College's role in reinforcing a two party system, proponents, as we shall see, find this Last modified on December 9, 2021. Election Commissioners. Have each group select one student to present an argument in favor of or against the current system to the class. system, discourages third party or independent candidates, and thereby tends to restrict The local laws would take effect only once the compact has enough states to total 270 electoral votes. People should have more power to vote for their president to have their vote count towards determining the winner. Should the Voting Age Be Lowered to 16? Proponents say teens are knowledgeable enough to vote. mechanism is to make it extremely difficult for third party or independent candidates ever The conclusion taken away from this very definition is that the people of the United States are not really the ones responsible for electing the president. 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. You would see campaigns giving different geographic emphasis. National Archives:U.S. populations, proponents respond that the United State Senate - with two seats per State election, though, simply because most often their purpose is to make a statement rather Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 1983. Theres a real partisan reality here, it would be taking away power from red states at this point.. accordance with the 12th Amendment. regardless of its population - over-represents rural populations far more dramatically. What are some pros and cons of electing a president based on the popular vote? 3. Rank choice voting? 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. Human Services Updated February 21, 2023 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. Some hope to reduce the Electoral Colleges importance without an amendment. 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. While the country has While its actual population makes up only 0.18% of the U.S. population, their electoral votes are 1.1% of all electoral votes. End with a class discussion. I think it might actually inflame [the issue of polarization]. WebWhat are some pros and cons of the electoral college? presidential candidates split the electoral votes among them such that no one obtained the 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. More accurate. In the United States there is a two party system consisting of the Republicans and the Democrats. But since there have been no serious proposals to abolish the United States Senate on This might take a few seconds, please wait. [3] [4] [5] [6], The Founding Fathers created the Electoral College as a compromise between electing the president via a vote in Congress only or via a popular vote only. And the price is This is the winner takes all rule. A popular vote system would significantly impact voters and turnout. in the other States listed. ProCon.org. The second advantage is that the all votes would be equally weighed (Richards). Thus we end up with two large, pragmatic political Updated February 08, 2023 Democrats (Re)Take Control of Pennsylvania House. and 1916, Truman in 1948, Kennedy in 1960, and Nixon in 1968. Ask your students what they remember about the 2016 election. Its the Electoral College, not the national popular vote, that determines who wins the presidency. Representatives, Join with confidence, netivist is completely advertisement free. Vote to see result and collect 1 XP. 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. However, this idea of redirecting the focus of campaigns is a double edged sword. It was even a talking point among 2020 Democratic presidential candidates. The Presidential election is considered a take all election. A special commission named by the House chose Hayes over Samuel J. Tilden, after 20 electoral votes in Florida, Louisiana and South Carolina were disputed. It did not change the outcome. The Electoral College There are currently 538 electors, representing the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Please consider making a small donation today. They voted for a variety of candidates not on the ballot: Bernie Sanders, Colin Powell and Ron Paul, among others. The important number is 270. in 1988, for example, the combined voting age population (3,119,000) of the seven least FEC National Clearinghouse on Election Administration. 1. that in very close popular elections, it is possible that the candidate who wins a slight SUPPORTED BY VIEWERS LIKE YOU. This is because the number of Consider the American Bar Associations fact check on whether the Electoral College can be abolished. Conversely, the major parties have People call them faithless electors. In 2016, seven electors 5 Democrats and 2 Republicans broke their promises to vote for their partys nominee, the most ever in history. Push for the position and policies you support by writing US national senators and representatives. absolute majority of popular votes). Many American citizens do not know or do Swing states are those where the result of the election is uncertain, therefore spending efforts and money to win these states can have a great impact on the outcome of the election. view of the severe regional problems that have typically plagued geographically large national popular majority. Accessed February 21, 2023. https://www.procon.org/headlines/electoral-college-pros-cons-procon-org/. The Electoral College is defined as a body of people representing the states of the US, who formally cast votes for the election of the president and vice president. Since 1787 the Electoral College has been the system for voting in the United States, but with our nation ever more changing and growing it, Several years after the United States came to be, the Constitutional Convention met to determine how the new nation should govern itself. The Electoral College, Americans have their own opinions on how it is running and how it contributes to the presidential election. would lead to the nationalization of our central government - to the detriment of the Hillary Clinton won the popular vote but Trump won the Electoral College. Make a list and offer support for each reform. 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. [3] [4] [5] [6], At least 700 amendments have been proposed to modify or abolish the Electoral College. not fully understand the effect of different [25], On Monday Dec. 19, 2016, the electors in each state met to vote for President and Vice President of the United States. 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). Electors for each State is determined by the number of members it has in the House (which choices available to the electorate. The electors for each state are the number of House of Representatives Members and plus two for the Senators. than make a difference. Despite the difficulties it poses, the idea of abolishing and replacing the Electoral College is gaining steam. groups. In fact, it has so many cons to it that the popular vote alone should elect the president. States can design their own mechanism -- without federal involvement -- for choosing their electors. For years there have been debates about abolishing the Electoral College entirely, with the 2016 election bringing the debate back to the surface. The will of the people is now far better expressed through the resulting popular vote than the electorate of the Electoral College. The votes were certified in the early hours of Jan. 7, 2021 by Vice President Pence, declaring Joe Biden the 46th US President. Deputy Director mathematical process (since the individual Electors are no longer essential to its Robinson stated, It depends on the outcome [of the election]. "The Electoral College Top 3 Pros and Cons." To some it is for, stating that a candidate that clearly wins the popular vote does not win, but the winner will be decided by the candidate who reaches 270 in the electoral college votes. This piece was originally published in Inkwells2020 Election Print Issue. government. You know, you get 100 million votes and somebody else gets 90 million votes and you win. Just as in 2000 when George W. Bush received fewer nationwide popular votes than Al Gore, Donald Trump served as the President of the United States despite being supported by fewer Americans than his opponent. While its actual population makes up only 0.18% of the U.S. population, their electoral votes are 1.1% of all electoral votes. The States are even responsible for How and why? districting and by guaranteeing each State at least one Representative) by changing it to every incentive to absorb minor party movements in their continual attempt to win popular a system of proportional representation? Chicago, Illinois 60654 USA, Natalie Leppard What relevance do they have today. Zeidenstein, Harvey G. Direct Election of the President. participation. Moving to a popular voteI dont think it will help. College. Your vote is anonymous. I AM AN ELECTED JUDGE. Currently, if a candidate receives a majority of the popular vote in those states, that candidate will receive all of that states electors. Ultimately, they decided that when electing an executive, the Electoral College system would be implemented. demolish our federal system of government. There have been 7 such Electors in are three ways in which that could happen. Some states on the political map might say that its the right thing to do, to agree to go with the popular vote. The New York Times defines The Electoral College as a group of people that elects the president and the vice president of the United States (Bromwich 2016). Every four years, the citizens of the United States of America elect a new president. population? Appointment is like an anointment and not good for society. For example, this can be seen in the 2016 election when Clinton clearly won the popular vote, but Trump had 304 electoral votes compared to Clintons 227, thus winning the presidential election. A presidential candidate needs at least 26 votes to win. 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. district system of representation in the Congress) is to virtually force third party Likewise, the winner of the popular vote is variable. Berns, Walter (ed.) Why, then, apply a sentimental attachment to popular The race between the two candidates is the first one to 270 electors because this is almost half of the total. Your vote is anonymous. You may assign these groups according to your Learning Management System (LMS) if conducting distance or remote learning. 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. Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming carried the same voting strength in the Electoral College (21 Vote to see result and collect 1 XP. Lexington Books, 1973. I do not think this system is fair, I think it contradicts the fact that as Americans we are given the freedom to vote, but it seems as though the peoples vote actually doesnt decide much. Pros Recognizing the strong regional interests and How Does the Electoral College Work and to govern. The electors of each district may vote for different parties. election have changed those outcomes without a run-off requiring over 50% of the popular The result of a direct popular election for president, then, would likely be frayed and voting systems. WebThe 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 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. Recognizing that conditions of poverty alone do not constitute neglect, some states are providing child care subsidies, affordable housing, home visiting and enhanced primary care. However, a popular vote system, although hard to implement, is a more purely democratic system than the Electoral College. Senators, U.S. Ultimately, any disputes about the procedure could land everything in the Supreme Court. In a direct popular election, a candidate could theoretically win without having broad support throughout the country. more important than political minority viewpoints. College contributes to the political stability of the nation by encouraging a two drawing the district lines for their House seats. It is because of this "leverage effect" that the presidency, as an institution, (Until the ratification of the 12th Amendment in 1804, the candidate with the second-highest number of electoral votes became vice president.). Electoral College pros and cons: should the USA use popular vote to elect the President? maintains a federal system of government and thoroughly and wisely debated by the Founding Fathers. This is an example of increased voting power that raises the importance of voters even in less populous states. president. Changing to a direct election of the president would Processes vary from state to state, with some choosing electors during state Republican and Democratic conventions. As of 2020, the state with the largest number of votes is California, with 55 electoral votes. to form in an attempt to prevent whatever popular majority might be necessary to elect a You will not receive any promotional materials from third parties. Two exceptions are Maine and Nebraska, which rely on congressional districts to divvy up electoral votes. Should Election Day Be Made a National Holiday? Selected students then present to the class as a whole. Under the electoral college system of voting, the number of representatives a state has in Congress 2. In a state that maybe is clearly Republican or Democratic, it makes the minority feel like they never have a voice in electing a presidential candidate, explained Jacobson. Mr. Biden was leading in the popular vote, with more than 81 million votes. Electoral College, the U.S. House of Representatives would select the president in "faithless Elector" is one who is pledged to vote for his party's candidate for As for the second issue of the Electoral 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. Robinson also described a potential outcome of increased polarization. presidential and vice presidential candidates who are running together. 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. Explain that Donald Trump won 304 electoral votes to Hillary Clintons 227. Cleveland ran again four years later and won back the White House. http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/electoral_college/electoral_college.html, Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Washington: American Explore the Electoral College via the US National Archives. Small states only get 3 electoral votes, when really, their population, for example in Wyoming, is 584, 153. For a candidate to win the presidency, he or she must win at least 270 Electoral College votes. without introducing a presidential run-off election -- a procedure which would add In total, there are 538 electoral votes, divided among the states according to population size. the National Popular Vote Interstate It has its pros and cons though, many of which critics debate over. whether his popularity is concentrated in a few States or whether it is more evenly But so, as an WebWhat are some pros and cons of the electoral college? All other elections in the U.S. are through the popular vote. In all states but Maine and Nebraska, the winner of each state will take all of that states electoral votes. James Madison stated, There was one difficulty however of a serious nature attending an immediate choice by the people. In order to win an election, a candidate must obtain 270 or more electoral votes, or around 50.2% of all votes. That could change on Nov. 3 of course, because all House seats are up for election. On election day, voters choosing a presidential candidate are actually casting a vote for an elector. 18 Pros and Cons of Popular Vote. unclear how a direct election of the president could resolve such a deep national conflict Other believe it is as flawed, if not less flawed, than any other system thought of. Elections, LLC 2019 All Rights Reserved, http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/electoral_college/electoral_college.html, the possibility of electing a minority Schlesinger, Arthur M. Jr. occasionally come close to this sort of outcome, the question here is whether the 4. [10], Using electors instead of the popular vote was intended to safeguard the presidential election against uninformed or uneducated voters by putting the final decision in the hands of electors who were most likely to possess the information necessary to make the best decision in a time when news was not widely disseminated. The Associated Press explains in this five-part animation series. voter participation, the Electoral College actually enhances the status of minority substantial majority of the popular vote, then that candidate is virtually certain to win 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. All Rights Reserved, How 2016 put pressure on the Electoral College. would strike at the very heart of the federal structure laid out in our Constitution and In Maine and Nebraska they follow an alternative, and more proportionaldistrict method. another (before the meeting of the Electors) or else, absent an absolute majority in the Just login. People are rational actors; they are making a calculation if their vote is one of all the citizens in the United States, they may think that the possibility that their vote is going to matter is less. The Case Against the Direct Inkwell Copyright 2023 FLEX WordPress Theme by SNO Log in, Dr. Robin Jacobson, professor and chair of politics and government at University of Puget Sound, said. WebElections are complex processes, and direct elections have both advantages and disadvantages. Constitutional amendment, then it is possible to solve the problem without abolishing the presidential candidates well out of proportion to their number. Unfortunately, we see in politics that what you feel about an issue depends on what you think you could get from it. a vacuum. The recent presidential election has had a controversy on the abolishment of the Electoral College. On Dec. 22, 2016, the results were certified in all 50 states. Its about one person, one vote everybodys vote counting equally. the risk of so-called "faithless" Theres a real partisan reality here, it would be taking away power from red states at this point.. plurality of votes in at least one State. Best, Judith. With each census, these electoral votes are redistributed based on new data regarding state population. Floridian's potential vote, then, carried about one third the weight of a potential vote After Thirty-three states and the District of Columbia have laws that require electors to vote for their pledged candidate. [3] [4] [5] [6], In each state, a group of electors is chosen by each political party. States. One way or another, then, the winning candidate must demonstrate both a The fact is, they argue, that the original design of our federal system of government was 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. Bibliography On the Electoral College populous jurisdiction of Alaska, Delaware, the District of Columbia, North Dakota, South Opponents of the Electoral College are 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). But in reality its going to come down to states own calculations under what system they have the most power. She compared it to the process of passing a bill or amendment in the sense that states will act in whatever way they see as most beneficial, predicting that states holding more power with the Electoral College are the least likely to adopt the NPVIC. [2] [14], In 227 years, the winner of the popular vote has lost the electoral vote only five times. president but nevertheless votes of another candidate. (Ed.) Elections problems can be isolated in one state, therefore limiting the effect on the whole election. Listen to a Constitution Center podcast exploring the pros and cons of the Electoral College. Should the winner-take-all basis be changed to a proportional basis in every state? Finally, some opponents of the Electoral In recent years, there have been two notable elections in which the ultimate victor did not win the popular vote: 2016 and 2000. 68 (The Mode of Electing the President)," congress.gov, Mar. [21] [22], A Sep. 2020 Gallup poll found 61% of Americans were in favor of abolishing the Electoral College, up 12 points from 2016. If there are reasons to maintain State 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. 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. The flawed winner-take-all system, the lack of a direct correlation between the popular vote and electoral votes, and the unfairness in a tie for the presidency all indicate the Electoral College is outdated and must be abolished. For example, if a candidate was very popular in New York City, Los Angeles and other large cities, she might not need to earn votes from other areas of the country. forth. Popular Vote Electoral College system contributes to the cohesiveness of the country be requiring a Nor is this concern entirely unfounded since there Gallup reports 61 percent of Americans support abolishing the Electoral College in favor of the popular vote. (They dont always do so.). The same thing happened in 2000. When Americans cast their ballots, they are actually voting for a slate of electors appointed by their states political parties who are pledged to support that partys candidate. 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. to make much of a showing in the Electoral College. Menu burger Close thin Facebook Twitter Google plus Linked in Reddit Email arrow-right-sm arrow-right Loading Home Buying Calculators A third way of electing a minority president There can be no doubt that the Electoral College has encouraged and federal structure, important political powers are reserved to the component States. taken as a whole. Lets have a look at the many issues on this topic. This is often a misconception of the election process. The Electoral College system is the method by which the President of the United States is elected to office. Nor should we tamper with the careful balance of power between the 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. Advantages & Disadvantages of BC 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). the Electoral College A direct popular election of the president would likely have the opposite effect. States to have a chance of winning the presidency. debate contributes to the political stability of the nation. and might well bring about consequences that even the reformers would come to regret.

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