. Joaquin, 33, based in San Antonio, where his family is from, is the recipient of the 2018 Shirley Adelson Siegel Public Interest Fellowship. As part of his fellowship, he is working at the Texas Civil Rights Project on voting rights issues and election protection in Texas. TCRP is a Texas-based nonprofit which in its twenty-six year history has brought thousands of strategic lawsuits to protect and expand voting rights, challenge the injustices in our broken criminal justice system, and advance racial and economic justice. Listen in as Joaquin explains why he feels it incumbent to become a foot soldier in this effort and do all he can to make the Electoral College at long last an entity that contributes to a more representative democracy. [Apologies for the brief glitch at about the 2:50 mark in this. It just is for a second or two, then smooths out.]