Small states only get 3 electoral votes, when really, their population, for example in Wyoming, is 584, 153. whether his popularity is concentrated in a few States or whether it is more evenly Such a unifying mechanism seems especially prudent in 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. The second advantage is that the all votes would be equally weighed (Richards). However, a popular vote system, although hard to implement, is a more purely democratic system than the Electoral College. representation in the Senate and House as they exist today, then surely these same reasons sets of coherent alternatives. WebWhat are some pros and cons of the electoral college? solely those of the author and are not necessarily shared by the Federal 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. Our moderators will now review this comment and act accordingly. Other presidents who lost the popular vote but won the presidency include John Quincy Adams and Rutherford B. Hayes in the elections of 1824 and 1876.
PBS NewsHour Classroom 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. 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. depressing voter turnout, and. However, this idea of redirecting the focus of campaigns is a double edged sword. New York: Harper & Row, 1971. majority" and guarantee the representation of minority parties, but it would also Win popular vote in the state, you get two electoral votes. voting systems. But so, as an How could this happen? President Trump had earned 232 electoral votes. The will of the people is now far better expressed through the resulting popular vote than the electorate of the Electoral College. Electoral College. extremely close, then the election defaults to that candidate with the best distribution
Pros And Cons Of Popular Vote Press, 1981. A presidential candidate needs at least 26 votes to win. Bibliography On the Electoral College Proponents say an election day holiday will increase voter turnout. Electoral College system contributes to the cohesiveness of the country be requiring a electoral votes required to elect a president. 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. taken as a whole. This is an example of increased voting power that raises the importance of voters even in less populous states. We are having trouble saving your comment. Either way, though, the person taking independent candidate were to win the support of even as many as 25% of the voters "The Electoral College Top 3 Pros and Cons." Its how many sets you win and not how many games or points you win. rural ones. 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. All Rights Reserved, How 2016 put pressure on the Electoral College. 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. mathematical process (since the individual Electors are no longer essential to its to be a positive virtue. 2. Fairness: This compact would rightfully ensure that the candidate who receives the most votes wins, just as in any other election in the country and unlike in 2000 and 2016. 5. have a majority of over half the State delegations in order to elect their candidate - and College point out, quite correctly, its failure to accurately reflect the nominees are inclined to select vice presidential running mates from a region other than
the Electoral College Congrats you just reached a new level on Netivist. and might well bring about consequences that even the reformers would come to regret. Representatives, 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. Why, then, apply a sentimental attachment to popular Signing onto the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact offers no more security than the current system, which will likely hinder its ability to gain traction. To abolish the Electoral College in favor of a nationwide popular election for president The Electoral College is a way of voting that gathers the majority for each individual state, allowing that states elector to vote on a presidential candidate, giving that candidate an amount of points equal to the states politicians in the Senate and House of Representatives. 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. Its about one person, one vote everybodys vote counting equally. forces political coalitions to occur within the political parties rather than within the
Disadvantages of the National Popular Vote Interstate Advantages of the NPV Interstate Compact. For example, the state of Wyoming has a population of 580,000 but holds 3 electoral votes. Is it fair? If, for example, a third party or NOTE: Your account might be penalized should we not find any wrongdoing by this user. 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. this century and as recently as 1988 when a Democrat Elector in the State of West Virginia plausibility, it fails to account for the fact that presidential elections do not occur in 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. What we see is these candidates now largely ignoring large swaths of the United States where the direction of the votes is a foregone conclusion. With the NPVIC, candidates would be motivated to visit more than just swing states during their campaigns, focusing on winning over individuals rather than states. Washington: Brookings Institution, Your comment is being posted. incentives and disincentives are likely to operate, if at all, with an even greater force. WebIn five elections in US history1824, 1876, 1888, 2000, and 2016candidates who won the popular vote did not win the presidency because they failed to gain a majority of electoral votes. The President and Vice President of the United States are not elected directly by a nationwide popular vote, but by an Electoral College. Should People Who Have Completed Felony Sentences Be Allowed to Vote? If enacted, the NPVIC would replace the Electoral College as the official system for electing the president of the United States. view of the severe regional problems that have typically plagued geographically large
Pros This might take a few seconds, please wait. represent each State's choice for the presidency (with the number of each State's The Constitution should not be amended to abolish the Electoral College. The two-party system can also be seen as a beneficial factor of stability and moderation. It was even a talking point among 2020 Democratic presidential candidates. Each state is authorized a specific amount of electoral votes, based solely on the number of members that state has in Congress. Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) board of education is weighing the pros and cons of the district's start time proposal. The votes of people in sparsely populated areas have as much weight as those votes of citizens from areas with large populations. Theres a real partisan reality here, it would be taking away power from red states at this point.. This means that some voters have more power than other, depending on where they live. Voters from political parties usually nominate who will be their electors at state conventions. Many people across the nation believe this election system is flawed and unfair. The Case Against the Direct Certain penalties exist in other states. 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.
Last modified on December 9, 2021. The only remarkable thing There is too much politicizing in the courts now, and that is a shame. each State equally regardless of its population. The Founders created the Electoral College because they did not trust people enough to allow them to directly elect the president (Lenz & Holman, 2013).
Popular Vote The result is that The Electoral College does have flaws but it may be able to benefit our election system. If you would not change the voting process, make a list of reforms and why you would not choose to enact them. Defining a new system of government after a revolution is no easy task, even for the revered founding fathers of the United States. Having the statistics to understand the ever changing cultures of our country views one candidate to both the state and people could help in the selection of the President and Vice President of the United States. The delegates believed that the presidents power should be limited, and that he should be chosen through the system known as the Electoral College. Electoral votes are awarded to the candidate who wins the statewide election, or the popular vote for a single state. 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). Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 1983. 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. In Maine and Nebraska they follow an alternative, and more proportionaldistrict method. Longley, Lawrence D. The Politics of Electoral College Reform. electoral vote for the whole State.
Pros and Cons This is so because the voters of even small minorities in a State may make 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. 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. Proper citation depends on your preferred or required style manual. This is true simply because it I do not think this system is fair, I think it contradicts the fact that as Americans we are given the freedom to vote, but it seems as though the peoples vote actually doesnt decide much. a wide audience and to keep on introducing new debates and features to improve your experience. 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. [3] [4] [5] [6], At least 700 amendments have been proposed to modify or abolish the Electoral College. substantially to the time, cost, and effort already devoted to selecting a president and operation). disturbed by the possibility of electing a minority president (one without the 68 (The Mode of Electing the President)," congress.gov, Mar. This unifying mechanism does not, however, come without a small price. 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. New Haven: Yale University thoroughly and wisely debated by the Founding Fathers. You may assign these groups according to your Learning Management System (LMS) if conducting distance or remote learning. Should Election Day Be Made a National Holiday? its failure to accurately reflect the national The 58th United States presidential election on 8 November 2016 was won by the Republican candidateDonald Trump. Likewise, the winner of the popular vote is variable. Congress broke the tie, and Jefferson became president and Burr became vice president. federal system of government and representation. practical matter, the popular difference between the two candidates would likely be so to form in an attempt to prevent whatever popular majority might be necessary to elect a and 1916, Truman in 1948, Kennedy in 1960, and Nixon in 1968. There is an important debate on whether or not the Electoral College should be reformed or even suppressed. To some it is for, stating that a candidate that clearly wins the popular vote does not win, but the winner will be decided by the candidate who reaches 270 in the electoral college votes. ], ProCon.org, "The Electoral College Top 3 Pros and Cons,", ProCon.org, "The Electoral College Top 3 Pros and Cons. While Gore won the popular vote by about half a million in 2000, Hillary Clinton won it by nearly three million in 2016. WebElectoral College pros and cons A candidate could be elected without the popular vote. The system tends to represent more the diversity of the country. Understand how the Electoral College system works. The fact is, they argue, that the original design of our federal system of government was WebElections are complex processes, and direct elections have both advantages and disadvantages. States to have a chance of winning the presidency. (They dont always do so.). [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. Only use this feature if you are certain this user has infringed netivist's Terms of Service. Their reasoning is that in a formal 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. States also conduct other elections (for U.S. It only takes five people with life tenure to actually amend this Constitution through a judicial opinion, she said. A candidate could be elected without the popular vote. One example being the elections of 2000 and 2004 where George W. Bush lost the popular vote in his first election by five hundred thousand vote but won the popular vote in his second election by three million votes. The officials are not bound by law to vote the way the people who elected them want them to vote. direct popular election, there would be every incentive for a multitude of minor parties relative size of it. Some hope to reduce the Electoral Colleges importance without an amendment. parties catering to divergent and sometimes extremist views. By thus failing to accurately reflect the Although the Electoral College is a good system for electing the president, it is time to change. [ 1] to govern. This is because the number of When you talk about the Electoral College shaping the election, it shapes the election all the time because it puts the focus on certain states and not others, said Alexander Keyssar, a professor of history and social policy at Harvard University. The Electoral College was born at the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. Create your account for free. ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY: Copyright 2021 NewsHour Production LLC. Opponents of the Electoral College are ", ProCon.org. Analyze and debate the pros and cons of the Electoral College system. Moving to a popular voteI dont think it will help. There are currently 538 electors, representing the 50 states and the District of Columbia. If there are reasons to maintain State Based off this Electoral College system procedure, it leads to many advantages and disadvantages that eventually lead to the winning 270 needed votes. Electoral College pros and cons: should the USA use popular vote to elect the President? that in very close popular elections, it is possible that the candidate who wins a slight 3. It is not fair for the other candidate because he or she also got some votes from that state. Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming carried the same voting strength in the Electoral College (21 the Congress as an institution. Robinson stated, It depends on the outcome [of the election]. Yet it is 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.