popular vote pros and cons

to other special interest groups such as labor unions, farmers, environmentalists, and so BUT FOR THE ELECTION I MAY NEVER BE APPOINTED. One can see its importance in the fact that despite Hillary Clintons national popular vote total, she won only about a sixth of the counties nationwide, with her support limited mostly to urban areas on both coasts. [34], If the election were based on popular vote, it would be possible for a candidate to receive the highest number of popular votes without actually obtaining a majority. But since there have been no serious proposals to abolish the United States Senate on The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) is an agreement among states and the District of Columbia to award their respective electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote of the presidential election. 3. their own. resolutions: either one candidate could throw his electoral votes to the support of The only way that someone would go for something that doesnt support their own political voice is ifcitizens were demanding it and [supporting the compact] is what would get them kicked out or brought into office again [at the next state election], she concluded. the difference between winning all of that State's electoral votes or none of that State's ProCon/Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. The important number is 270. In 2016, for instance, Democrat Hillary Clinton received nearly 2.9 million more votes than Trump in the presidential election, after racking up more lopsided wins in big states like New York and [2], The Electoral College was established in 1788 by Article II of the US Constitution, which also established the executive branch of the US government, and was revised by the Twelfth Amendment (ratified June 15, 1804), the Fourteenth Amendment (ratified July 1868), and the Twenty-Third Amendment (ratified Mar. Some states replace electors and cancel their votes if they break their pledge. ], [Editors Note: The MLA citation style requires double spacing within entries. The same thing happened in 2016, when Donald Trump won the electoral college vote over Hillary Clinton despite losing the popular vote to Clinton by nearly 3 million votes. The same goes for Republican strongholds and a Democratic candidate. practical matter, the popular difference between the two candidates would likely be so All other elections in the U.S. are through the popular vote. forth. Should the Voting Age Be Lowered to 16? Proponents say teens are knowledgeable enough to vote. Should it be abolished? One way or another, then, the winning candidate must demonstrate both a Graham discusses one potential benefit of the NPVIC: In states like California, where in almost every case all of the Electoral votes will go to the Democratic Party, what reason does a Republican candidate have to visit there (regardless of the large number of Republicans that reside there)? to make much of a showing in the Electoral College. presidential candidates to pull together coalitions of States and regions rather than to 4. In 1787, years after the founding of the United States, the Constitutional Convention met to decide how the new nation would govern itself. There are pros and cons to both systems. Electors, the possible role of the Electoral College in Berns, Walter (ed.) operation). Congrats you just reached a new level on Netivist. Indeed, they point out that the Electoral College system is designed to Despite the name, it is not a college in the modern educational sense, but refers to a collegium or group of colleagues. "faithless Elector" is one who is pledged to vote for his party's candidate for Pierce, Neal R. and Longley, Lawrence D. The People's President: The Electoral College End with a class discussion. no one received over 50% of the national popular total. Excerpt from an original publication: Kimberling, William C. (1992). Consider the American Bar Associations fact check on whether the Electoral College can be abolished. Menu burger Close thin Facebook Twitter Google plus Linked in Reddit Email arrow-right-sm arrow-right Loading Home Buying Calculators The Electoral College is a group of people that elect the next President. States according to the size of their population. votes in the State wins all the Electoral votes of that State. Data collected by CNN from the 2000 and 2004 election shows that the majority of Americans wanted George Bush to remain president in 2004 than in 2000. President Trump had earned 232 electoral votes. The Electoral College system is when the candidate that wins the popular vote for a certain state takes all the electoral votes for that state. office would not have obtained the absolute majority of the popular vote. While the NPVIC would take away the disproportionate focus on small swing states, it would likely see candidates now instead leaving out states with smaller populations. Voters know that their vote will not change much the result of the election, so they dont have motivation to go to the voting polls. What we see is these candidates now largely ignoring large swaths of the United States where the direction of the votes is a foregone conclusion. With the NPVIC, candidates would be motivated to visit more than just swing states during their campaigns, focusing on winning over individuals rather than states. On Jan. 6, 2017, a joint session of the US Congress met to certify the election results and Vice President Joe Biden, presiding as President of the Senate, read the certified vote tally. Under this system, the President is chosen by winning the majority of electoral votes, casted by the congressional representatives of each state according to the popular vote in each state. The elected President gets a stronger winning image with the number of electors he gets than the reality of popular vote, which gives him more credibility to rule the country. In most states (Maine and Nebraska are the only exceptions) the electors are elected on a winner-take-all basis, which means that the candidate with more votes in one state wins all the pledged electors of thatstate. Schlesinger, Arthur M. Jr. And the Electoral College was designed to sets of coherent alternatives. Some states list electors names on the general election ballot. Election Commission or any division thereof or the Jackson County Board of Push for the position and policies you support by writing US national senators and representatives. 2. President Joe Biden was inaugurated with Vice President Kamala Harris on Jan. 20, 2021. The direct consequence of using an Electoral College and a winner-take-all basis in most states is that a presidential candidate can be elected to the office without winning the popular vote, as it happened in the previous four occasions, more recently in 2000 when George W. Bush defeated Al Gore. However, that support diverges widely based on political parties, with support from 89 percent of Democrats and only 23 percent of Republicans. Analyze and debate the pros and cons of the Electoral College system. I think it might actually inflame [the issue of polarization]. Unfortunately, we see in politics that what you feel about an issue depends on what you think you could get from it. Opponents of the Electoral College system Moving to a popular voteI dont think it will help. Because there is now an even number of electoral votes, a tie is feasible. Pros: No winner-take all. It is uncertain what the effect on the motivation of the voters will be. Should People Who Have Completed Felony Sentences Be Allowed to Vote? for Public Policy Research. Explain that Donald Trump won 304 electoral votes to Hillary Clintons 227. Meanwhile, others see the popular vote as useless and do not believe that their vote will make any difference. Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming carried the same voting strength in the Electoral College (21 A total of 538 electoral votes are in play across all 50 states and Washington, D.C. But what about the issues of the people living in the ignored states? One example being the elections of 2000 and 2004 where George W. Bush lost the popular vote in his first election by five hundred thousand vote but won the popular vote in his second election by three million votes. system, discourages third party or independent candidates, and thereby tends to restrict On Jan. 6, 2021, Congress held a joint session to certify the electoral college votes during which several Republican lawmakers objected to the results and pro-Trump protesters stormed the US Capitol sending Vice President Pence, lawmakers and staff to secure locations. A third way of electing a minority president Sayre, Wallace Stanley, Voting for President. http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/electoral_college/electoral_college.html, Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Dr. Robin Jacobson, professor and chair of politics and government at University of Puget Sound, said that One [pro of the Electoral College] is that it makes sure that states that otherwise might feel left out of the process are included despite their small size. Electoral votes incentivize voting in less populated states by increasing and emphasizing the impact of each state. Having the statistics to understand the ever changing cultures of our country views one candidate to both the state and people could help in the selection of the President and Vice President of the United States. This is an example of increased voting power that raises the importance of voters even in less populous states. contributes to the cohesiveness of the country Or why not? This piece was originally published in Inkwells2020 Election Print Issue. The Electoral College is a process, and a system which we have adapted to over the years. It is hard to imagine what counter-incentive would be created by eliminating the Electoral Of the 538 Electoral College votes available, Donald J. Trump received 304 votes, Hillary Clinton received 227 votes, and seven votes went to others: three for Colin Powell, one for Faith Spotted Eagle, one for John Kasich, one for Ron Paul, and one for Bernie Sanders). What are some pros and cons of electing a president based on the popular vote? Elections (2nd ed). You would imagine [candidates] paying attention to where most people are living, because now thats how theyll get the most votes. What can your students conclude? region over the others or through the domination of large metropolitan areas over the cast his votes for Lloyd Bensen for president and Michael Dukakis for vice president As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Opponents of the Electoral College are Electoral College Pros and Cons Pros: Gives the smaller states an equal voice. electoral votes being the number of its Senators plus the number of its Representatives). Also, for mainly the smaller states, the candidate the people want to win might not win because of the low affect towards the final decision. For in a Mukunda stated, The fact that in presidential elections people in Wyoming have [nearly four] times the power of people in California is antithetical at the most basic level to what we say we stand for as a democracy. [33], The minority interests the Founding Fathers intended the Electoral College to protect were those of slaveowners and states with legal slavery. Governor Sisolak stated, the compact could diminish the role of smaller states like Nevada in national electoral contests and force Nevadas electors to side with whoever wins the nationwide popular vote, rather than the candidate Nevadans choose. [31], Hans von Spakovsky, Senior Legal Fellow at the Heritage Foundation and a former commissioner for the FEC, explained, The Framers fears of a tyranny of the majority is still very relevant today. small that either candidate could govern effectively. The Electoral College comprises 538 electors; each state is allowed one elector for each Representative and Senator (DC is allowed 3 electors as established by the Twenty-Third Amendment). Neither one of the candidates are elected from the popular vote. Prevents disputed outcomes ensuring a peaceful transition of power Reduces the costs of national presidential campaigns. Today, electors meet in their respective states on the first Monday after the second Wednesday of December Dec. 14 this year to cast separate ballots for president and vice president, with the candidates who receive a majority of votes being elected. While granting greater impact to smaller states incentivizes voting and promotes participation, and imbalance of power is still an unfair advantage. No attention is paid to the smaller states because of the low electoral number, which doesnt really help the candidate win a lot. 1. each State equally regardless of its population. national and State governments which the Founding Fathers intended and which is reflected Forty-eight states use the winner-take-all method of appointing electors. Their 325 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 200 solely those of the author and are not necessarily shared by the Federal Fairness: This compact would rightfully ensure that the candidate who receives the most votes wins, just as in any other election in the country and unlike in 2000 and 2016. For years there have been debates about abolishing the Electoral College entirely, with the 2016 election bringing the debate back to the surface. The Electoral College Nor would a direct Why, then, apply a sentimental attachment to popular This type of system would give the individual voter a much more significant influence. You have to win the set, and in our system, you have to win the state.. Their reasoning is that in a formal a system of proportional representation? Additionally, the Electoral College, while intended to protect the vote of each and every person, has more than once resulted in the exact opposite. national popular will, the argument goes, the Electoral College reinforces a two party The system tends to represent more the diversity of the country. Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 1983. It gives outside influence to states with large rural populations and undercounts states that are more densely populated, said Jacobson. In the 2016 Presidential Election if the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact had been in effect the winner of the national popular vote, Hillary Clinton, would have become president instead of Donald Trump. Of those visits, nearly two-thirds took place in the four battlegrounds with the most electoral votes Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and North Carolina. [19], Gautam Mukunda, political scientist at Harvard University , explained that states are given electors based on its representation in the House and Senate, so small states get extra votes. Electoral votes) as the 9,614,000 persons of voting age in the State of Florida. plausibility, it fails to account for the fact that presidential elections do not occur in The total number of electoral votes assigned to each state varies depending on population, but each state has at least three, and the District of Columbia has had three electors since 1961. Although Al Gore won the popular vote, George W. Bush earned more electoral votes after a contested Florida recount and a Supreme Court decision. It is because of this "leverage effect" that the presidency, as an institution, Selected students then present to the class as a whole. 14, 1788, Marc Schulman, "Why the Electoral College," historycentral.com (accessed Nov. 18, 2016), Melissa Kelly, "Why Did the Founding Fathers Create Electors?," 712educators.about.com, Jan. 28, 2016, Hans A. von Spakovsky, "Destroying the Electoral College: The Anti-Federalist National Popular Vote Scheme," heritage.org, Oct. 27, 2011, Richard A. Posner, "In Defense of the Electoral College," slate.com, Nov. 12, 2012, Jarrett Stepman, "Why America Uses Electoral College, Not Popular Vote for Presidential Election," cnsnews.com, Nov. 7, 2016, Gary Gregg, "Electoral College Keeps Elections Fair," politico.com, Dec. 5, 2012, John Nichols, "Obama's 3 Million Vote, Electoral College Landslide, Majority of States Mandate," thenation.com, Nov. 9, 2012, Joe Miller, "The Reason for the Electoral College," factcheck.org, Feb. 11, 2008, William C. Kimberling, "The Manner of Choosing Electors," uselectionatlas.org (accessed Nov. 18, 2016), Sanford V. Levinson, "A Common Interpretation: The 12th Amendment and the Electoral College," blog.constitutioncenter.org, Nov. 17, 2016, Andrew Prokop, "Why the Electoral College Is the Absolute Worst, Explained," vox.com, Nov. 10, 2016, Sam Weber and Laura Fong, "This System Calls for Popular Vote to Determine Winner," pbs.org, Nov. 6, 2016, Leslie Stahl, "President-elect Trump Speaks to a Divided Country on 60 Minutes," cbsnews.com, Nov. 13, 2016, Lisa Lerer, "Clinton Wins Popular Vote by Nearly 2.9 Million, elections.ap.org, Dec. 22, 2016, Doina Chiacu and Susan Cornwell, "US Congress Certifies Trumps Electoral College Victory, reuters.com, Jan. 6, 2017, Congressional Research Service, "The Electoral College: A 2020 Presidential Election Timeline," crsreports.congress.gov, Sep. 3, 2020, Jonathen Easley, "Gallup: 61 Percent Support Abolishing the Electoral College," thehill.com, Sep. 24, 2020, Fair Vote, "Past Attempts at Reform," fairvote.org (accessed Oct. 1, 2020), John Wagner, et al., "Pence Declares Biden Winner of the Presidential Election after Congress Finally Counts Electoral Votes,", Jeremy Stahl, "This Team Thinks They Can Fix the Electoral College by 2024," slate.com, Dec. 14, 2020, Nicholas Casey, "Meet the Electoral Colleges Biggest Critics: Some of the Electors Themselves," nytimes.com, Dec. 12, 2020, Wilfred Codrington III, "The Electoral Colleges Racist Origins," theatlantic.com, Nov. 17, 2019, Peniel E. Joseph, "Shut the Door on Trump by Ending the Electoral College," cnn.com, Dec. 15, 2020, Steve Sisolak, "Governor Sisolak Statement on Assembly Bill 186," gov.nv.gov, May 30, 2019, Andrew Selsky, "Critics of Electoral College Push for Popular Vote Compact," apnews.com, Dec. 12, 2020, Mara Liasson, "A Growing Number of Critics Raise Alarms about the Electoral College,", Faith Karimi, "Why the Electoral College Has Long Been Controversial," cnn.com, Oct. 10, 2020, US Census Bureau, "U.S. and World Population Clock," census.gov (accessed Dec. 8, 2021), US Census Bureau, 2017 National Population Projections Tables: Main Series," census.gov, 2017. Chicago, Illinois 60654 USA, Natalie Leppard Yet it is WebElections are complex processes, and direct elections have both advantages and disadvantages. How is this possible? Al Gore had received more popular vote thanGeorge W. Bush (540,000 votes more) but the latter obtained a majority of the electors' votes. mechanism is to make it extremely difficult for third party or independent candidates ever James Madison stated, There was one difficulty however of a serious nature attending an immediate choice by the people. Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Constitutional amendment, then it is possible to solve the problem without abolishing the What are some pros and cons of electing a president based on the popular vote? Less populous states are favored, because the number of electors is not proportional to the voters count. Give your students this handoutand ask them to use the following online resources (or printouts from these Web sites or of these stories that you provide) in order to complete it. The reasoning behind the Electoral College written in the Constitution is simply expressed that political leaders have more knowledge in the fate of the country rather than citizens. WebWhat are the advantages of National Popular Vote? But just 538 people decide who will be president; thats about 0.000156% of the population deciding the president. That is to say, when the electoral vote outcome is so obviously thoroughly and wisely debated by the Founding Fathers. Managing Editor The same thing happened in 2016, when Donald Trump won the electoral college vote over Hillary Clinton despite losing the popular vote to Clinton by nearly 3 million votes. In this lesson, students will learn about the Electoral College how it works in a presidential election and why it was created and consider whether it needs to be reformed. Moreover, they suspected that the citizens would not educated themselves on candidates, and that citizens would not have enough information to make a good judgement. a vacuum. Still, if the prospect of a faithless Elector is so fearsome as to warrant a While this argument has a certain surface Moving to a popular voteI dont think it will help. By thus failing to accurately reflect the College contributes to the political stability of the nation by encouraging a two that in very close popular elections, it is possible that the candidate who wins a slight The votes were certified in the early hours of Jan. 7, 2021 by Vice President Pence, declaring Joe Biden the 46th US President. Floridian's potential vote, then, carried about one third the weight of a potential vote If you already created your netivist account, please log in using the button below. [24], For the 2020 election, electors voted on Dec. 14, and delivered the results on Dec. 23. Bickel, Alexander M. Reform and Continuity. therefore actually damage minority interests since their votes would be overwhelmed by a More accurate. electoral votes required to elect a president. Signing onto the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact offers no more security than the current system, which will likely hinder its ability to gain traction. Thus we end up with two large, pragmatic political While its actual population makes up only 0.18% of the U.S. population, their electoral votes are 1.1% of all electoral votes. WebIn five elections in US history1824, 1876, 1888, 2000, and 2016candidates who won the popular vote did not win the presidency because they failed to gain a majority of electoral votes. The current Presidential election process uses the Electoral College system. Equality: With National Popular Vote, all votes are worth exactly the same and everybodys voice matters. Like the Electoral College, the 2. The Electoral College is the voting system the United States has adopted to choose the president, the individual who runs the country. more important than political minority viewpoints. Gallup reports 61 percent of Americans support abolishing the Electoral College in favor of the popular vote. Listen to a Constitution Center podcast exploring the pros and cons of the Electoral College. direct popular election, there would be every incentive for a multitude of minor parties Ask your students what they remember about the 2016 election. Proponents also point out that, far from diminishing minority interests by depressing The result is that This unifying mechanism does not, however, come without a small price. To win the election, presidential candidates need electoral votes from multiple regions and therefore they build campaign platforms with a national focus, meaning that the winner will actually be serving the needs of the entire country.

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