Pros and Cons of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. Election Commissioners. How is this possible? debate contributes to the political stability of the nation. The Electoral College also inspires many what-if scenarios, some of them more likely than others. The President and Vice President of the United States are not elected directly by a nationwide popular vote, but by an Electoral College. their own. maintains a federal system of government and Robinson stated, It depends on the outcome [of the election]. more or less reflects the State's population size) plus the number of members it has in movements, the practical effect of the Electoral College (along with the single-member New York: Harper & Row, 1971. votes, then the choice of president defaults to the States in the U.S. House of Yet it is they point out, president would be selected either through the domination of one populous It is uncertain what the effect on the motivation of the voters will be. https://www.nytimes.com/article/the-electoral-college.html. mathematical process (since the individual Electors are no longer essential to its Following U.S. election results on a TV in a restaurant in Shanghai on Nov. 4. does not determine the winner of the presidency, Joseph R. Biden Jr. had earned 306 electoral votes, Thirty-three states and the District of Columbia, it is not a college in the modern educational sense, Kimberly Wehle, a professor at the University of Baltimore, on Nov. 3 backed membership in the compact. Electoral College. Electoral votes are awarded to the candidate who wins the statewide election, or the popular vote for a single state. The peculiar system that emerged was the Electoral College. [29], The racism at the root of the Electoral College persists, suppressing the votes of people of color in favor of voters from largely homogenously white states. rural ones. Our moderators will now review this comment and act accordingly. 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. There is an important debate on whether or not the Electoral College should be reformed or even suppressed. If you would not change the voting process, make a list of reforms and why you would not choose to enact them. Mr. Biden was leading in the popular vote, with more than 81 million votes. Your vote is anonymous. the Senate (which is always two regardless of the State's population). Anyone can read what you share. The Presidential election is considered a take all election. Should the winner-take-all basis be changed to a proportional basis in every state? federal system of government and representation. 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. 3. States according to the size of their population. president. 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. no one received over 50% of the national popular total. 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. Al Gore had received more popular vote thanGeorge W. Bush (540,000 votes more) but the latter obtained a majority of the electors' votes. PBS NewsHour Classroom Popular Vote It can be risky, considering if you do it one election when it helps you, but the next election may harm you and there is nothing you can do about it, said Graham. unclear how a direct election of the president could resolve such a deep national conflict Because of the Electoral College, presidential candidates only need to pay attention to a limited number of states that can swing one way or the other. As of 2020, the state with the largest number of votes is California, with 55 electoral votes. I think it might actually inflame [the issue of polarization]. In recent years, there have been two notable elections in which the ultimate victor did not win the popular vote: 2016 and 2000. Less populous states are favored, because the number of electors is not proportional to the voters count. in 1988, for example, the combined voting age population (3,119,000) of the seven least However, during the 2000 election, it also appeared that problems in one isolated state (Florida) could influence greatly the overall outcome of the election. Although its not detailed in the Constitution, each state delegation would vote on which candidate to support as a group, with the plurality carrying the day, said Akhil Reed Amar, a professor of law and political science at Yale University. In a direct popular election, a candidate could theoretically win without having broad support throughout the country. WebOver the last few decades, the general trend has been toward reinstating the right to vote at some point, although this is a state-by-state policy choice. solely those of the author and are not necessarily shared by the Federal If, for example, a third party or direct popular election, there would be every incentive for a multitude of minor parties A second way in which the Electoral College This type of system would give the individual voter a much more significant influence. Essays in Elections The Electoral College. Popular vote is an actual count of individual votes from all states in America while the Electoral College is a measure of the House of Representatives and Senators choosing directly who the president should be (Kimberling, 1992). Electors are chosen by the states to actually cast the official votes for president. 4. Prevents disputed outcomes ensuring a peaceful transition of power Reduces the costs of national presidential campaigns. and might well bring about consequences that even the reformers would come to regret. ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY: Copyright 2021 NewsHour Production LLC. The process of choosing electors can be an insiders game, said Kimberly Wehle, a professor at the University of Baltimore and the author of What You Need to Know About Voting and Why. They are often state legislators, party leaders or donors, she said. Schlesinger, Arthur M. Jr. This outdated Electoral College system ought to be removed for a popular vote system since it is arbitrary based on residence, leads campaigns to only appeal to certain groups, and the vote is not directly cast by the people, all leading to decreased voter turnout. In a stark example, sparsely populated Wyoming has three votes and a population of about 580,000, giving its individual voters far more clout in the election than their millions of counterparts in densely populated states like Florida, California and New York. Updated February 08, 2023 Democrats (Re)Take Control of Pennsylvania House. This is true simply because it is extremely difficult for a new or minor party to win enough popular votes in enough States to have a chance of winning the presidency. Like the Electoral College, the NPVIC is a subject of much debate. The important number is 270. The officials are not bound by law to vote the way the people who elected them want them to vote. The pros and cons of the felon voting debate include arguments about the social contract, voting while in prison, and paying debts. WebElectoral College pros and cons A candidate could be elected without the popular vote. And the American citizens who live in territories like Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands are not represented by any electors. As of 2020, it has garnered 196 (73% of the requirement) electoral votes and has been adopted by 15 states and the District of Columbia. [7] [8] [9], The Electoral College was also intended to prevent states with larger populations from having undue influence, and to compromise between electing the president by popular vote and letting Congress choose the president. The Electoral College system is the method by which the President of the United States is elected to office. The Electoral College can also reduce the impact of the votes within safety states. The same goes for Republican strongholds and a Democratic candidate. national popular will, the argument goes, the Electoral College reinforces a two party BUT FOR THE ELECTION I MAY NEVER BE APPOINTED. The Electoral College is also the reflection of the federal character of the United States. The debate of whether the Electoral College should be abolished or not has. The Electoral College was born at the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. For as things stand now, no one region contains the absolute majority (270) of ], [Editors Note: The MLA citation style requires double spacing within entries. The reasoning behind why the Electoral College was the determining factor for president was declared by the founding fathers decades ago to ensure equality (Pavia, 2011). Gallup reports 61 percent of Americans support abolishing the Electoral College in favor of the popular vote. Learn more with this video: After the 2000 election, a majority of Americans favored abolishing the system, and by 2020, that. Proponents say an election day holiday will increase voter turnout. While the country has And since ethnic minority groups in the United States happen to The Electoral College is a body of people who represent the states of the US, who formally cast votes for the electing of the president and vice president. Press, 1981. Best, Judith. If there is a tie vote in a states delegation, the states vote would not count. by requiring a distribution of popular support to be elected president. Elections (2nd ed). personal favorite knowing full well that it will not make a difference in the result. Please let us know! Minority groups can have a greater influence on the election, by increasing the participation and helping one candidate to win the popular vote and all the electors in one particular state. nationwide, he might still end up with no Electoral College votes at all unless he won a The official general election results indicate that Trump received 304 Electoral College votes and 46.09% of the popular vote (62,984,825 votes), and Hillary Clinton received 227 Electoral College votes and 48.18% of the popular vote (65,853,516 votes). A single citizens vote really does not matter. helps to maintain a two party system in the United States. With each census, these electoral votes are redistributed based on new data regarding state population. Vote to see result and collect 1 XP. For more on the Electoral College Just login. Below are the proper citations for this page according to four style manuals (in alphabetical order): the Modern Language Association Style Manual (MLA), the Chicago Manual of Style (Chicago), the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA), and Kate Turabian's A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (Turabian). 325 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 200 Should judges be elected or appointed? I know how the president is chosen, and I believe that the set up of the electoral college is no longer. groups. The Electoral College, Americans have their own opinions on how it is running and how it contributes to the presidential election. 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. therefore actually damage minority interests since their votes would be overwhelmed by a Some states replace electors and cancel their votes if they break their pledge. Or why not? Join with confidence, netivist is completely advertisement free. Win popular vote in the state, you get two electoral votes. Although the Electoral College may have been a necessary element of the government when it was originally created, the system has since become impractical for todays society. distribution of a candidate's popular support should be taken into account alongside the As for the second issue of the Electoral Advantages & Disadvantages of BC Each state is authorized a specific amount of electoral votes, based solely on the number of members that state has in Congress. This will allow us to keep netivist alive and available to If you are new to netivist, please create your account for free and start collecting your netivist points! the event the country is so divided that no one obtains an absolute majority of electoral Without the Electoral College, Bush would not have the momentum to keep running for president and run the country the way both the state and people want it to be, What Are The Pros And Cons Of The Electoral College, The Electoral College is a body of people representing the states of the US, who formally cast votes for the election of the president and vice president. There are a total of 538 electoral votes in the whole United States of America: 100 for the senators, 435 for the states combined, and 3 for Washington D.C.

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