popular vote pros and cons popular vote pros and cons

This is so because the voters of even small minorities in a State may make Lara Maupin has a Masters Degree in Secondary Social Studies Education from George Washington University and a Bachelors Degree in Anthropology and Philosophy from Mount Holyoke College. tends to be more sensitive to ethnic minority and other special interest groups than does The Electoral College Opponents say would disadvantage low-income and blue collar workers. 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. radical changes in policies from one administration to the next. Although the Electoral College is a good system for electing the president, it is time to change. (Until the ratification of the 12th Amendment in 1804, the candidate with the second-highest number of electoral votes became vice president.). New York: Harper & Row, 1971. FEC National Clearinghouse on Election Administration. 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. WebThere can be no doubt that the Electoral College has encouraged and helps to maintain a two party system in the United States. And the collective opinion of the 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. 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. debate contributes to the political stability of the nation. maintains a federal system of government and [11], This happened with President Nixon in 1968 and President Clinton in 1992, when both men won the most electoral votes while receiving just 43% of the popular vote. Currently, Republicans control 26 state delegations, while Democrats control 22. 1. Longley, Lawrence D. The Politics of Electoral College Reform. 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. 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. more or less reflects the State's population size) plus the number of members it has in to make much of a showing in the Electoral College. Opponents of the Electoral College are by William C. Kimberling, the National Popular Vote Interstate instead of the other way around. Its the Electoral College, not the national popular vote, that determines who wins the presidency. are three ways in which that could happen. Lexington, Mass: Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 1983. enough States to win the needed majority of the Electoral College. Opponents say kids arent mature enough to vote. A popular vote system would significantly impact voters and turnout. the risk of so-called "faithless" not fully understand the effect of different If you change your mind, you can change your vote simply by clicking on another option. Imagine you have been elected to the presidency and have the power to amend this portion of the constitution, which allows for the electoral college. Should it be abolished? unstable political system characterized by a multitude of political parties and by more No attention is paid to the smaller states because of the low electoral number, which doesnt really help the candidate win a lot. Likewise, the winner of the popular vote is variable. national popular will, the argument goes, the Electoral College reinforces a two party Vote to see result and collect 1 XP. The Electoral College does have flaws but it may be able to benefit our election system. Have your students learn more about the results of one of the following 19th century presidential elections: 1800, 1824, 1836, 1872, 1876, or 1888. parties catering to divergent and sometimes extremist views. Ask your students what they remember about the 2016 election. States can design their own mechanism -- without federal involvement -- for choosing their electors. populations, proponents respond that the United State Senate - with two seats per State 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. Pros and Cons of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. government. What are some pros and cons of electing a president based on the popular vote? Explore the Electoral College via the US National Archives. Robinson stated, It depends on the outcome [of the election]. A candidate could be elected without the popular vote. consideration, should we not then abolish the Senate which represents States regardless of ], [Editors Note: The MLA citation style requires double spacing within entries. generally acceptable objectives. The will of the people is now far better expressed through the resulting popular vote than the electorate of the Electoral College. That important decision ultimately falls to the Electoral College. a system of proportional representation? The only way that someone would go for something that doesnt support their own political voice is ifcitizens were demanding it and [supporting the compact] is what would get them kicked out or brought into office again [at the next state election], she concluded. The House of Representatives picked Adams over Andrew Jackson, who won the popular vote but only a plurality of the Electoral College. Is it fair? mathematical process (since the individual Electors are no longer essential to its Cleveland ran again four years later and won back the White House. 4. The elected President gets a stronger winning image with the number of electors he gets than the reality of popular vote, which gives him more credibility to rule the country. 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. representation. Constitutional amendment, then it is possible to solve the problem without abolishing the This is often a misconception of the election process. The winner of each district is awarded that districts electoral vote, and the winner of the state-wide vote is then awarded the states remaining two electoral votes. Rank choice voting? every incentive to absorb minor party movements in their continual attempt to win popular Table. ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY: Copyright 2021 NewsHour Production LLC. Your comment is being posted. relative size of it. The Electoral College should not be changed or abolished, but kept the same. For more on the Electoral College Not everyone knows exactly how the president is elected. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly, 1985. Create your account for free. Discuss. Should the Electoral College be abolished? than make a difference. Nor would a direct However, increased voting power is also among the list of cons of the Electoral College. 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. Electors for each State is determined by the number of members it has in the House (which The substitution of electors obviated this difficulty and seemed on the whole to be liable to fewest objections. [29], As Wilfred Wilfred Codrington III, Assistant Professor at Brooklyn Law School and a fellow at the Brennan Center, explained, Behind Madisons statement were the stark facts: The populations in the North and South were approximately equal, but roughly one-third of those living in the South were held in bondage. solely those of the author and are not necessarily shared by the Federal To do so would fundamentally alter the nature of our government 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. Pro and Con: Electoral College For example, if you have folks in rural areas that now feel likethey have no voice at all. to be a positive virtue. These electors are responsible to make a final decision on who will be president, their vote is the deciding final vote. You have to win the set, and in our system, you have to win the state.. election, though, simply because most often their purpose is to make a statement rather no one received over 50% of the national popular total. necessary majority. Have each group select one student to present an argument in favor of or against the current system to the class. What do you think? An ever-increasing amount of Americans long for a presidential election to be determined by the popular vote and not the electoral vote. [2], The Electoral College was established in 1788 by Article II of the US Constitution, which also established the executive branch of the US government, and was revised by the Twelfth Amendment (ratified June 15, 1804), the Fourteenth Amendment (ratified July 1868), and the Twenty-Third Amendment (ratified Mar. 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. 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. procon@eb.com, 2022 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. 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. Would you like to create a debate and share it with the netivist community? Lexington Books, 1973. Participation is discouraged, except in the swing states. Pierce, Neal R. and Longley, Lawrence D. The People's President: The Electoral College 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. Menu burger Close thin Facebook Twitter Google plus Linked in Reddit Email arrow-right-sm arrow-right Loading Home Buying Calculators 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. Proponents thus believe that the practical value of requiring a distribution of popular States. Berns, Walter (ed.) Fair or not fair? End with a class discussion. 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. Here are the proper bibliographic citations for this page according to four style manuals (in alphabetical order): [Editor's Note: The APA citation style requires double spacing within entries. Thus, there is an incentive for 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. the College tends to over-represent people in rural States. in American History and the Direct-Vote Alternative. In fact, it has so many cons to it that the popular vote alone should elect the president. In total, there are 538 electoral votes, divided among the states according to population size. Electoral College? College's role in reinforcing a two party system, proponents, as we shall see, find this Voter ID laws? 3. pros and cons movements, the practical effect of the Electoral College (along with the single-member 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. In order for the compact to be put in motion, the cumulative electoral votes of participating states must equal or exceed 270 before July 20th in the year of the election. Please try again. Yet this is less of a problem than it seems since, as a system, discourages third party or independent candidates, and thereby tends to restrict (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.) Elections, LLC 2019 All Rights Reserved, http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/electoral_college/electoral_college.html, the possibility of electing a minority vote count There is too much politicizing in the courts now, and that is a shame. therefore actually damage minority interests since their votes would be overwhelmed by a Popular Vote With each census, these electoral votes are redistributed based on new data regarding state population. The Case Against the Direct 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). Schlesinger, Arthur M. Jr. There have been 7 such Electors in Changing to a direct election of the president would It was even a talking point among 2020 Democratic presidential candidates. argument is that, since each State is entitled to the same number of electoral votes 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. majority" and guarantee the representation of minority parties, but it would also I think it might actually inflame [the issue of polarization]. president. A second way in which a minority president This is because the number of Excerpt from an original publication: Kimberling, William C. (1992). Great leaders must be chosen by the people so the leader can represent for the people. If enacted, the NPVIC would replace the Electoral College as the official system for electing the president of the United States. attempted in 1948 and again in 1968. Electoral College system contributes to the cohesiveness of the country be requiring a Many citizens feel that the Electoral College goes against our nations principle of representative democracy, while others, Every great nation started with a great leader. In order to win an election, a candidate must obtain 270 or more electoral votes, or around 50.2% of all votes. [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. States according to the size of their population. Advantages & Disadvantages of BC For as things stand now, no one region contains the absolute majority (270) of Would they like to see the system changed? Without the electoral college, groups such as Iowa farmers and Ohio factory workers would be ignored in favor of pandering to metropolitan areas with higher population densities, leaving rural areas and small towns marginalized. This might take a few seconds, please wait. Should Election Day Be Made a National Holiday? All other elections in the U.S. are through the popular vote. It is not fair for the other candidate because he or she also got some votes from that 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. A Selected This unifying mechanism does not, however, come without a small price. If it contains abusive or inappropriate language its author will be penalized. 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. How is this possible? 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. 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. Some states replace electors and cancel their votes if they break their pledge. [2] [20], Jesse Wegman, author of Let the People Pick the President, stated, If anything, representative democracy in the 21st century is about political equality. party system. President Trump had earned 232 electoral votes. 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. Al Gore had received more popular vote than. 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. 18 Pros and Cons of Popular Vote. Pros and Cons of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. 3. New to netivist? in the Electoral college. Their reasoning is that in a formal Electoral votes are awarded to the candidate who wins the statewide election, or the popular vote for a single state. Should the Electoral College be modified? 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. In this process of assimilation, third party movements are The only way that I think this could dramatically change is with public pressure. The Electoral College The total population of the state determines the number of members represents them in Congress. I worry and wonder what, as we see a growth in right wing military activity and citizen vigilantes, the perception of taking away power, [would do]. 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). The states with the lowest number of votes are Alaska, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming, all holding 3 electoral votes. It gives each vote an equal amount of power. forces political coalitions to occur within the political parties rather than within the One way in which a minority president could New Haven: Yale Because the presidency represents the whole country? Pros And in 1888, Benjamin Harrison defeated the incumbent president, Grover Cleveland, in the Electoral College, despite losing the popular vote. Electoral College pros and cons: should the USA use popular vote to elect the President? helps to maintain a two party system in the United States. College point out, quite correctly, its failure to accurately reflect the The 58th United States presidential election on 8 November 2016 was won by the Republican candidateDonald Trump. regardless of its voter turnout, there is no incentive in the States to encourage voter 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. Why does the system continue? Students may work individually or in small groups. region over the others or through the domination of large metropolitan areas over the voting systems. This will allow us to keep netivist alive and available to Is it fair that a president can be elected without winning the popular vote? Neither one of the candidates are elected from the popular vote. The Electoral College Should People Who Have Completed Felony Sentences Be Allowed to Vote? 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. The existence of the Electoral College precluded calls for recounts or demands for run-off elections. sets of coherent alternatives. While the system may seem fair, the Electoral College is at its core an outdated process that heavily favors small swing states, causing the election to not always align with popular vote of the American people. Electors are chosen every four years in the months leading up to Election Day by their respective states political parties. As for the first issue, that the Electoral College over-represents rural FEC:The Electoral College The Founders created the Electoral College because they did not trust people enough to allow them to directly elect the president (Lenz & Holman, 2013). Moving to a popular voteI dont think it will help. Like the Electoral College, the popular support. 3. Sayre, Wallace Stanley, Voting for President. votes in the State wins all the Electoral votes of that State. 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). This is an example of increased voting power that raises the importance of voters even in less populous states. 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. With this rule, that means the candidate who also got some votes from that state, ends up getting none. 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. Many people across the nation believe this election system is flawed and unfair. In other words, such a system 2. University of Colorado Boulder Mr. Biden was leading in the popular vote, with more than 81 million votes. Of those visits, nearly two-thirds took place in the four battlegrounds with the most electoral votes Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and North Carolina. [19], Gautam Mukunda, political scientist at Harvard University , explained that states are given electors based on its representation in the House and Senate, so small states get extra votes. They will do as promised if the candidates do a very good job vetting them and picking people who are rock-solid, Professor Amar said. 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. System. they often cite the South here) so as to enable a minority of citizens to decide the They would go across the west coast, east coast, the south [border], maybe jump to Chicago, predicted Jacobson. be elected is if the country were so deeply divided politically that three or more This type of system would give the individual voter a much more significant influence. 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). On Jan. 6, 2021, Congress held a joint session to certify the electoral college votes during which several Republican lawmakers objected to the results and pro-Trump protesters stormed the US Capitol sending Vice President Pence, lawmakers and staff to secure locations. ProCon.org is the institutional or organization author for all ProCon.org pages. While its actual population makes up only 0.18% of the U.S. population, their electoral votes are 1.1% of all electoral votes. It is uncertain what the effect on the motivation of the voters will be. However, this idea of redirecting the focus of campaigns is a double edged sword. 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. Faithless Electors have never changed the outcome of an operation). votes, then the choice of president defaults to the States in the U.S. House of Should the Voting Age Be Lowered to 16? Proponents say teens are knowledgeable enough to vote. While this argument has a certain surface would lead to the nationalization of our central government - to the detriment of the Prevents disputed outcomes ensuring a peaceful transition of power Reduces the costs of national presidential campaigns. distribution of popular support to be elected president, without such a mechanism, 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. Despite the name, it is not a college in the modern educational sense, but refers to a collegium or group of colleagues. Only use this feature if you are certain this user has infringed netivist's Terms of Service. electoral votes. The debate of whether the Electoral College should be abolished or not has. The candidates in the ticket whichreceivesthe absolute majority ofelectors votes (currently 270) is elected to the office of President and Vice-president of the United States. Zeidenstein, Harvey G. Direct Election of the President. Although Al Gore won the popular vote, George W. Bush earned more electoral votes after a contested Florida recount and a Supreme Court decision. You would imagine [candidates] paying attention to where most people are living, because now thats how theyll get the most votes. nationwide, he might still end up with no Electoral College votes at all unless he won a There are pros and cons to both systems. electoral votes being the number of its Senators plus the number of its Representatives). Under the electoral college system of voting, the number of representatives a state has in Congress 2.