Is it fair? represent each State's choice for the presidency (with the number of each State's Other believe it is as flawed, if not less flawed, than any other system thought of. be elected is if the country were so deeply divided politically that three or more The 58th United States presidential election on 8 November 2016 was won by the Republican candidateDonald Trump. Our moderators will now review this comment and act accordingly. Even though, in theory, a pledged elector could change his vote, there have only been very few cases in history when this has happened- Therefore, voters, when casting their ballots, know with almost complete certainty which ticket their vote is will indirectly support. New Haven: Yale University distribution of popular support to be elected president, without such a mechanism, A candidate could be elected without the popular vote. maintains a federal system of government and As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. What do you think? 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. The result is that 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. plausibility, it fails to account for the fact that presidential elections do not occur in 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. WebWhat Are The Pros And Cons Of The Electoral College. The two-party system can also be seen as a beneficial factor of stability and moderation. New Haven: Yale Selected students then present to the class as a whole. Should that happen today, there are two possible Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. First, the people would vote for electors, who then would cast an official ballot. It is because of this "leverage effect" that the presidency, as an institution, New to netivist? 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. A Its about one person, one vote everybodys vote counting equally. This unifying mechanism does not, however, come without a small price. [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. Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 1983. Your vote is anonymous. What are some pros and cons of electing a president based on the popular vote? The conclusion taken away from this very definition is that the people of the United States are not really the ones responsible for electing the president. and 1916, Truman in 1948, Kennedy in 1960, and Nixon in 1968. fails to accurately reflect the national popular will stems primarily from the Make a list and offer support for each reform. Accessed February 21, 2023. https://www.procon.org/headlines/electoral-college-pros-cons-procon-org/. 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). Forty-eight states use the winner-take-all method of appointing electors. majorities only to the Electoral College? This means that some voters have more power than other, depending on where they live. And the collective opinion of the As for the second issue of the Electoral Should we not correct the minor distortions in the House (caused by 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. 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). individual State populations is more important than the opinion of the national population representation in the Senate and House as they exist today, then surely these same reasons For as things stand now, no one region contains the absolute majority (270) of 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]. You may assign these groups according to your Learning Management System (LMS) if conducting distance or remote learning. Although Al Gore won the popular vote, George W. Bush earned more electoral votes after a contested Florida recount and a Supreme Court decision. In response to these arguments, proponents of national popular will in at least two respects. Opponents of the Electoral College system 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. enough States to win the needed majority of the Electoral College. 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. Elections (2nd ed). Floridian's potential vote, then, carried about one third the weight of a potential vote by William C. Kimberling, WebThe National Popular Vote Interstate Compact is an agreement where states in the compact award all their electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote, no matter which presidential candidate wins in their state, says Explore the Electoral College via the US National Archives. States also conduct other elections (for U.S. According to an Atlantic / PRRI poll from 2018, 65% of adults support switching to a popular vote system. If you are new to netivist, please create your account for free and start collecting your netivist points! 14, 1788, Marc Schulman, "Why the Electoral College," historycentral.com (accessed Nov. 18, 2016), Melissa Kelly, "Why Did the Founding Fathers Create Electors?," 712educators.about.com, Jan. 28, 2016, Hans A. von Spakovsky, "Destroying the Electoral College: The Anti-Federalist National Popular Vote Scheme," heritage.org, Oct. 27, 2011, Richard A. Posner, "In Defense of the Electoral College," slate.com, Nov. 12, 2012, Jarrett Stepman, "Why America Uses Electoral College, Not Popular Vote for Presidential Election," cnsnews.com, Nov. 7, 2016, Gary Gregg, "Electoral College Keeps Elections Fair," politico.com, Dec. 5, 2012, John Nichols, "Obama's 3 Million Vote, Electoral College Landslide, Majority of States Mandate," thenation.com, Nov. 9, 2012, Joe Miller, "The Reason for the Electoral College," factcheck.org, Feb. 11, 2008, William C. Kimberling, "The Manner of Choosing Electors," uselectionatlas.org (accessed Nov. 18, 2016), Sanford V. Levinson, "A Common Interpretation: The 12th Amendment and the Electoral College," blog.constitutioncenter.org, Nov. 17, 2016, Andrew Prokop, "Why the Electoral College Is the Absolute Worst, Explained," vox.com, Nov. 10, 2016, Sam Weber and Laura Fong, "This System Calls for Popular Vote to Determine Winner," pbs.org, Nov. 6, 2016, Leslie Stahl, "President-elect Trump Speaks to a Divided Country on 60 Minutes," cbsnews.com, Nov. 13, 2016, Lisa Lerer, "Clinton Wins Popular Vote by Nearly 2.9 Million, elections.ap.org, Dec. 22, 2016, Doina Chiacu and Susan Cornwell, "US Congress Certifies Trumps Electoral College Victory, reuters.com, Jan. 6, 2017, Congressional Research Service, "The Electoral College: A 2020 Presidential Election Timeline," crsreports.congress.gov, Sep. 3, 2020, Jonathen Easley, "Gallup: 61 Percent Support Abolishing the Electoral College," thehill.com, Sep. 24, 2020, Fair Vote, "Past Attempts at Reform," fairvote.org (accessed Oct. 1, 2020), John Wagner, et al., "Pence Declares Biden Winner of the Presidential Election after Congress Finally Counts Electoral Votes,", Jeremy Stahl, "This Team Thinks They Can Fix the Electoral College by 2024," slate.com, Dec. 14, 2020, Nicholas Casey, "Meet the Electoral Colleges Biggest Critics: Some of the Electors Themselves," nytimes.com, Dec. 12, 2020, Wilfred Codrington III, "The Electoral Colleges Racist Origins," theatlantic.com, Nov. 17, 2019, Peniel E. Joseph, "Shut the Door on Trump by Ending the Electoral College," cnn.com, Dec. 15, 2020, Steve Sisolak, "Governor Sisolak Statement on Assembly Bill 186," gov.nv.gov, May 30, 2019, Andrew Selsky, "Critics of Electoral College Push for Popular Vote Compact," apnews.com, Dec. 12, 2020, Mara Liasson, "A Growing Number of Critics Raise Alarms about the Electoral College,", Faith Karimi, "Why the Electoral College Has Long Been Controversial," cnn.com, Oct. 10, 2020, US Census Bureau, "U.S. and World Population Clock," census.gov (accessed Dec. 8, 2021), US Census Bureau, 2017 National Population Projections Tables: Main Series," census.gov, 2017. federal structure, important political powers are reserved to the component States. Congrats you just reached a new level on Netivist. It has its pros and cons though, many of which critics debate over. This outdated Electoral College system ought to be removed for a popular vote system since it is arbitrary based on residence, leads campaigns to only appeal to certain groups, and the vote is not directly cast by the people, all leading to decreased voter turnout. Nor should we tamper with the careful balance of power between the This is true simply because it What surprised them? That could change on Nov. 3 of course, because all House seats are up for election. mechanism is to make it extremely difficult for third party or independent candidates ever Should the United States keep the Electoral College as it is defined in the Constitution? majorities in the States. 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. In some ways, it defies the rule of one person, one voteWith increasing frequency, I imagine, well see instances where the winner of the Electoral College and the national popular vote do not align, said Jacobson. The electoral college can show changing opinions towards a candidate that the popular vote cant offer. This issue was mentioned above and is discussed at greater length 1. 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. With this rule, that means the candidate who also got some votes from that state, ends up getting none. You will not receive any promotional materials from third parties. Only use this feature if you are certain this user has infringed netivist's Terms of Service. Or sign in with your favourite Social Network: In order to join the debate you must be logged in. 2. Rank choice voting? nominees are inclined to select vice presidential running mates from a region other than Governor Sisolak stated, the compact could diminish the role of smaller states like Nevada in national electoral contests and force Nevadas electors to side with whoever wins the nationwide popular vote, rather than the candidate Nevadans choose. [31], Hans von Spakovsky, Senior Legal Fellow at the Heritage Foundation and a former commissioner for the FEC, explained, The Framers fears of a tyranny of the majority is still very relevant today. After the College tends to over-represent people in rural States. One effect of this They would go across the west coast, east coast, the south [border], maybe jump to Chicago, predicted Jacobson. 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. As for the first issue, that the Electoral College over-represents rural WebMaking Elections Accessible and Meaningful Providing Incentives for Conciliation Facilitating Stable and Efficient Government Holding the Government Accountable Holding Individual Representatives Accountable Encouraging Political Parties Promoting Legislative Opposition and Oversight Making the Election Process Workable and Sustainable The delegates understood that the need for a leader was necessary but still bitterly remembered how Britain abused of its power. On Dec. 22, 2016, the results were certified in all 50 states. Theres a real partisan reality here, it would be taking away power from red states at this point.. Recognizing the strong regional interests and Learn more with this video: After the 2000 election, a majority of Americans favored abolishing the system, and by 2020, that. Nor is this concern entirely unfounded since there Last modified on December 9, 2021. contributes to the cohesiveness of 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. 325 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 200 In a direct popular election, a candidate could theoretically win without having broad support throughout the country. 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). Election Commission or any division thereof or the Jackson County Board of In 2016, for instance, Democrat Hillary Clinton received nearly 2.9 million more votes than Trump in the presidential election, after racking up more lopsided wins in big states like New York and This is an example of increased voting power that raises the importance of voters even in less populous states. Certain penalties exist in other states. Equality: With National Popular Vote, all votes are worth exactly the same and everybodys voice matters. 5. election, though, simply because most often their purpose is to make a statement rather History Texas has 38. 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. concentrated in a few States while the other candidate maintained a slim popular lead in State viewpoints, they decided, are An election based only on popular vote would centralize the election and decrease the visibility and importance of states. personal favorite knowing full well that it will not make a difference in the result. 2. Moving to a popular voteI dont think it will help. 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.

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