Lastly, the biggest problem that the Electoral College produces is the reality that a persons vote really doesnt matter (Black). 6. Proposed Reforms to the Electoral College. That means the bill needs 74 votes to reach a 270 majority, putting it into effect across the country . You have to win the set, and in our system, you have to win the state.. But for those people who feel that changing how we elect the president should only be done by constitutional amendment they will feel that using the NPV Compact will undermine the legitimacy of the process even though its perfectly legal and constitutional. That would give the Compact states only 3 days( and two of those days were weekend days) to certify their state votes. It isnt impossible to pass a Constitutional amendment, though history shows that it is not an easy process to complete. Inside Ohio or Florida, to pick two examples, the big cities do not receive all the attention, and they certainly do not control the outcome. The Electoral College system, long a source of controversy, came under especially heavy criticism after the 2016 presidential election when Republican Donald Trump lost the nationwide popular vote to Democrat Hillary Clinton by over 2.8 million votes but won the Electoral Collegeand thus the presidencyby 74 electoral votes. This text is available online and is used for gudiance and inspiration, We use cookies to give you the best experience possible. Our experts will write for you an essay on any topic, with any deadline and requirements from scratch, Electoral College and National Popular Vote Pros and Cons. Eliminating the winner-take-all requirement of the Electoral College at the state level would lessen the tendency for the swing states to dominate the electoral process. States boyd, william j.d., "electoral college system challenged." national civic review 55.9 (1966): 519-23. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact is an agreement where states in the compact award all their electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote, no matter which presidential candidate wins in their state, says CU Boulder political scientist Ken Bickers. Why does the system continue? To avoid another election that differs from . Under the National Popular Vote plan,the compact would take effect only when enabling legislation has been enacted by states collectively possessing a majority of the electoral votes:270 of 538 total. ; Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. For years there have been debates about abolishing the Electoral College entirely, with the 2016 election bringing the debate back to the surface. Bush and Al Gore (Black). And the American citizens who live in territories like Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands are not represented by any electors. 7. BY . A switch to the popular vote would eliminate the concept of a battleground state because the issue would be more on issues than states. The electoral college leads to a heavy emphasis on swing states and also typically over-represents citizens in rural states. The National Popular Vote initiative transpired in 2006. Longley, Robert. For the popular vote, however, Hillary Clinton received 65.8 million votes, while Donald Trump received 62.9 million votes. 2. The National Popular Vote would go into effect when states controlling 270a simple majorityof the total 538 electoral votes. However, in the popular vote, Trump only received 62,984,825 votes against Hillary Clinton's 65,853,516 popular votes. The obvious reason to keep raising the debt ceiling is that it avoids defaulting on the nation's debts. 5. 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. The National Popular Vote compact would have the same effect as a constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College but has the benefit of retaining the power to control presidential elections in states hands. Abolishing the Electoral College would require a constitutional amendment, a lengthy and often unsuccessful process. Cleveland ran again four years later and won back the White House. NCSL Child Welfare Fellows program is designed to support legislators and legislative staff who are experienced or emerging leaders in child welfare policy. 2023 by National Conference of State Legislatures, NCSL 50-State Searchable Bill Tracking Databases, Supreme Court to Reexamine Use of Civil Asset Forfeiture. The Electoral College has also awarded the presidency to candidates with a plurality of the popular vote (under 50 percent) in a number of cases, notably Abraham Lincoln in 1860, John F. Kennedy in 1960 and Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996. Weve already seen this issue take place with the GOP primaries in 2016. Rescue crews are fighting rugged terrain in Great Smoky Mountains National Park as search efforts for a missing man remain ongoing. The only election in the United States which is not governed by the popular vote is the presidential election. Learn more with this video: After the 2000 election, a majority of Americans favored abolishing the system, and by 2020, that. But sometime in the future the popular vote will change back and lean Republican. 4. Lastly, it may cause a third-party candidate to prevail and win, which would allow Americans to be given more choices besides the two primary parties (Richards). At the moment, 98 more electoral votes are needed to pass this bill in all 50 states (National Conference of State Legislators). Each states electoral votes are tallied by Congress in the House chamber by House and Senate representatives on the 6th day of January following the Presidential election. National Popular Vote is a constitutional and practical way to implement nationwide popular election of the President a goal traditionally supported by an overwhelming majority of Americans How does the system currently work? Some states list electors names on the general election ballot. Some states, such as California and Hawaii, both had their bills vetoed by their governors before it was overridden and enacted by state legislators. The winner of the states popular vote gets two electoral votes, and one vote is awarded to the winner of the popular vote in each congressional district. Under the current structure of presidential elections in the U.S., the states become a battleground of red states vs. blue states. If that was to take place, America could potentially face the same issues it is facing now. All in all, the Electoral College causes many problems that seem unfair to American voters during such an important election. The National Popular Vote Plan is an alternative system that would still use electors to cast their votes but instead it would give each state's votes to whichever candidate wins the national popular vote. All other votes cast for that candidate are therefore superfluous. 2. Some areas may bend the rules of an election by extending voting hours illegally. The country could become less stable and divided if he or she did not have a vast amount of support (Richards). Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz often split about 60% of the GOP vote, which allowed Donald Trump to win early primaries with 35% of the vote. The candidate who placed second in the popular vote was elected in 2016, 2000, 1888, 1876, and 1824. Thats how the framers of the Constitution set it up. Definition and Examples. The Founding Fathers chose it as a compromise between allowing Congress to choose the president and having the president elected directly by the popular vote of the people. But with the NPV Compact a change in party control of just one or two states could restore the old system of electing the president and then four years later it could be changed back. Most Popular. NAPA Net Staff. One route would be a constitutional amendment, which would require two-thirds approval from both the House and Senate and ratification by the states, or a constitutional convention called by two-thirds of the state legislatures. A popular vote election takes all ballots that are cast, counts them, and declares the winner based on who received the most votes. Many Americans are confused about how a win is obtained under these conditions and are on a quest to change this traditional statute. When you cast your ballot, you're not actually voting directly for your favored presidential candidate. That principle should be expanded to presidential elections. Right now, the President of the United States is not elected by a popular vote. Electors are chosen by the states to actually cast the official votes for president. SUPPORTED BY VIEWERS LIKE YOU. Although the 20th Amendment to the Constitution provides clarity to this situation, that process is based on the electoral college. After students have completed their handouts, have them debate the pros and cons of the Electoral College. If you need 321 electoral votes to win, and you can get 102 by winning the national 354 popular plurality, you need only 219 of the state electoral votes. The Electoral College system was established by Article II of the U.S. Constitution in 1788. However, there are proposals to reform the Electoral College without abolishing it. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. They will do as promised if the candidates do a very good job vetting them and picking people who are rock-solid, Professor Amar said. As of July 2020, a National Popular Vote bill has been signed into law in 16 states controlling a total of 196 electoral votes, including 4 small states, 8 medium-sized states, 3 big states (California, Illinois, and New York), and the District of Columbia. Without any sort of broad support, the politics of the country could become even more fractured than they already are. By continuing well assume youre on board with our, https://samploon.com/electoral-college-and-national-popular-vote-pros-and-cons/, Select a writer from a large pool of experts. Elections Webinar 1 2 3 . Surprisingly enough, the National Popular Vote bill could possibly bring forth some problems. The election is held every four years on the first Tuesday in November and prior to election day, the two candidates endure state-level primaries, caucuses, debates, and conventions. One such movement, the National Popular Vote plan would ensure that the winner of the popular vote would also win at least enough Electoral College votes to be elected president. The Electoral College is made up of 538 electors and a majority of 270 electoral votes is mandatory to nominate the President. Yes. Fellows will focus on important federal legislation, and find ways they can improve their state's child welfare program. Then, election officials in all participating states would choose the electors sworn to support thepresidential candidate who received the largest number of popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Although this may limit the amount of diversity that occurs in office, and may generate extra financial costs, the argument could be made that these risks outweigh the results of an election where a majority of states, not a majority of people, put someone into office. Other presidents who lost the popular vote but won the presidency include John Quincy Adams and Rutherford B. Hayes in the elections of 1824 and 1876. 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 California. Cons of Electoral College. [ 1] With a popular vote in place, each election win would be decreed a mandate to follow the platform of the winning party. Ultimately, any disputes about the procedure could land everything in the Supreme Court. Robert Longley is a U.S. government and history expert with over 30 years of experience in municipal government and urban planning. cons of the national popular vote planproperty management without a license in texas aot 4, 2022 12:34 . Gordon Kaye, 68, of Tampa, Florida was reported missing on April 26. It only takes five people with life tenure to actually amend this Constitution through a judicial opinion, she said. Voters in spectator states, including five of the nations 10 most populous states (California, Texas, New York, Illinois, and New Jersey), and 12 of the 13 least populous states (all but New Hampshire) have no real incentive to go to the polls as their votes do not affect the outcome of the election. Pennsylvania is tied between Republican and Democratic representatives, and Michigan has seven Democrats, six Republicans and one independent. If there is a tie vote in a states delegation, the states vote would not count. That effectively means that votes in the the 75% of the country that are in swing states effectively dont count at all. Its the Electoral College, not the national popular vote, that determines who wins the presidency. It did not change the outcome. Join the thousands across the country who instantly rally when there is a threat to our democracy. This divide creates natural divisions between groups of people who both support their country, but in different ways. There are arguments that the states with smaller populations are overrepresented in the Electoral College, because every state gets at least 3 electors regardless of population. The Electoral College also inspires many what-if scenarios, some of them more likely than others. At that stage, anyone who received an electoral vote is eligible to become the next president. What relevance do they have today. Instead of a direct popular election, the United States has the Electoral College, a group of electors who represent each state's votes. On average, studies show that falls in line with historical averages showing around 60 percent of eligible voters casting a vote in presidential election years. It could encourage voter turnout. In all states but Maine and Nebraska, the winner of each state will take all of that state's electoral votes. But the biggest problem with changing how we elect our president using the NPV Compact is that its too easy to change it back. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Lastly, some Americans believe that there would be an increase in voter turn-out if people felt that their vote was viewed as a significant asset to their country. By adding this new interstate compact to the Electoral College/Winner-Take-All system to elect our president we are in fact making this system even more complicated and even harder for the voters to understand. National popular vote plan. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact will guarantee the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. If the election is based off a popular vote, each of these areas would need to be closely examined in real-time, which would enhance the security of each vote that is cast. Graphic shows scenario in which a presidential candidate can win the popular vote but lose the election. NCSLs experts are here to answer your questions and give you unbiased, comprehensive information as soon as you need it on issues facing state legislatures. Not only it already happened five times, but in theory, a candidate could win the presidency with only 22% of the popular vote in a two-candidates race. . That means some voters, like Republicans in California or Democrats in Mississippi, are voting without power and without attention from their preferred candidates each year. Analyze and debate the pros and cons of the Electoral College system. Probably the NPV Compact would be enacted into law with as little as a simple majority of the states and possibly even less. Should that happen, then the final decision of who gets to serve as President of the United States is taken away from individual voters. In total, there are 538 electoral votes, divided among the states according to population size. The National Association of Plan Advisors is a non-profit professional society. Rebekah Richards is a professional writer with work published in the "Atlanta Journal-Constitution," "Brandeis University Law Journal" and online at tolerance.org. It has also happened four times out of the 56 presidential elections. It would require an Amendment in the U.S. for presidential elections. Mayors, governors, and senators are all elected by a simple majority. Image the country thinks it is going to elect the president by National Popular Vote and then changing back to using the old Electoral College/Winner-Take-All system just four months before an election. Find the most comprehensive and complete 50-state information in NCSL's searchable bill tracking databases. It was a compromise between those who wanted direct popular elections for president and those who preferred to have Congress decide. If the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact becomes law it would be an excellent first step to help get a future amendment to the Constitution to replace the Electoral College/Winner-Take-All system to elect the president with a national popular vote using Ranked Choice Voting. Learn more about how the National Popular Vote compact works and the ways it could make our elections better for everyone. Contact your states liaison to schedule a briefing or to learn more. Discuss. On Dec. 14, as electors gathered across the country to cast their ballots, Joseph R. Biden Jr. had earned 306 electoral votes, 36 more than needed to win. ThoughtCo, Feb. 17, 2021, thoughtco.com/electoral-college-pros-and-cons-4686409. National Popular Vote is a constitutional and practical way to implement nationwide popular election of the President a goal traditionally supported by an overwhelming majority of Americans. Currently, 48 of the 50 states follow the winner-take-all rule. Dont know what Ranked Choice Voting is? We answer more than 20,000 requests for information a year. 9. The Electoral College has 538 members, with the number allocated to each state based on how many representatives it has in the House plus its two senators. What can your students conclude? To become president of the United States of America, you must be at least 35 years old, have lived in the U.S. for at least 14 years and be a natural-born citizen. The winner would receive all of the compact states electoral votes, giving them at least the necessary 270 to win the White House. The system had some unusual results from the start, as evident in the election of 1800, a tie in which Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr received an equal number of electoral votes. The group as a whole should help that student to prepare his or her argument. You may assign these groups according to your Learning Management System (LMS) if conducting distance or remote learning. It would limit the influence of local issues in the election. What are some of the main advantages and disadvantages of the Electoral College? Explain that Donald Trump won 304 electoral votes to Hillary Clintons 227. Samploon is a database of free essay samples. In addition, while the Founders considered the electors as being free from any sinister bias in 1788, electors today are selected by the political parties and are usually pledged to vote for the partys candidate regardless of their own beliefs. ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY: Copyright 2023 NewsHour Production LLC. I am confident that when we enter the next phase where the popular vote leans Republican that Republicans will change and be adamant that we should elect the president by direct popular vote and Democrats will be arguing why we should keep the Electoral College/Winner-Take-All system. NCSL conducts policy research in areas ranging from agriculture and budget and tax issues to education and health care to immigration and transportation. First, have students meet in small groups to discuss and debate. 9. Certain penalties exist in other states. 4 terms. "Electoral College Pros and Cons." In Election 2000, the eight most populous states had 228. Get breaking news and updates from Common Cause. She graduated magna cum laude from Brandeis University with bachelor's degrees in creative writing, English/American literature and international studies. Texas has 38. That could change on Nov. 3 of course, because all House seats are up for election. Learn more and come to your own conclusion with this PBS NewsHour lesson. The Electoral College was devised at the Constitutional Convention in 1787. Secondly, it creates a minimalist depiction in the minds of the candidate towards more than 40 states. For instance, if you have a score of 659 and are borrowing 75% of the home's value, you'll pay a fee equal to 1.5% of the loan balance whereas you'd pay no fee if you had a 780+ credit score. Each vote would affect each candidate instead of being overlooked due to which state those votes would be coming from. 805 15th Street, NW, Suite 800 Prevents disputed outcomes ensuring a peaceful transition of power. Before the 2016 election, the largest vote deficit in the popular vote was Al Gore securing over 500,000 votes more than George W. Bush. 3. It has been enacted by twelve states, which include Rhode Island, Vermont, Hawaii, the District of Columbia, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Washington, New Jersey, Illinois, New York, and California. There are various options for reforming the Electoral College system, including abolishing it altogether, adopting a national popular vote system, and proportional allocation America is known to have the costliest, prolonged, and complicated structure when electing a head of state. Since 2008, 15 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws to adopt the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC), which is an multi-state agreement to commit electors to. Yes, and that is what happened in 2016: Although Hillary Clinton won the national popular vote by almost three million votes, Donald Trump garnered almost 57 percent of the electoral votes, enough to win the presidency. The important number is 270. Electoral votes are designated among the states based on Census. Many of these states dont participate in campaign visits or get televised ads. (Until the ratification of the 12th Amendment in 1804, the candidate with the second-highest number of electoral votes became vice president.). Because there is now an even number of electoral votes, a tie is feasible. Understand how the Electoral College system works. I fear that most, if not all, of the states signing onto the NPV Compact will be just blue states. 2. By clicking Accept All Cookies, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. As the National Popular Vote (NPV) movement steps up its effort to impose a direct election for president, attempting to enlist states with a sufficient number of electors to constitute a majority (268) and to bind them to the winner of the national popular vote, those states considering the proposal might first reflect on the nightmare . And thats not how it should be in a democracy. The President-Elect takes the oath of office and is sworn in as President of the United States on January 20th in the year following the Presidential election (Archives).
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