<html> We really shouldn't be on this topic here, but I have to correct a minor nit (just for our interested European readers ;-):<br> <br> At 01:58 PM 11/10/00 -0500, JIMRPT@AOL.COM wrote:<br> <blockquote type=cite cite> In no state are Electoral Electors "permitted" to vote against the popular <br> vote of their state...some states have laws "requiring" the Electors to <br> mirror their states wishes and some don't have those laws. </blockquote><br> The electors are bound only by the federal constitution, which places no restrictions on their vote.  They are free to vote their conscience.  Some states have enacted penalties for electors that vote "wrong", but their vote still stands, nonetheless.  I'm not sure whether a state penalty for such voting would actually stand a constitutional challenge; I suspect not.<br> <br> There have been cases of electors voting against their states, most especially in the 1876 election of republican Rutherford B. Hayes. (Because of the tension surrounding his election, Hayes secretly took the oath of office on March 4, 1877, in the Red Room of the White House.)<br> <br> In practice, however, turncoat voting almost never happens because the electors themselves are hand-picked partisans from the Democratic and Republican parties.  Can you picture a democrat switching and voting for Bush?  Or vice-versa?<br> <br> [To get back to the proper topic of pianos, Rutherford Hayes was re-elected to Congress in 1866, the very year my Steinway Style 4 grand left the factory. ;-) I'm having it refinished.  Of course the original finish was a hand-rubbed French polish.  Is it reasonable for me to try to reproduce that, or are there less-expensive modern techniques that one could use and get similar results?]<br> <br> Best Regards to all, be they donkey, elephant, or other,<br> Greg<br> <div>___________________________________________________________________</div> <div>Greg Anderson                                 greg@PlanetBeagle.com </div> </html>