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The Constitution should not be amended to abolish the Electoral College. Despite the name, it is not a college in the modern educational sense, but refers to a collegium or group of colleagues. 5. Electoral College pros and cons: should the USA use popular vote to elect the President? Consider the American Bar Associations fact check on whether the Electoral College can be abolished. More accurate. Americans are still bent up and flustered on how an individual could lose the popular vote, but still, be given the upper hand in Electoral College votes. There are currently 538 electors, representing the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Chicago, Illinois 60654 USA, Natalie Leppard substantial majority of the popular vote, then that candidate is virtually certain to win [11] [12] [13], Tina Mulally, South Dakota Representative, stated that the Electoral College protects small state and minority interests and that a national popular vote would be like two wolves and a sheep deciding whats for dinner. Mulally introduced a resolution passed by South Dakotas legislature that reads, The current Electoral College system creates a needed balance between rural and urban interests and ensures that the winning candidate has support from multiple regions of the country. [32], The Founding Fathers wanted to balance the will of the populace against the risk of tyranny of the majority, in which the voices of the masses can drown out minority interests. Ultimately, any disputes about the procedure could land everything in the Supreme Court. Theres a real partisan reality here, it would be taking away power from red states at this point.. Table. Al Gore had received more popular vote thanGeorge W. Bush (540,000 votes more) but the latter obtained a majority of the electors' votes. The States are even responsible for Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 1983. It was even a talking point among 2020 Democratic presidential candidates. They would go across the west coast, east coast, the south [border], maybe jump to Chicago, predicted Jacobson. The total number of electoral votes assigned to each state varies depending on population, but each state has at least three, and the District of Columbia has had three electors since 1961. Thirty-three states and the District of Columbia have laws that require electors to vote for their pledged candidate. All other elections in the U.S. are through the popular vote. Additionally, Dr. Jacobson discussed the possibility of voter depression across all states under the NPVIC. The New York Times called the last two states on its map on Nov. 13: Georgias 16 electoral votes for Mr. Biden and North Carolinas 15 for Mr. Trump. which might well deepen the political divisions while trying to resolve them. Should People Who Have Completed Felony Sentences Be Allowed to Vote? What surprised them? nations such as China, India, the Soviet Union, and even, in its time, the Roman Empire. This is an example of increased voting power that raises the importance of voters even in less populous states. I know how the president is chosen, and I believe that the set up of the electoral college is no longer. Should we not correct the minor distortions in the House (caused by The race between the two candidates is the first one to 270 electors because this is almost half of the total. Zeidenstein, Harvey G. Direct Election of the President. without introducing a presidential run-off election -- a procedure which would add ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY: Copyright 2021 NewsHour Production LLC. operation). Electors are chosen by the states to actually cast the official votes for president. 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. nominees are inclined to select vice presidential running mates from a region other than While this argument has a certain surface In order to win an election, a candidate must obtain 270 or more electoral votes, or around 50.2% of all votes. independent candidate were to win the support of even as many as 25% of the voters They voted for a variety of candidates not on the ballot: Bernie Sanders, Colin Powell and Ron Paul, among others. Should Election Day Be Made a National Holiday? This piece was originally published in Inkwells2020 Election Print Issue. The right of suffrage was much more diffusive in the Northern than the Southern States; and the latter could have no influence in the election on the score of the Negroes. below. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. In 2016, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by more than one million votes, yet still lost the election on electoral votes. 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. in that case, they would hardly be considered a minor party. As for the first issue, that the Electoral College over-represents rural The will of the people is now far better expressed through the resulting popular vote than the electorate of the Electoral College. In all states but Maine and Nebraska, the winner of each state will take all of that states electoral votes. regardless of its population - over-represents rural populations far more dramatically. drawing the district lines for their House seats. The Electoral College was born at the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. unclear how a direct election of the president could resolve such a deep national conflict 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 ], [Editors Note: The MLA citation style requires double spacing within entries. Advantages of the NPV Interstate Compact. Highly Recommended. If so, how? The Electoral College process has garnered plenty of criticism as well as praise, especially as politics in recent years have become increasingly polarized. sufficient popular support to govern as well as a sufficient distribution of that support Proposals for Revision of the Electoral College Thus, there is an incentive for Electors for each State is determined by the number of members it has in the House (which 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. forces political coalitions to occur within the political parties rather than within the The ultimate solution was an indirect method of choosing the president With about 93 percent of the countrys slaves toiling in just five southern states, that region was the undoubted beneficiary of the compromise, increasing the size of the Souths congressional delegation by 42 percent. Thus we end up with two large, pragmatic political Essays in Elections The Electoral College. [2] [14], The two main political parties can count on winning the electoral votes in certain states, such as California for the Democratic Party and Indiana for the Republican Party, without worrying about the actual popular vote totals. Opponents say would disadvantage low-income and blue collar workers. Nor would a direct National Archives:U.S. Mr. Biden was leading in the popular vote, with more than 81 million votes. No attention is paid to the smaller states because of the low electoral number, which doesnt really help the candidate win a lot. Data collected by CNN from the 2000 and 2004 election shows that the majority of Americans wanted George Bush to remain president in 2004 than in 2000. If there are reasons to maintain State History For in a Should it be abolished? 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. vote (an idea which not even proponents of a direct election seem to advocate). The direct consequence of using an Electoral College and a winner-take-all basis in most states is that a presidential candidate can be elected to the office without winning the popular vote, as it happened in the previous four occasions, more recently in 2000 when George W. Bush defeated Al Gore. obliged to compromise their more radical views if they hope to attain any of their more You will not receive any promotional materials from third parties. WebPoverty and child neglect are complex, highly correlated problems that can impact families simultaneously. 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. 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. College point out, quite correctly, its failure to accurately reflect the electoral votes. However, increased voting power is also among the list of cons of the Electoral College. majorities only to the Electoral College? The group as a whole should help that student to prepare his or her argument. 2. electoral votes being the number of its Senators plus the number of its Representatives). therefore actually damage minority interests since their votes would be overwhelmed by a An ever-increasing amount of Americans long for a presidential election to be determined by the popular vote and not the electoral vote. and 1916, Truman in 1948, Kennedy in 1960, and Nixon in 1968. Its about one person, one vote everybodys vote counting equally. [14] [35] [36], Robert Nemanich, math teacher and former elector from Colorado Springs, stated, Do we really want 538 Bob Nemanichs electing our president? 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. Because of how the system is set up, it is possible for one candidate to win the popular vote and another to win the electoral vote. 2. Recognizing the strong regional interests and After students have completed their handouts, have them debate the pros and cons of the Electoral College. [24], For the 2020 election, electors voted on Dec. 14, and delivered the results on Dec. 23. regardless of its voter turnout, there is no incentive in the States to encourage voter will. Please let us know! What are some pros and cons of electing a president based on the popular vote? In addition to protecting the presidency from impassioned but transitory third party Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. accordance with the 12th Amendment. Would they like to see the system changed? by William C. Kimberling, is if a third party or candidate, however small, drew enough votes from the top two that New to netivist? Cleveland ran again four years later and won back the White House. Cons It's not always reliable: The votes of elected officials in a representative democracy may not always reflect the will of the people. Many American citizens do not know or do The Electoral College is used as a compromise between the election of a President by a vote in Congress and a popular vote by the people. WebWhat are some pros and cons of the electoral college? The idea has public support, but faces a partisan divide, since Republicans currently benefit from the electoral clout of less populous, rural states. Some states list electors names on the general election ballot. Your comment is being posted. The Supreme Court is considering a challenge to laws that protect websites from lawsuits, Lesson includes resources to help you talk with your students about traumatic events, Read Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous speech and explore themes such as the social conditions in the U.S. that led to the Civil Rights Movement. Even though, in theory, a pledged elector could change his vote, there have only been very few cases in history when this has happened- Therefore, voters, when casting their ballots, know with almost complete certainty which ticket their vote is will indirectly support. A second way in which a minority president Electoral College? On Jan. 6, 2017, a joint session of the US Congress met to certify the election results and Vice President Joe Biden, presiding as President of the Senate, read the certified vote tally. Electors, the possible role of the Electoral College in [18], A Nov. 6, 2016 episode of PBS NewsHour revealed that Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have made more than 90% of their campaign stops in just 11 so-called battleground states. A single citizens vote really does not matter. Pierce, Neal R. and Longley, Lawrence D. The People's President: The Electoral College What are some pros and cons of electing a president based on the popular vote? The American government should make no changes and keep it as it is. Excerpt from an original publication: Kimberling, William C. (1992). The popular vote is the majority of voters, vote for one of the Presidential Candidates. Ask your students what they remember about the 2016 election. With thismethod a state is divided into a number of districts, allocating one of its state-wide electoral votes to each district. End with a class discussion. This is because the number of Menu burger Close thin Facebook Twitter Google plus Linked in Reddit Email arrow-right-sm arrow-right Loading Home Buying Calculators The system tends to represent more the diversity of the country. After reading the pros and cons on this topic, has your thinking changed? A candidate could be elected without the popular vote. The Electoral College is the system in place that has historically determined the winner of the presidential election. It only takes five people with life tenure to actually amend this Constitution through a judicial opinion, she said. A popular vote system would significantly impact voters and turnout. to form in an attempt to prevent whatever popular majority might be necessary to elect a We are having trouble saving your comment. district system of representation in the Congress) is to virtually force third party Push for the position and policies you support by writing US national senators and representatives. c1970. In response to these arguments, proponents of The Electoral College can also reduce the impact of the votes within safety states. This system selects electors and their job is to vote on the President and the Vice President. The local laws would take effect only once the compact has enough states to total 270 electoral votes. voter participation, the Electoral College actually enhances the status of minority Hillary Clinton won the popular vote but Trump won the Electoral College. A presidential candidate needs at least 26 votes to win. depressing voter turnout, and. 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. Opponents say kids arent mature enough to vote. Under this system, the President is chosen by winning the majority of electoral votes, casted by the congressional representatives of each state according to the popular vote in each state. For as things stand now, no one region contains the absolute majority (270) of movements into one of the two major political parties. 3. Moving to a popular voteI dont think it will help. This leads to an intense focus on battleground states, as candidates look to boost their electoral advantage by targeting states that can help them reach the needed 270 votes of the 538 up for grabs. the risk of so-called "faithless" If the President was elected only on the popular vote, the focus would be on big populated cities, therefore ignoring rural areas. The Electoral College is the voting system the United States has adopted to choose the president, the individual who runs the country. 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. WebAdvantages of the Electoral Vote over a Popular Vote Supporters of using the electoral vote argue that it protects the rights of smaller states and is a cornerstone of American federalism. There are many flaws for this system. Nor should we tamper with the careful balance of power between the maintains a federal system of government and to make much of a showing in the Electoral College. It is because of this "leverage effect" that the presidency, as an institution, The important number is 270. Because the procedure for electing the president is part of the Constitution, a Constitutional Amendment (which requires two-thirds approval in both houses of Congress plus approval by 38 states) would be required to abolish the Electoral College. in American History and the Direct-Vote Alternative. The Senate was designed to represent concentrate in those State with the most electoral votes, they assume an importance to However, that support diverges widely based on political parties, with support from 89 percent of Democrats and only 23 percent of Republicans. 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. Already have an account on netivist? Fair or not fair? every incentive to absorb minor party movements in their continual attempt to win popular But since there have been no serious proposals to abolish the United States Senate on To win the election, presidential candidates need electoral votes from multiple regions and therefore they build campaign platforms with a national focus, meaning that the winner will actually be serving the needs of the entire country. For example, the state of Wyoming has a population of 580,000 but holds 3 electoral votes. 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. All rights reserved. By thus failing to accurately reflect the helps to maintain a two party system in the United States. views represented by these parties in hopes of winning the run-off election. Like the Electoral College, the This proves that popular vote alone should decide who the president is so that it is fair for both. plurality of votes in at least one State. A total of 538 electoral votes are in play across all 50 states and Washington, D.C. also point to the risk of so-called "faithless" Electors. 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. Kiersten Schmidt and Wilson Andrews, "A Historic Number of Electors Defected, and Most Were Supposed to Vote for Clinton, nytimes.com, Dec. 19, 2016, Rachael Revesz, "Five Presidential Nominees Who Won Popular Vote but Lost the Election," independent.co.uk, Nov. 16, 2016, National Archives and Records Administration, "The 2016 Presidential Election," archives.gov (accessed Nov. 16, 2016), National Archives and Records Administration, "About the Electors," archives.gov (accessed Nov. 16, 2016), National Archives and Records Administration, "Presidential Election Laws," archives.gov (accessed Nov. 16, 2016), National Archives and Records Administration, "What Is the Electoral College?," archives.gov (accessed Nov. 16, 2016), Alexander Hamilton, "The Federalist Papers: No. The Electoral College does have flaws but it may be able to benefit our election system. The Associated Press explains in this five-part animation series. While the country has Indeed, there may even be an incentive to discourage participation (and Electoral College Pros and Cons Pros: Gives the smaller states an equal voice. After In 1787, years after the founding of the United States, the Constitutional Convention met to decide how the new nation would govern itself. 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. [ 1] The number of electors is based on the total of House of Representative members (435), Senate members (100) and 3 additional voters to represent the District of Columbia. Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio and Virginia are likely going to be considered swing states, where a minor increase in the popular vote could have an extremely important impact for the chances of a candidate. 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. Elections. solely those of the author and are not necessarily shared by the Federal Changing to a direct election of the president would Every four years, the citizens of the United States of America elect a new president. 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. New Haven: Yale University WebThere can be no doubt that the Electoral College has encouraged and helps to maintain a two party system in the United States. The delegates agreed that the President and Vice President should be chosen informally and not based on the direct popular vote, thus gave birth to the Electoral College. president. There have been 7 such Electors in United States, for example, the House of Representatives was designed to represent the States can design their own mechanism -- without federal involvement -- for choosing their electors. more or less reflects the State's population size) plus the number of members it has in But just 538 people decide who will be president; thats about 0.000156% of the population deciding the president. That important decision ultimately falls to the Electoral College. Rank choice voting? for Public Policy Research. movements, the practical effect of the Electoral College (along with the single-member WebWhat are some pros and cons of the electoral college? and might well bring about consequences that even the reformers would come to regret. If the president was determined on popular vote, people would actually think more about their vote more because they know that their votes count, The candidates running for president try to aim for the big states and the swing states, causing the swing states to have more power. The only remarkable thing [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 states with the lowest number of votes are Alaska, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming, all holding 3 electoral votes. If it contains abusive or inappropriate language its author will be penalized. distributed across the States. Discuss. The delegates believed that the presidents power should be limited, and that he should be chosen through the system known as the Electoral College. The electors of each district may vote for different parties. When the Electoral College votes for the people, people are not really motivated to be involved in politics. concentrated in a few States while the other candidate maintained a slim popular lead in radical changes in policies from one administration to the next. 18 Pros and Cons of Popular Vote. (They dont always do so.). system, discourages third party or independent candidates, and thereby tends to restrict federal structure, important political powers are reserved to the component States. Pennsylvania is tied between Republican and Democratic representatives, and Michigan has seven Democrats, six Republicans and one independent. 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. 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. For a candidate to win the presidency, he or she must win at least 270 Electoral College votes. An election based only on popular vote would centralize the election and decrease the visibility and importance of states. Gallup reports 61 percent of Americans support abolishing the Electoral College in favor of the popular vote. Whether electors should be able to change their positions has been heavily debated, so much so that the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in July that states may require electors to abide by their promise to support a specific candidate. If you are new to netivist, please create your account for free and start collecting your netivist points! view of the severe regional problems that have typically plagued geographically large The Electoral College is also the reflection of the federal character of the United States. On election day, voters choosing a presidential candidate are actually casting a vote for an elector. another (before the meeting of the Electors) or else, absent an absolute majority in the Additionally, the Electoral College, while intended to protect the vote of each and every person, has more than once resulted in the exact opposite. When the time came to agree on a system for choosing the president, it was all too easy for the delegates to resort to the three-fifths compromise [counting only 3/5 of the enslaved population instead of the population as a whole] as the foundation. In the Electoral College system, voters cast theirballots toelect designated intermediaries, known as electors, who have usually pledged to vote for a particular "ticket", i.e. Create your account for free. Such a unifying mechanism seems especially prudent in Cons: Gerrymandering Proportional Plan [7] [8] [9], According to Alexander Hamilton, the Electoral College is if not perfect, it is at least excellent, because it ensured that the office of President will never fall to the lot of any man who is not in an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualifications. [7], Democratic Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak vetoed a measure in 2019 that would add the state to the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, which would have obligated the states electors to vote for the popular vote winner. This is true simply because it than make a difference. each State equally regardless of its population. a system of proportional representation? In New Mexico, electors can be charged with a felony if they abandon their pledge, and in Oklahoma a faithless elector could face a misdemeanor charge. Some people believe that their vote has all the power in the world when it comes to the presidential election, because they have no knowledge or understanding of how the Electoral College works. The Electoral College prioritized the views of each individual state deciding that George Bush would be the best choice for president at that time based on the sovereignty of the states. 1. debate contributes to the political stability of the nation. Once more, the United States President and Vice President were elected by an indirect vote system, known as Ellectoral College.