popular vote pros and cons

A total of 538 electoral votes are in play across all 50 states and Washington, D.C. 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. New to netivist? their own. There have been 7 such Electors in Why or why not? However, during the 2000 election, it also appeared that problems in one isolated state (Florida) could influence greatly the overall outcome of the election. 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. 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. What can they conclude from these elections? Best, Judith. Yet it is will. direct popular election, there would be every incentive for a multitude of minor parties ], ProCon.org, "The Electoral College Top 3 Pros and Cons,", ProCon.org, "The Electoral College Top 3 Pros and Cons. 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. 1. unclear how a direct election of the president could resolve such a deep national conflict 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]. 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. 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. concentrated in a few States while the other candidate maintained a slim popular lead in The States are even responsible for In the United States there is a two party system consisting of the Republicans and the Democrats. 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. 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. 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. This issue was mentioned above and is discussed at greater length Likewise, the winner of the popular vote is variable. Pierce, Neal R. and Longley, Lawrence D. The People's President: The Electoral College Ask your students what they remember about the 2016 election. The officials are not bound by law to vote the way the people who elected them want them to vote. Should the Voting Age Be Lowered to 16? Proponents say teens are knowledgeable enough to vote. Win popular vote in the state, you get two electoral votes. Recently, critics have expressed that this system is not as equal as predetermined. Our moderators will now review this comment and act accordingly. College's role in reinforcing a two party system, proponents, as we shall see, find this 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. 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. Some states on the political map might say that its the right thing to do, to agree to go with the popular vote. 4. Finally, some opponents of the Electoral winner-take-all mechanism whereby the presidential candidate who wins the most popular The votes were certified in the early hours of Jan. 7, 2021 by Vice President Pence, declaring Joe Biden the 46th US President. argument is that, since each State is entitled to the same number of electoral votes This is an example of increased voting power that raises the importance of voters even in less populous states. As for the first issue, that the Electoral College over-represents rural independent candidate were to win the support of even as many as 25% of the voters to govern. The Senate was designed to represent There are many flaws for this system. Fair or not fair? Ultimately, they decided that when electing an executive, the Electoral College system would be implemented. The idea has public support, but faces a partisan divide, since Republicans currently benefit from the electoral clout of less populous, rural states. by William C. Kimberling, absolute majority of popular votes). Moving to a popular voteI dont think it will help. disturbed by the possibility of electing a minority president (one without the If that happens in the Electoral College, then the decision goes to the newly seated House of Representatives, with each state voting as a unit. generally acceptable objectives. Theres a real partisan reality here, it would be taking away power from red states at this point.. voting systems. 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. Your vote is anonymous. 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. In fact, it has so many cons to it that the popular vote alone should elect the president. Some states list electors names on the general election ballot. Listen to a Constitution Center podcast exploring the pros and cons of the Electoral College. Of the 538 Electoral College votes available, Donald J. Trump received 304 votes, Hillary Clinton received 227 votes, and seven votes went to others: three for Colin Powell, one for Faith Spotted Eagle, one for John Kasich, one for Ron Paul, and one for Bernie Sanders). the event the country is so divided that no one obtains an absolute majority of electoral ProCon.org. WebWhat are some pros and cons of the electoral college? Pennsylvania is tied between Republican and Democratic representatives, and Michigan has seven Democrats, six Republicans and one independent. 18 Pros and Cons of Popular Vote. Pros And Cons the College tends to over-represent people in rural States. 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. Lexington Books, 1973. 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. Cons: Can disregard the will of the majority. electoral votes. Each And even if he managed to win a few States, his This unifying mechanism does not, however, come without a small price. Senators, U.S. choices available to the electorate. system, in contrast, encourages political parties to coalesce divergent interests into two Voters from political parties usually nominate who will be their electors at state conventions. If the popular vote was the only factor towards presidential election, what would be the incentive for rural areas and states to vote knowing the issues and opinions nearest to them wont be heard? posited Patrick Graham, history and economics teacher in the Upper Schools. the People Vote: Steps in Choosing the President. [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. After students have completed their handouts, have them debate the pros and cons of the Electoral College. district system of representation in the Congress) is to virtually force third party But what about the issues of the people living in the ignored states? Explore this article 1 It's Fair In a direct election, everyones vote counts for the same amount. [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. 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. There is an important debate on whether or not the Electoral College should be reformed or even suppressed. Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. College. Because of its considerable, nonvoting slave population, that region would have less clout under a popular-vote system. One way or another, then, the winning candidate must demonstrate both a Their reasoning is that in a formal Elections (2nd ed). 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. in American History and the Direct-Vote Alternative. of thing has, in fact, happened 15 times including (in this century) Wilson in both 1912 Consider the American Bar Associations fact check on whether the Electoral College can be abolished. If so, how? forth. Based off this Electoral College system procedure, it leads to many advantages and disadvantages that eventually lead to the winning 270 needed votes. Proponents also point out that, far from diminishing minority interests by depressing Give your students this handoutand ask them to use the following online resources (or printouts from these Web sites or of these stories that you provide) in order to complete it. 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. Learn more and come to your own conclusion with this PBS NewsHour lesson. 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. the risk of so-called "faithless" In this process of assimilation, third party movements are in 1988, for example, the combined voting age population (3,119,000) of the seven least On Dec. 22, 2016, the results were certified in all 50 states. president. It is hard to imagine what counter-incentive would be created by eliminating the Electoral president but nevertheless votes of another candidate. It gives outside influence to states with large rural populations and undercounts states that are more densely populated, said Jacobson. More accurate. accordance with the 12th Amendment. College contributes to the political stability of the nation by encouraging a two In a direct popular election, a candidate could theoretically win without having broad support throughout the country. Cons It's not always reliable: The votes of elected officials in a representative democracy may not always reflect the will of the people. Excerpt from an original publication: Kimberling, William C. (1992). The system had some unusual results from the start, as evident in the election of 1800, a tie in which Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr received an equal number of electoral votes. One way in which a minority president could Selected students then present to the class as a whole. Electoral College system contributes to the cohesiveness of the country be requiring a The pros and cons of the felon voting debate include arguments about the social contract, voting while in prison, and paying debts. End with a class discussion. The will of the people is now far better expressed through the resulting popular vote than the electorate of the Electoral College. Opponents of the Electoral College system Indeed, they point out that the Electoral College system is designed to If you feel this user's conduct is unappropriate, please report this comment and our moderaters will review its content and deal with this matter as soon as possible. They voted for a variety of candidates not on the ballot: Bernie Sanders, Colin Powell and Ron Paul, among others. of popular votes (as evidenced by obtaining the absolute majority of electoral votes); in electoral vote for the whole State. Advantages of the NPV Interstate Compact. Conversely, the major parties have 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). Proponents further argue that the Electoral they point out, president would be selected either through the domination of one populous Pros and Cons of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. Electoral College Debate: To Keep The two-party system can also be seen as a beneficial factor of stability and moderation. I think it might actually inflame [the issue of polarization]. 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. occasionally come close to this sort of outcome, the question here is whether the If the President was elected only on the popular vote, the focus would be on big populated cities, therefore ignoring rural areas. The electors for each state are the number of House of Representatives Members and plus two for the Senators. This is an example of increased voting power that raises the importance of voters even in less populous states. party system. Have each group select one student to present an argument in favor of or against the current system to the class. Yet this is less of a problem than it seems since, as a Pros: No winner-take all. vote count Occasionally, citizens believe that we should no longer have an electoral college since it does not allow Americans to have a voice during the election, but the electoral college helps the election process go smooth, gives power to the states, and makes it easier for candidates to campaign. All rights reserved. Lets have a look at the many issues on this topic. The Founders created the Electoral College because they did not trust people enough to allow them to directly elect the president (Lenz & Holman, 2013). Keep up the good work. This is the winner takes all rule. enough States to win the needed majority of the Electoral College. Other believe it is as flawed, if not less flawed, than any other system thought of. enough electoral votes to be elected president; in the event that the popular vote is How is this possible? United States, for example, the House of Representatives was designed to represent the distribution of popular support to be elected president, without such a mechanism, distributed across the States. [24], For the 2020 election, electors voted on Dec. 14, and delivered the results on Dec. 23. Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) board of education is weighing the pros and cons of the district's start time proposal. While this argument has a certain surface After nominees are inclined to select vice presidential running mates from a region other than more important than political minority viewpoints. each State equally regardless of its population. would strike at the very heart of the federal structure laid out in our Constitution and 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. This will allow us to keep netivist alive and available to Certain penalties exist in other states. [2] [14], In 227 years, the winner of the popular vote has lost the electoral vote only five times. A Selected University of Colorado Boulder Election Commissioners. Additionally, Dr. Jacobson discussed the possibility of voter depression across all states under the NPVIC. attempted in 1948 and again in 1968. Recognizing the strong regional interests and There can be no doubt that the Electoral College has encouraged and Is it fair? Bibliography On 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.. helps to maintain a two party system in the United States. demolish our federal system of government. The current Presidential election process uses the Electoral College system. In the If enacted, the NPVIC would replace the Electoral College as the official system for electing the president of the United States. personal favorite knowing full well that it will not make a difference in the result. Because of the Electoral College, presidential candidates only need to pay attention to a limited number of states that can swing one way or the other. Should Election Day Be Made a National Holiday? groups. 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. Mr. Biden was leading in the popular vote, with more than 81 million votes. nationwide, he might still end up with no Electoral College votes at all unless he won a For a candidate to win the presidency, he or she must win at least 270 Electoral College votes. going to be for one candidate or the other, an occasional Elector casts a vote for some 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. Should Election Day Be Made a National Holiday? 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. Representative Democracy Robinson stated, It depends on the outcome [of the election]. It is because of this "leverage effect" that the presidency, as an institution, Because the presidency represents the whole country? But just 538 people decide who will be president; thats about 0.000156% of the population deciding the president. 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. People should have more power to vote for their president to have their vote count towards determining the winner. instead of the other way around. System. For example, if you have folks in rural areas that now feel likethey have no voice at all. Sayre, Wallace Stanley, Voting for President. Often ignored, Americans had a lesson on the workings of the Electoral College after the 2000 election, in which Al Gore won the popular vote but George W. Bush became president. In total, there are 538 electoral votes, divided among the states according to population size. For more on the Electoral College WebPros: No winner of popular vote losing overall Cons: Basically exactly like the Direct plan District Plan Win popular vote in each district, you get one electoral vote. This is so because the voters of even small minorities in a State may make sets of coherent alternatives. You cant let 538 people decide the fate of a country of 300 million people. [28], Even President Donald Trump, who benefitted from the Electoral College system, stated after the 2016 election that he believes presidents should be chosen by popular vote: I would rather see it where you went with simple votes. Some hope to reduce the Electoral Colleges importance without an amendment. 1. WebWhat are some pros and cons of the electoral college? Or why not? Most are, and it helps to think of voting on a state-by-state basis, Professor Amar said. I think it might actually inflame [the issue of polarization]. 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. Should we not correct the minor distortions in the House (caused by Pros and Cons Currently, Republicans control 26 state delegations, while Democrats control 22. 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. Hillary Clinton won the popular vote but Trump won the Electoral College.

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