It would eliminate the threat of a faithless elector. 805 15th Street, NW, Suite 800 Common Cause Right now, the President of the United States is not elected by a popular vote. NCSL's experts are here to answer your questions and give you unbiased, comprehensive information as soon as you need it on issues facing state legislatures. I will explain that in another blog post. A shift of a relative handful of votes in one or two states would have elected the second-place candidate in six of the last 12 presidential elections. But . As an alternative to the long and unlikely method amending the Constitution, critics of the Electoral College are now perusing the National Popular Vote plan designed to ensure that the candidate who wins the overall popular vote in inaugurated president. PBS: What does voter turnout tell us about the 2016 election. That would likely reduce the number of voters who cast a ballot in each election as most people are more concerned about local impacts than national policies. "Pros and cons of the Electoral College it said this about what supporters think about the electoral college "Naturally . 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. If a popular vote were allowed to declare a winner instead, it wouldnt be through a state-by-state counting of electoral votes. You can use essay samples to find ideas and inspiration for your paper. Copyright 2023 Leaf Group Ltd. / Leaf Group Education, Explore state by state cost analysis of US colleges in an interactive article, Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections: The Electoral College, University of the Pacific: Electoral College Reform, University of Missouri-Kansas City Law School: The Electoral College. That effectively means that votes in the the 75% of the country that are in swing states effectively dont count at all. 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 . (2021, Jun 14). 1. National Popular Vote Fix the Broken Electoral College. Abolishing the Electoral College would require a constitutional amendment, a lengthy and often unsuccessful process. Second, some believe itll intensify election problems, such as illegally extended voting hours or irregularly high voter turnout (Richards). Why or why not? 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. Home| Government| Elections| Electoral College| Electoral College Pros And Cons. Critics, however, argue that Founders reasoning is no longer relevant as todays voters are better-educated and have virtually unlimited access to information and to the candidates stances on the issues. The National Popular Vote plan would eliminate what critics of the Electoral College system point to as the "winner-take-all" rule - the awarding all of a state's electoral votes to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in that state. 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. Although it is sometimes conjectured that a national popular election would focus only on big cities, it is clear that this would not be the case. Gives too few states too much electoral power. The official 2016 election results from the Electoral College gave Donald J. Trump the victory with 306 electoral votes v. Hillary Clinton's 232 votes. NCSL conducts policy research in areas ranging from agriculture and budget and tax issues to education and health care to immigration and transportation. The last amendment, the 27th Amendment to the Constitution, was ratified nearly 200 years after it was originally proposed. Honorable Steve Cohen; Adam . (The District of Columbia gets three, despite the fact that the home to Congress has no vote in Congress.). 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. Analyze and debate the pros and cons of the Electoral College system. New York Times columnist David Brooks and Washington Post associate editor Jonathan Capehart join Amna Nawaz to discuss the week in politics, Hear from two columnists with different political ideologies discuss the week in politics, Hear New York Times columnist David Brooks and Washington Post associate editor Jonathan Capehart join Geoff Bennett to discuss the week in politics. Moving to the popular vote structure would eliminate this potential issue. Mayors, governors, and senators are all elected by a simple majority. In 2004, for example, candidates George W. Bush and John Kerry campaigned heavily in states such as Nevada while ignoring political issues in New York, a state that Kerry was sure to win, according to the University of the Pacific. Even the minority party wouldnt be encouraged to negotiate because they could simply stall until the next election. Rescue crews are fighting rugged terrain in Great Smoky Mountains National Park as search efforts for a missing man remain ongoing. Gives too few states too much electoral power. The first problem it creates is the opportunity for the loser of the popular vote to win the electoral vote. Dont know what Ranked Choice Voting is? 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). How could this happen? In a closely contested direct popular election, every precinct across the country might require close examination, rather than a handful of states or precincts. Even though we will be able to elect the president by national popular vote using the The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, eventually the rules for how we elect the president should be an official part of the Constitution. 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. At a time of little national identity and competition among the states, there were concerns that people would favor their regional candidates and that big states with denser populations would dominate the vote. Graphic shows scenario in which a presidential candidate can win the popular vote but lose the election. 211 Next Less would get done, which would affect the needs of households at the local level. The Electoral College is very undemocratic and riddled with issues. In Election 2000, the eight most populous states had 228. 6. The National Popular Vote stems from the winner-take-all approach that validates the presidential candidate interactions with only 4 out of 50 dates during their campaign. That means the bill needs 74 votes to reach a 270 majority, putting it into effect across the country . During a popular vote, a candidate who withdraws from the race or dies before the election can be held could still be on the ballot. It remains one of the most surprising facts about voting in the United States: While the popular vote elects members of Congress, mayors, governors, state legislators and even more obscure local officials, it does not determine the winner of the presidency, the highest office in the land. There would be fewer opportunities to illegally alter the results of an election. Secondly, it creates a minimalist depiction in the minds of the candidate towards more than 40 states. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. End with a class discussion. That would increase the amount of polarization being experienced in politics today because there would be less of a need to compromise. The states that join the NPV Compact will not be able to certify their Electoral College Votes until all 50 states and DC certify their state popular votes and any mandated/requested recounts since the Compact state ECVs are dependent on the winner of the national popular vote and not just their own state popular votes. The only election in the United States which is not governed by the popular vote is the presidential election. Electors are chosen every four years in the months leading up to Election Day by their respective states political parties. Cons: Can disregard the will of the majority. We have seen this outcome in the 2016 Presidential election between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump and in the 2000 election between George H.W. 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. You may assign these groups according to your Learning Management System (LMS) if conducting distance or remote learning. Processes vary from state to state, with some choosing electors during state Republican and Democratic conventions. The Early Learning Fellows Program is a year long opportunity to legislators and legislative staff particularly interested in the topic of early care and education. Pro: It's the only way to avoid defaulting. It would take a constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College an unlikely move because of how difficult it is to pass and ratify constitutional changes. 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. Thats how politics works in America. There would be a reduced need to build coalitions. 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. To avoid another election that differs from . 3. Over the long run the countrys popular vote in presidential elections has roughly been equally split between Republican and Democratic.*. I fear that most, if not all, of the states signing onto the NPV Compact will be just blue states. Because of the state Winner-Take-All rules, which arent even part of the Constitution, they can lead to presidential elections where the winner of the election doesnt have the most popular votes. According to the University of Missouri-Kansas City Law School, some proponents of the Electoral College argue that it isolates election problems, such as illegally extended voting hours or irregularly high voter turnout. Its the Electoral College, not the national popular vote, that determines who wins the presidency. In 2016, Hillary Clinton had more than 10 million of these votes, while Donald Trump had more than 8.3 million, even though Trump won 30 states and Clinton won 20 and the District of Columbia. All samples were added by students. Each state is allowed one elector for each of its Representatives and Senators in Congress. The pros and cons of the popular vote structure of an election allow for the majority to have their say in who they wish to serve. 8. The Electoral College system was established by Article II of the U.S. Constitution in 1788. Although Al Gore won the popular vote, George W. Bush earned more electoral votes after a contested Florida recount and a Supreme Court decision. Around six-in-ten U.S. adults (63%) say the way the president is elected should be changed so that the winner of the popular vote nationwide wins the presidency, while 35% favor keeping the current Electoral College system, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted June 27-July 4, 2022. The itineraries of presidential candidates in battleground states (and their allocation of other campaign resources) demonstrate what every gubernatorial or senatorial candidate in every state already knows namely that when every vote matters, the campaign must be run in every part of the state. 9. That is hardly a mandate for governing, though it would be taken as such. Fellows will focus on important federal legislation, and find ways they can improve their state's child welfare program. After the 2000 election, a majority of Americans favored . The use of the Electoral College has been the only approach the U.S. has used to gain a President, but this way has generated numerous issues. This would happen in the extremely unlikely situation where this candidate would win just for one vote in some . However, there are proposals to reform the Electoral College without abolishing it. In 2016, Gary Johnson received 4.48 million votes and 0 electoral votes, but the potential is always there for this to happen. Lastly, an election-related case could find its way to the Supreme Court, which would lend greater importance to the judicial makeup of the court, Professor Wehle said. Explain that each state and the District of Columbia are given a share of the electoral vote based on population. 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. So you run a campaign designed to maximize your votes in those few largest states. 2. On a close popular vote, often defined as a difference of 0.5% or less in the tabulated results, an automatic recount would likely be triggered. It would reduce the threshold necessary to win the office. Once effective, states could withdraw from the compact at any time except during the six-month window between July 20 of an election year and Inauguration Day (January 20). The amendment requires that any change to the rate of compensation for members of Congress can only take effect after a subsequent election in the House of Representatives. 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 Founders believed that most common citizens of the day were poorly educated and uninformed on political issues. Using a popular vote system, candidates could campaign regionally, targeting major areas of support, to secure enough votes to win an election. 2023 by National Conference of State Legislatures, NCSL 50-State Searchable Bill Tracking Databases, Supreme Court to Reexamine Use of Civil Asset Forfeiture. Definition and Examples. Gallup reports 61 percent of Americans support abolishing the Electoral College in favor of the popular vote. The aim of the National Popular Vote is to ensure the popular vote dictates the Electoral College results, making "every vote in every state" count. That would give the Compact states only 3 days( and two of those days were weekend days) to certify their state votes. 7. In the 2020 election California did not certify their votes until Friday, December 11, only 3 days before the Electoral College met on Monday, December, 14. This feature is critical to the passionate bipartisan support the compact receives. 15 states and Washington, D.C. have joined the National Popular Vote compact. 2. More attention is given to the swing states, such as Florida and Iowa, which causes the third problem the Electoral College can cause. 1. Although moving to a popular vote election would balance the weight of each vote, it would also create more sway in larger population states. For more information on this topic, use this form to reach NCSL staff. Two exceptions are Maine and Nebraska, which rely on congressional districts to divvy up electoral votes. All Rights Reserved, How 2016 put pressure on the Electoral College. Texas has 38. This means that the U.S. would fundamentally be unable to pay back its existing loans, described by Bloomberg as a "major disaster" that could significantly impact the world economy. Often ignored, Americans had a lesson on the workings of the Electoral College after the 2000 election, in which Al Gore won the popular vote but George W. Bush became president. As of now, 15 states and Washington, D.C. have joined the National Popular Vote compact: Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maryland, Washington, New Jersey, Illinois, New York, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Delaware and Oregon. The Pros and Cons of Pooled Employer Plans: Debate. The local laws would take effect only once the compact has enough states to total 270 electoral votes. 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. 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. While it has provided a stable and predictable framework for presidential elections, it has also produced several controversial outcomes. The allotment of the extra votes would almost always ensure that the person who wins the popular vote would also win the Electoral College. The conference's consulting services on policy issues go beyond testifying. The National Association of Plan Advisors is a non-profit professional society. A popular vote election would bring the presidential election in line with the rest of the election structures. Should that happen, then the final decision of who gets to serve as President of the United States is taken away from individual voters. Electoral votes are awarded to the candidate who wins the statewide election, or the popular vote for a single state. ; Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. The second advantage is that the all votes would be equally weighed (Richards). (LogOut/ 5. Today, opinions on the future of the Electoral College range from protecting it as the basis of American democracy to abolishing it completely as an ineffective and obsolete system that may not accurately reflect the will of the people. The bill has crossed paths with 36 legislative chambers and has been sponsored or voted for by 3,112 state legislators (National Popular Vote). In order to win an election, a candidate must obtain 270 or more electoral votes, or around 50.2% of all votes. Its how many sets you win and not how many games or points you win. Advantage: Encourages Voter Turnout Pros: Gives the smaller states an equal voice. 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. Find the most comprehensive and complete 50-state information in NCSL's searchable bill tracking databases. Rural voters would almost always be in the minority. The electoral college leads to a heavy emphasis on swing states and also typically over-represents citizens in rural states. In the 2016 election, only 58 percent of eligible voters went to the polls. It would eliminate superfluous votes. Hillary Clinton won the popular vote but Trump won the Electoral College. And thats not how it should be in a democracy. Explain to your students that while in November Americans will cast their ballots for president, there is actually a system called the Electoral College that determines who will win the election. Why does the system continue? Robert Longley is a U.S. government and history expert with over 30 years of experience in municipal government and urban planning. Gordon Kaye, 68, of Tampa, Florida was reported missing on April 26. 4 terms. Thirty-three states and the District of Columbia have laws that require electors to vote for their pledged candidate. 2. This brings us to 196 of the 270 electoral votes needed to activate the pact. In the U.S., that means people who lean Democratic live in urban areas, while people who lean Republican live in rural areas. 4. The electoral requires that an election which does not receive a majority of electoral votes be taken into the U.S. House of Representatives. What can they conclude from these elections? 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. The National Popular Vote would go into effect when states controlling 270a simple majorityof the total 538 electoral votes. That could change on Nov. 3 of course, because all House seats are up for election. Analysis of the Congressional-District Method of Awarding Electoral Votes Summary Under the congressional-district method of awarding electoral votes, one electoral vote is awarded to the presidential candidate who receives the most popular votes in each of a state's congressional districts. The National Popular Vote (NPV) refers to the concept of allocating a state's presidential electors to the candidate who receives the most votes nationwide regardless of the state results in a presidential election. Proposed Reforms to the Electoral College. Under the electoral college system of voting, the number of representatives a state has in Congress (Senators and Representatives) is the total number of electoral votes it is allowed. If that was to take place, America could potentially face the same issues it is facing now. 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. 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. Each vote would affect each candidate instead of being overlooked due to which state those votes would be coming from. In this issue of Capitol to Capitol NCSL Letter to Congress on Farm Bill Reauthorization and Town Hall, House Republicans Unveil Border Security Bill, and more. However, in the popular vote, Trump only received 62,984,825 votes against Hillary Clinton's 65,853,516 popular votes. Under the Electoral College/Winner-Take-All system votes in small states, like Wyoming or Delaware count double what votes in large states like California or Texas. ThoughtCo, Feb. 17, 2021, thoughtco.com/electoral-college-pros-and-cons-4686409. When you talk about the Electoral College shaping the election, it shapes the election all the time because it puts the focus on certain states and not others, said Alexander Keyssar, a professor of history and social policy at Harvard University. 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. Or the opposite could be true. The proportional plan retains electoral votes, but awards the votes in each state based on the percentage of votes received in each state (regardless of the districts from which the voters come) by the competing . WASHINGTON (AP) WHY IS IT THAT ONE CANDIDATE CAN WIN THE POPULAR VOTE BUT ANOTHER WINS THE ELECTORAL VOTE AND THUS THE PRESIDENCY? That could lead to a very bad situation where, instead of the people voting in November to determine who the next president is, one or two states could effectively decide who becomes the next president simply by joining or withdrawing from the NPV Compact and changing the rules on how the votes for president are counted in the next election. cons of the national popular vote planproperty management without a license in texas aot 4, 2022 12:34 . Longley, Robert. https://www.thoughtco.com/electoral-college-pros-and-cons-4686409 (accessed May 1, 2023). At the moment, 98 more electoral votes are needed to pass this bill in all 50 states (National Conference of State Legislators). What relevance do they have today. If the National Popular Vote bill was secured within the American government, it would protect every vote and would allow those votes to equally matter in the presidential election. Would you like to get a custom essay? That principle should be expanded to presidential elections. Would they like to see the system changed? The nations founders hoped to quell the formation of powerful factions and political parties, and they wanted a mechanism that did not rely solely on popular majorities or Congress. In a direct popular election, a candidate could theoretically win without having broad support throughout the country. Many of these states dont participate in campaign visits or get televised ads. 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. Ask your students what they remember about the 2016 election. (Voters in one of those states, Colorado, on Nov. 3 backed membership in the compact after opponents of the measure collected enough signatures to put the law on the ballot as a referendum.) The states' approval of the compact is a victory for democracy and the principle of "one person, one vote." In all states but Maine and Nebraska, the winner of each state will take all of that state's electoral votes. Cleveland ran again four years later and won back the White House. This advance is referred to as the winner-take-all approach. April 23, 2023. . Thats the way it has been in this country for a long time. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. That created a voter value of 2.85. Hillary Clinton won the popular vote but Trump won the Electoral College. Battleground states would disappear in U.S. elections. This unique system of electing presidents is a big reason why Donald Trump won the presidency in 2016. National popular vote plan. Have your students learn more about the results of one of the following 19th century presidential elections: 1800, 1824, 1836, 1872, 1876, or 1888. 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. 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.

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