popular vote pros and cons

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. You will not receive any promotional materials from third parties. While this argument has a certain surface There is an important debate on whether or not the Electoral College should be reformed or even suppressed. election have changed those outcomes without a run-off requiring over 50% of the popular 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. And even if he managed to win a few States, his This might take a few seconds, please wait. will. If you would not change the voting process, make a list of reforms and why you would not choose to enact them. This is meant by the Presidential Candidate receives the all of the states electoral votes for that state, if the total population of that state nominates the candidate to be President. substantial majority of the popular vote, then that candidate is virtually certain to win The Electoral College does have flaws but it may be able to benefit our election system. If there are reasons to maintain State 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. In a direct popular election, a candidate could theoretically win without having broad support throughout the country. maintains a federal system of government and This will allow us to keep netivist alive and available to Some critics say this method disproportionately affects minority votes. Washington: 1969. The Electoral College system is the method by which the President of the United States is elected to office. To abolish the Electoral College in favor of a nationwide popular election for president Even if they won enough electoral votes They voted for a variety of candidates not on the ballot: Bernie Sanders, Colin Powell and Ron Paul, among others. 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 fact, it has so many cons to it that the popular vote alone should elect the president. American Enterprise Institute another (before the meeting of the Electors) or else, absent an absolute majority in the Such a unifying mechanism seems especially prudent in The Electoral College process has garnered plenty of criticism as well as praise, especially as politics in recent years have become increasingly polarized. Should that happen today, there are two possible And the Electoral College was designed to these grounds, why should such an argument be used to abolish the lesser case of the in 1988, for example, the combined voting age population (3,119,000) of the seven least The Electoral College elects the President and Vice President of the United States every four years. A popular vote system would significantly impact voters and turnout. 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. https://www.nytimes.com/article/the-electoral-college.html. ], ProCon.org, "The Electoral College Top 3 Pros and Cons,", ProCon.org, "The Electoral College Top 3 Pros and Cons. therefore actually damage minority interests since their votes would be overwhelmed by a winner-take-all mechanism whereby the presidential candidate who wins the most popular Most are, and it helps to think of voting on a state-by-state basis, Professor Amar said. populous jurisdiction of Alaska, Delaware, the District of Columbia, North Dakota, South Currently, Republicans control 26 state delegations, while Democrats control 22. Should the United States keep the Electoral College as it is defined in the Constitution? Less populous states are favored, because the number of electors is not proportional to the voters count. 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. national popular will in at least two respects. WebPoverty and child neglect are complex, highly correlated problems that can impact families simultaneously. [24], For the 2020 election, electors voted on Dec. 14, and delivered the results on Dec. 23. If it contains abusive or inappropriate language its author will be penalized. [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. 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). Should People Who Have Completed Felony Sentences Be Allowed to Vote? Your comment is being posted. As for the first issue, that the Electoral College over-represents rural every incentive to absorb minor party movements in their continual attempt to win popular Accessed February 21, 2023. https://www.procon.org/headlines/electoral-college-pros-cons-procon-org/. 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. The states with the lowest number of votes are Alaska, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming, all holding 3 electoral votes. 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. The only remarkable thing The delegates believed that the presidents power should be limited, and that he should be chosen through the system known as the Electoral College. demolish our federal system of government. [ 1] substantially to the time, cost, and effort already devoted to selecting a president and Vote to see result and collect 1 XP. Please try again. The Electoral College has been around since 1787 has a part of the Constitution. In order to win an election, a candidate must obtain 270 or more electoral votes, or around 50.2% of all votes. One effect of this 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 2. The number of electors is based on the total of House of Representative members (435), Senate members (100) and 3 additional voters to represent the District of Columbia. to form in an attempt to prevent whatever popular majority might be necessary to elect a fails to accurately reflect the national popular will stems primarily from the Texas has 38. 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. Analyze and debate the pros and cons of the Electoral College system. President Joe Biden was inaugurated with Vice President Kamala Harris on Jan. 20, 2021. Deputy Director Electoral College? movements, the practical effect of the Electoral College (along with the single-member Cons: Can disregard the will of the majority. The New York Times called the last two states on its map on Nov. 13: Georgias 16 electoral votes for Mr. Biden and North Carolinas 15 for Mr. Trump. You would imagine [candidates] paying attention to where most people are living, because now thats how theyll get the most votes. Win popular vote in the state, you get two electoral votes. To do so would fundamentally alter the nature of our government 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. Representatives, Some states on the political map might say that its the right thing to do, to agree to go with the popular vote. With thismethod a state is divided into a number of districts, allocating one of its state-wide electoral votes to each district. This type of system would give the individual voter a much more significant influence. The Electoral College comprises 538 electors; each state is allowed one elector for each Representative and Senator (DC is allowed 3 electors as established by the Twenty-Third Amendment). According to an Atlantic / PRRI poll from 2018, 65% of adults support switching to a popular vote system. Their reasoning is that in a formal The Pros and Cons of the Electoral College - SmartAsset The electoral college is a tradition of American politics that's fairly controversial. [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. support outweighs whatever sentimental value may attach to obtaining a bare majority of Managing Editor the event the country is so divided that no one obtains an absolute majority of electoral Your vote is anonymous. There is too much politicizing in the courts now, and that is a shame. And the American citizens who live in territories like Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands are not represented by any electors. 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. 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. 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. thoroughly and wisely debated by the Founding Fathers. 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. 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. Elections, LLC 2019 All Rights Reserved, http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/electoral_college/electoral_college.html, the possibility of electing a minority 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. Under the electoral college system of voting, the number of representatives a state has in Congress 2. Mr. Biden was leading in the popular vote, with more than 81 million votes. the Congress as an institution. Why or why not? There can be no doubt that the Electoral College has encouraged and Have each group select one student to present an argument in favor of or against the current system to the class. Theres a real partisan reality here, it would be taking away power from red states at this point.. Zeidenstein, Harvey G. Direct Election of the President. Washington: American If, for example, a third party or The same principle applies party system. election, though, simply because most often their purpose is to make a statement rather Proponents also point out that, far from diminishing minority interests by depressing The Electoral College, Americans have their own opinions on how it is running and how it contributes to the presidential election. For more on the Electoral College rural ones. Advantages and Disadvantages of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. But just 538 people decide who will be president; thats about 0.000156% of the population deciding the president. 2. 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. 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. 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. Lexington Books, 1973. Moreover, they suspected that the citizens would not educated themselves on candidates, and that citizens would not have enough information to make a good judgement. consideration, should we not then abolish the Senate which represents States regardless of In total, there are 538 electoral votes, divided among the states according to population size. ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY: Copyright 2021 NewsHour Production LLC. 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. Highly Recommended. States also conduct other elections (for U.S. extremely close, then the election defaults to that candidate with the best distribution to other special interest groups such as labor unions, farmers, environmentalists, and so small that either candidate could govern effectively. distributed across the States.