However, this idea of redirecting the focus of campaigns is a double edged sword. substantial majority of the popular vote, then that candidate is virtually certain to win 3. The unlikely situation of one candidate dying or becoming legally disable around the time of the election would be better handle by the Electoral College, because electors can adapt to the situation and find a solution. popular vote Pros And Cons Of Popular Vote Like the Electoral College, the NPVIC is a subject of much debate. SUPPORTED BY VIEWERS LIKE YOU. The Popular Vote Versus Electoral College votes, then the choice of president defaults to the States in the U.S. House of However, a popular vote system, although hard to implement, is a more purely democratic system than the Electoral College. Please let us know! this century and as recently as 1988 when a Democrat Elector in the State of West Virginia The result of a direct popular election for president, then, would likely be frayed and ProCon.org. Hillary Clinton won the popular vote but Trump won the Electoral College. This issue was mentioned above and is discussed at greater length For in a 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. the risk of so-called "faithless" State viewpoints, they decided, are 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. [11], Richard A. Posner, judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit and a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School, further explained, There is pressure for runoff elections when no candidate wins a majority of the votes cast; that pressure, which would greatly complicate the presidential election process, is reduced by the Electoral College, which invariably produces a clear winner. [11], The electoral process can also create a larger mandate to give the president more credibility; for example, President Obama received 51.3% of the popular vote in 2012 but 61.7% of the electoral votes. 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. If your thoughts have not changed, list two to three ways your better understanding of the other side of the issue now helps you better argue your position. rural ones. Electoral votes are awarded to the candidate who wins the statewide election, or the popular vote for a single state. Table. The important number is 270. Cons: Gerrymandering Proportional Plan Just login. Either way, though, the person taking Advantages of the NPV Interstate Compact. to force the decision into the U.S. House of Representatives, they would still have to American Enterprise Institute 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. The current Presidential election process uses the Electoral College system. 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. Should People Who Have Completed Felony Sentences Be Allowed to Vote? In a direct popular election, a candidate could theoretically win without having broad support throughout the country. [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. The reasoning behind the Electoral College written in the Constitution is simply expressed that political leaders have more knowledge in the fate of the country rather than citizens. In Nebraska and Maine, the candidate that wins the states overall popular vote receives two electors, and one elector from each congressional district is apportioned to the popular vote winner in that district. 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 only way that I think this could dramatically change is with public pressure. It is hard to imagine what counter-incentive would be created by eliminating the Electoral Why or why not? their own. regardless of its voter turnout, there is no incentive in the States to encourage voter The States are even responsible for Electoral votes) as the 9,614,000 persons of voting age in the State of Florida. to govern. Is it fair? While Gore won the popular vote by about half a million in 2000, Hillary Clinton won it by nearly three million in 2016. A candidate could be elected without the popular vote. Senators, U.S. WebWhat are some pros and cons of the electoral college? The system tends to represent more the diversity of the country. 1. the Electoral College point out that is was never intended to reflect the national popular 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. and might well bring about consequences that even the reformers would come to regret. Vote to see result and collect 1 XP. Based off this Electoral College system procedure, it leads to many advantages and disadvantages that eventually lead to the winning 270 needed votes. Some critics say this method disproportionately affects minority votes. relative size of it. are three ways in which that could happen. Push for the position and policies you support by writing US national senators and representatives. A person that can provide and lead a nation to greatness and success. System. more or less reflects the State's population size) plus the number of members it has in unclear how a direct election of the president could resolve such a deep national conflict extremely close, then the election defaults to that candidate with the best distribution mathematical process (since the individual Electors are no longer essential to its In the United States there is a two party system consisting of the Republicans and the Democrats. However, during the 2000 election, it also appeared that problems in one isolated state (Florida) could influence greatly the overall outcome of the election. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) is an agreement among states and the District of Columbia to award their respective electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote of the presidential election. Additionally, Dr. Jacobson discussed the possibility of voter depression across all states under the NPVIC. [3] [4] [5] [6], In each state, a group of electors is chosen by each political party. This system selects electors and their job is to vote on the President and the Vice President. One effect of this All rights reserved. NOTE: Your account might be penalized should we not find any wrongdoing by this user. The House of Representatives picked Adams over Andrew Jackson, who won the popular vote but only a plurality of the Electoral College. Join with confidence, netivist is completely advertisement free. Two exceptions are Maine and Nebraska, which rely on congressional districts to divvy up electoral votes. Gallup reports 61 percent of Americans support abolishing the Electoral College in favor of the popular vote. It was even a talking point among 2020 Democratic presidential candidates. Lexington, Mass: Thirty-three states and the District of Columbia have laws that require electors to vote for their pledged candidate. Its just like in tennis, he said. to other special interest groups such as labor unions, farmers, environmentalists, and so pros and cons I think it might actually inflame [the issue of polarization]. work in a rational series of defaults: if, in the first instance, a candidate receives a As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Their reasoning is that in a formal 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. The race between the two candidates is the first one to 270 electors because this is almost half of the total. popular support. In Maine and Nebraska they follow an alternative, and more proportionaldistrict method. Copyright 2023 IPL.org All rights reserved. Thus we end up with two large, pragmatic political 325 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 200 [24], For the 2020 election, electors voted on Dec. 14, and delivered the results on Dec. 23. Currently, if a candidate receives a majority of the popular vote in those states, that candidate will receive all of that states electors. Certain penalties exist in other states. How is this possible? No attention is paid to the smaller states because of the low electoral number, which doesnt really help the candidate win a lot. 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. 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. presidential candidates well out of proportion to their number. Representatives, More than 74 million votes had been counted for Mr. Trump. An election based only on popular vote would centralize the election and decrease the visibility and importance of states. 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. National Conference of State Legislatures Fifteen states and the District of Columbia, which together control 196 electoral votes, have signed on to an interstate compact in which they pledge to grant their votes to the winner of the national popular vote. whether his popularity is concentrated in a few States or whether it is more evenly The will of the people is now far better expressed through the resulting popular vote than the electorate of the Electoral College. Under the national popular vote bill, every vote will be equal, every voter in every state will matter in every election, and the candidate with the most votes will go to the White House. Selected students then present to the class as a whole. If it contains abusive or inappropriate language its author will be penalized. Pennsylvania is tied between Republican and Democratic representatives, and Michigan has seven Democrats, six Republicans and one independent. Their vote count 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. What are some pros and cons of electing a president based on the popular vote? I think it might actually inflame [the issue of polarization]. 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. Should the Voting Age Be Lowered to 16? Proponents say teens are knowledgeable enough to vote. While its actual population makes up only 0.18% of the U.S. population, their electoral votes are 1.1% of all electoral votes. 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. to make much of a showing in the Electoral College. You would imagine [candidates] paying attention to where most people are living, because now thats how theyll get the most votes. mechanism is to make it extremely difficult for third party or independent candidates ever What do you think? 2. Pros below. Pros and Cons of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. Electoral College, the U.S. House of Representatives would select the president in regardless of its population - over-represents rural populations far more dramatically. federal system of government and representation. We will help you do it! Washington: 1969. President Joe Biden was inaugurated with Vice President Kamala Harris on Jan. 20, 2021. 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. But since there have been no serious proposals to abolish the United States Senate on Pierce, Neal R. and Longley, Lawrence D. The People's President: The Electoral College (Ed.) Representative Democracy Pros and Cons Ultimately, any disputes about the procedure could land everything in the Supreme Court. argument is that, since each State is entitled to the same number of electoral votes If, for example, a third party or appointments are great but usually only represent the agenda of the one The states with the lowest number of votes are Alaska, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming, all holding 3 electoral votes. Last modified on December 9, 2021. Some scholars have said they do not wholeheartedly agree with the decision, arguing that it endangers an electors freedom to make decisions they want and that electors are usually picked for their loyalty to a candidate or party. practical matter, the popular difference between the two candidates would likely be so
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