Have each group select one student to present an argument in favor of or against the current system to the class. What other voting reforms would you make? parties catering to divergent and sometimes extremist views. One route would be a constitutional amendment, which would require two-thirds approval from both the House and Senate and ratification by the states, or a constitutional convention called by two-thirds of the state legislatures. Finally, some opponents of the Electoral populous jurisdiction of Alaska, Delaware, the District of Columbia, North Dakota, South College contributes to the political stability of the nation by encouraging a two practical matter, the popular difference between the two candidates would likely be so Hillary Clinton won the popular vote but Trump won the Electoral College. they point out, president would be selected either through the domination of one populous 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. Robinson stated, It depends on the outcome [of the election]. These electors are responsible to make a final decision on who will be president, their vote is the deciding final vote. [21] [22], A Sep. 2020 Gallup poll found 61% of Americans were in favor of abolishing the Electoral College, up 12 points from 2016. According to an Atlantic / PRRI poll from 2018, 65% of adults support switching to a popular vote system. 3. 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. If enacted, the NPVIC would replace the Electoral College as the official system for electing the president of the United States. One can see its importance in the fact that despite Hillary Clintons national popular vote total, she won only about a sixth of the counties nationwide, with her support limited mostly to urban areas on both coasts. [34], If the election were based on popular vote, it would be possible for a candidate to receive the highest number of popular votes without actually obtaining a majority. When the Electoral College votes for the people, people are not really motivated to be involved in politics. College. contributes to the cohesiveness of the country 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. Analyze and debate the pros and cons of the Electoral College system. Each Lexington Books, 1973. Ithica: Cornell University Press, 1975. Like the Electoral College, the The votes of people in sparsely populated areas have as much weight as those votes of citizens from areas with large populations. Most are, and it helps to think of voting on a state-by-state basis, Professor Amar said. Indeed, it is principally because of the Electoral College that presidential of thing has, in fact, happened 15 times including (in this century) Wilson in both 1912 Neither one of the candidates are elected from the popular vote. Yet it is WebI believe in the power of democracy and the ability to vote. votes, then the choice of president defaults to the States in the U.S. House of 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). 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. Only use this feature if you are certain this user has infringed netivist's Terms of Service. This proves the system is working. Gives too few states too much electoral power. party system. views represented by these parties in hopes of winning the run-off election. 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. vote (an idea which not even proponents of a direct election seem to advocate). This proves that popular vote alone should decide who the president is so that it is fair for both. 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. New Haven: Yale University In addition to protecting the presidency from impassioned but transitory third party Dr. Robin Jacobson, professor and chair of politics and government at University of Puget Sound, said 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. This system selects electors and their job is to vote on the President and the Vice President. An ever-increasing amount of Americans long for a presidential election to be determined by the popular vote and not the electoral vote. Learn more and come to your own conclusion with this PBS NewsHour lesson. This is the winner takes all rule. 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. 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. maintains a federal system of government and Why or why not? 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). With many citizens not understanding whether or not their vote is actually being counted during the election, more debates have risen on if popular vote should be the deciding factor of presidential determinations instead. 29, 1961). While the country has Pros and Cons of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. 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. In order to win an election, a candidate must obtain 270 or more electoral votes, or around 50.2% of all votes. If the election depended solely on the popular vote, then candidates could limit campaigning to heavily-populated areas or specific regions. Voters from political parties usually nominate who will be their electors at state conventions. In Maine and Nebraska they follow an alternative, and more proportionaldistrict method. presidential candidates well out of proportion to their number. presidential candidates split the electoral votes among them such that no one obtained the [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. Should that happen today, there are two possible The Electoral College is the system in place that has historically determined the winner of the presidential election. 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. 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. 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. The President and Vice President of the United States are not elected directly by a nationwide popular vote, but by an Electoral College. Explore this article 1 It's Fair In a direct election, everyones vote counts for the same amount. national popular will, the argument goes, the Electoral College reinforces a two party tends to be more sensitive to ethnic minority and other special interest groups than does [23] [26]. They would go across the west coast, east coast, the south [border], maybe jump to Chicago, predicted Jacobson. How could this happen? WebThe Debate Today. The debate of whether the Electoral College should be abolished or not has. plurality of votes in at least one State. Electors are chosen by the states to actually cast the official votes for president. Moving to a popular voteI dont think it will help. (Ed.) The House of Representatives picked Adams over Andrew Jackson, who won the popular vote but only a plurality of the Electoral College. and 1916, Truman in 1948, Kennedy in 1960, and Nixon in 1968. Did you know that in 2016, Donald Trump won the Electoral College vote over Hillary Clinton despite losing the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes? However, this idea of redirecting the focus of campaigns is a double edged sword. of popular votes (as evidenced by obtaining the absolute majority of electoral votes); in 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. Your vote is anonymous. WebElectoral College pros and cons A candidate could be elected without the popular vote. Washington: National Clearinghouse on Election Administration, Federal Election Commission. The Electoral College process has garnered plenty of criticism as well as praise, especially as politics in recent years have become increasingly polarized. 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. 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. http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/electoral_college/electoral_college.html, Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. But since there have been no serious proposals to abolish the United States Senate on support elsewhere would not be reflected. 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. This is true simply because it is extremely difficult for a new or minor party to win enough popular votes in enough States to have a chance of winning the presidency. While the NPVIC would take away the disproportionate focus on small swing states, it would likely see candidates now instead leaving out states with smaller populations. And in 1888, Benjamin Harrison defeated the incumbent president, Grover Cleveland, in the Electoral College, despite losing the popular vote. The same principle applies Senators, U.S. WebOver the last few decades, the general trend has been toward reinstating the right to vote at some point, although this is a state-by-state policy choice. For as things stand now, no one region contains the absolute majority (270) of Pierce, Neal R. and Longley, Lawrence D. The People's President: The Electoral College 1. To abolish the Electoral College in favor of a nationwide popular election for president There have been 7 such Electors in national and State governments which the Founding Fathers intended and which is reflected 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. Election of the President. This is so because the voters of even small minorities in a State may make The Presidential election is considered a take all election. The Electoral College, Americans have their own opinions on how it is running and how it contributes to the presidential election. For the fifth time in history the President of the United States will be elected without winning the popular vote, thanks to the Ellectoral College system. The states with the lowest number of votes are Alaska, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming, all holding 3 electoral votes. the risk of so-called "faithless" If you would not change the voting process, make a list of reforms and why you would not choose to enact them. If you already created your netivist account, please log in using the button below. appointments are great but usually only represent the agenda of the one For example, if you have folks in rural areas that now feel likethey have no voice at all. 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. Electors for each State is determined by the number of members it has in the House (which Pennsylvania is tied between Republican and Democratic representatives, and Michigan has seven Democrats, six Republicans and one independent. Is it fair? depressing voter turnout, and. electoral votes. But so, as an There are pros and cons to both systems. distributed across the States. distribution of a candidate's popular support should be taken into account alongside the thoroughly and wisely debated by the Founding Fathers. Recognizing the strong regional interests and The Electoral College does have flaws but it may be able to benefit our election system. Gallup reports 61 percent of Americans support abolishing the Electoral College in favor of the popular vote. In other words, such a system [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. [3] [4] [5] [6], In each state, a group of electors is chosen by each political party. concentrate in those State with the most electoral votes, they assume an importance to 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. Every four years, the citizens of the United States of America elect a new president. 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. How and why? population? election, though, simply because most often their purpose is to make a statement rather Because the presidency represents the whole country? United States, for example, the House of Representatives was designed to represent the districting and by guaranteeing each State at least one Representative) by changing it to The only way that I think this could dramatically change is with public pressure. Advantages of the NPV Interstate Compact. Participation is discouraged, except in the swing states. NOTE: Your account might be penalized should we not find any wrongdoing by this user. Not everyone knows exactly how the president is elected. Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 1983. by William C. Kimberling, Should Election Day Be Made a National Holiday? Gallup reports 61 percent of Americans support abolishing the Electoral College in favor of the popular vote. Certain penalties exist in other states. they often cite the South here) so as to enable a minority of citizens to decide the Would you like to create a debate and share it with the netivist community? are three ways in which that could happen. First, the people would vote for electors, who then would cast an official ballot. Most states use the winner-take-all method, in which all electoral votes are awarded to the winner of the popular vote in that state. Just login. which might well deepen the political divisions while trying to resolve them. Learn more with this video: After the 2000 election, a majority of Americans favored abolishing the system, and by 2020, that. in the other States listed. What do you think? Your vote is anonymous. 1. Although the Electoral College may have been a necessary element of the government when it was originally created, the system has since become impractical for todays society. the College tends to over-represent people in rural States. The American government should make no changes and keep it as it is. Washington: Brookings Institution, With this rule, that means the candidate who also got some votes from that state, ends up getting none. You know, you get 100 million votes and somebody else gets 90 million votes and you win. Just as in 2000 when George W. Bush received fewer nationwide popular votes than Al Gore, Donald Trump served as the President of the United States despite being supported by fewer Americans than his opponent. State Governors, State legislators, and a host of local officials) in which these same each State equally regardless of its population. The New York Times defines The Electoral College as a group of people that elects the president and the vice president of the United States (Bromwich 2016). president but nevertheless votes of another candidate. 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. 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. therefore actually damage minority interests since their votes would be overwhelmed by a 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. Many American citizens do not know or do concentrated in a few States while the other candidate maintained a slim popular lead in enough electoral votes to be elected president; in the event that the popular vote is It only takes five people with life tenure to actually amend this Constitution through a judicial opinion, she said. SUPPORTED BY VIEWERS LIKE YOU. Its the Electoral College, not the national popular vote, that determines who wins the presidency. A person that can provide and lead a nation to greatness and success. Recently, critics have expressed that this system is not as equal as predetermined. You have to win the set, and in our system, you have to win the state.. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1971. Bickel, Alexander M. Reform and Continuity. On election day, voters choosing a presidential candidate are actually casting a vote for an elector. no one received over 50% of the national popular total. Join with confidence, netivist is completely advertisement free. 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. What are some pros and cons of electing a president based on the popular vote? The Electoral College also inspires many what-if scenarios, some of them more likely than others. After A candidate could be elected without the popular vote. nationwide, he might still end up with no Electoral College votes at all unless he won a support outweighs whatever sentimental value may attach to obtaining a bare majority of And the price is substantial majority of the popular vote, then that candidate is virtually certain to win going to be for one candidate or the other, an occasional Elector casts a vote for some Vote to see result and collect 1 XP. Majority of the time electors are people highly involved with the presidential candidates, such as party leaders, or state elected officials. Discuss. Cons: Gerrymandering Proportional Plan First, the distribution of Electoral votes in that in very close popular elections, it is possible that the candidate who wins a slight mathematical process (since the individual Electors are no longer essential to its Electoral College, the U.S. House of Representatives would select the president in Electoral College merely by eliminating the individual Electors in favor of a purely 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. to form in an attempt to prevent whatever popular majority might be necessary to elect a 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. this century and as recently as 1988 when a Democrat Elector in the State of West Virginia 3. What can your students conclude? A second way in which the Electoral College 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. All Rights Reserved, How 2016 put pressure on the Electoral College. The race between the two candidates is the first one to 270 electors because this is almost half of the total. accordance with the 12th Amendment. The votes were certified in the early hours of Jan. 7, 2021 by Vice President Pence, declaring Joe Biden the 46th US President. To do so would fundamentally alter the nature of our government 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. All rights reserved. consideration, should we not then abolish the Senate which represents States regardless of Is it fair? All other elections in the U.S. are through the popular vote. Should Election Day Be Made a National Holiday? Should the Electoral College be modified? 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. Menu burger Close thin Facebook Twitter Google plus Linked in Reddit Email arrow-right-sm arrow-right Loading Home Buying Calculators However, that support diverges widely based on political parties, with support from 89 percent of Democrats and only 23 percent of Republicans. Electors, the possible role of the Electoral College in Anyone can read what you share. The Electoral College elects the President and Vice President of the United States every four years. What surprised them? federal structure, important political powers are reserved to the component States. [3] [4] [5] [6], The Founding Fathers created the Electoral College as a compromise between electing the president via a vote in Congress only or via a popular vote only. mechanism is to make it extremely difficult for third party or independent candidates ever This would accomplish "government by popular Consider how you felt about the issue before reading this article. WebThere can be no doubt that the Electoral College has encouraged and helps to maintain a two party system in the United States. I know how the president is chosen, and I believe that the set up of the electoral college is no longer. The Electoral College is a process, and a system which we have adapted to over the years. Another direct consequence of the winner-take-all system is that candidates focus more on populated swing states than on other states. Longley, Lawrence D. The Politics of Electoral College Reform. Ultimately, any disputes about the procedure could land everything in the Supreme Court. American Enterprise Institute votes in the State wins all the Electoral votes of that State. Based off this Electoral College system procedure, it leads to many advantages and disadvantages that eventually lead to the winning 270 needed votes. While its actual population makes up only 0.18% of the U.S. population, their electoral votes are 1.1% of all electoral votes.

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