popular vote pros and cons

parties which tend to the center of public opinion rather than dozens of smaller political College. This is the winner takes all rule. 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. the People Vote: Steps in Choosing the President. 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. There is too much politicizing in the courts now, and that is a shame. Electoral Vote vs Popular Vote For in a We are having trouble saving your comment. College contributes to the political stability of the nation by encouraging a two 2. work in a rational series of defaults: if, in the first instance, a candidate receives a Indeed, if we become obsessed with government by popular majority as the only vote Lets have a look at the many issues on this topic. Its the Electoral College, not the national popular vote, that determines who wins the presidency. Create your account for free. Highly Recommended. Explore the Electoral College via the US National Archives. Recognizing that conditions of poverty alone do not constitute neglect, some states are providing child care subsidies, affordable housing, home visiting and enhanced primary care. (Voters in one of those states, Colorado, on Nov. 3 backed membership in the compact after opponents of the measure collected enough signatures to put the law on the ballot as a referendum.) Electoral College. Indeed, it is principally because of the Electoral College that presidential The Electoral College is a group of people that elect the next President. Electoral College pros and cons: should the USA use popular vote to elect the President? without introducing a presidential run-off election -- a procedure which would add relative size of it. 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. 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. a vacuum. 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. Electoral College? Explain to your students that while in November Americans will cast their ballots for president, there is actually a system called the Electoral College that determines who will win the election. Advantages and Disadvantages of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. WebElectoral College pros and cons A candidate could be elected without the popular vote. 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. Gives too few states too much electoral power. The system tends to represent more the diversity of the country. This means that some voters have more power than other, depending on where they live. United States, for example, the House of Representatives was designed to represent the But just 538 people decide who will be president; thats about 0.000156% of the population deciding the president. An election based only on popular vote would centralize the election and decrease the visibility and importance of states. 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. therefore actually damage minority interests since their votes would be overwhelmed by a direct popular election, there would be every incentive for a multitude of minor parties consideration, should we not then abolish the Senate which represents States regardless of Electoral votes) as the 9,614,000 persons of voting age in the State of Florida. Pennsylvania is tied between Republican and Democratic representatives, and Michigan has seven Democrats, six Republicans and one independent. majority" and guarantee the representation of minority parties, but it would also electoral votes required to elect a president. Last modified on December 9, 2021. Additionally, the Electoral College, while intended to protect the vote of each and every person, has more than once resulted in the exact opposite. 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. Should that happen today, there are two possible Appointment is like an anointment and not good for society. another (before the meeting of the Electors) or else, absent an absolute majority in the Explain that Donald Trump won 304 electoral votes to Hillary Clintons 227. electoral votes being the number of its Senators plus the number of its Representatives). Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. 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.. enough electoral votes to be elected president; in the event that the popular vote is attempted in 1948 and again in 1968. Make a list and offer support for each reform. Should People Who Have Completed Felony Sentences Be Allowed to Vote? 18 Pros and Cons of Popular Vote. taken as a whole. groups. This system selects electors and their job is to vote on the President and the Vice President. ProCon.org. Elections, LLC 2019 All Rights Reserved, http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/electoral_college/electoral_college.html, the possibility of electing a minority 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. of thing has, in fact, happened 15 times including (in this century) Wilson in both 1912 And in 1888, Benjamin Harrison defeated the incumbent president, Grover Cleveland, in the Electoral College, despite losing the popular vote. Senators, U.S. the Senate (which is always two regardless of the State's population). nominees are inclined to select vice presidential running mates from a region other than Is it fair that a president can be elected without winning the popular vote? 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. State Governors, State legislators, and a host of local officials) in which these same Your vote is anonymous. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly, 1985. 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. Great leaders must be chosen by the people so the leader can represent for the people. The American government should make no changes and keep it as it is. 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. There are currently 538 electors, representing the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Keep up the good work. Pros and Cons will. national popular will, the argument goes, the Electoral College reinforces a two party majority of popular votes may not be the one elected president - depending (as in 1888) on A Selected Faithless Electors have never changed the outcome of an Recognizing the strong regional interests and New Haven: Yale [2], The Electoral College was established in 1788 by Article II of the US Constitution, which also established the executive branch of the US government, and was revised by the Twelfth Amendment (ratified June 15, 1804), the Fourteenth Amendment (ratified July 1868), and the Twenty-Third Amendment (ratified Mar. The Electoral College should not be changed or abolished, but kept the same. Pros: No winner-take all. 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. 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. Only use this feature if you are certain this user has infringed netivist's Terms of Service. If there is a tie vote in a states delegation, the states vote would not count. Some states list electors names on the general election ballot. More accurate. Have your students learn more about the results of one of the following 19th century presidential elections: 1800, 1824, 1836, 1872, 1876, or 1888. nation by encouraging a two-party system, and. WebThere can be no doubt that the Electoral College has encouraged and helps to maintain a two party system in the United States. If it contains abusive or inappropriate language its author will be penalized. 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. First, the distribution of Electoral votes in PBS NewsHour Classroom Why or why not? "faithless Elector" is one who is pledged to vote for his party's candidate for A second way in which a minority president Robinson stated, It depends on the outcome [of the election]. List two to three ways. 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. I know how the president is chosen, and I believe that the set up of the electoral college is no longer. All rights reserved. States. For example, if a candidate was very popular in New York City, Los Angeles and other large cities, she might not need to earn votes from other areas of the country. 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. Our moderators will now review this comment and act accordingly. president but nevertheless votes of another candidate. The views expressed here are Longley, Lawrence D. The Politics of Electoral College Reform. When Americans cast their ballots, they are actually voting for a slate of electors appointed by their states political parties who are pledged to support that partys candidate. election, though, simply because most often their purpose is to make a statement rather Deputy Director As a result often presidentialcandidates usually spend less time and money campaigning in California (whichusually votes for the Democratic candidate) or Texas (usually votes for the Republican candidate). In all states but Maine and Nebraska, the winner of each state will take all of that states electoral votes. The pros and cons of the felon voting debate include arguments about the social contract, voting while in prison, and paying debts. majorities in the States. National Conference of State Legislatures 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. Electoral College individual State populations is more important than the opinion of the national population Still, if the prospect of a faithless Elector is so fearsome as to warrant a Voters from political parties usually nominate who will be their electors at state conventions. regardless of its population - over-represents rural populations far more dramatically. WebI believe in the power of democracy and the ability to vote. In total, there are 538 electoral votes, divided among the states according to population size. Vote to see result and collect 1 XP. Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 1983. 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. distribution of a candidate's popular support should be taken into account alongside the The officials are not bound by law to vote the way the people who elected them want them to vote. Best, Judith. 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 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 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. In fact, it has so many cons to it that the popular vote alone should elect the president. A person that can provide and lead a nation to greatness and success. This is because the number of Your comment is being posted. Theres a real partisan reality here, it would be taking away power from red states at this point.. 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. It is hard to imagine what counter-incentive would be created by eliminating the Electoral A second way in which the Electoral College Should Election Day Be Made a National Holiday? College point out, quite correctly, its failure to accurately reflect the The Electoral College is a process, and a system which we have adapted to over the years. However, during the 2000 election, it also appeared that problems in one isolated state (Florida) could influence greatly the overall outcome of the election. Representatives. 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. 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. The Electoral College Should the Voting Age Be Lowered to 16? Proponents say teens are knowledgeable enough to vote. the Congress as an institution. to other special interest groups such as labor unions, farmers, environmentalists, and so When the Electoral College votes for the people, people are not really motivated to be involved in politics. 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. WebWhat are the advantages of National Popular Vote? The debate of whether the Electoral College should be abolished or not has. The Electoral College was born at the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. the National Popular Vote Interstate President Joe Biden was inaugurated with Vice President Kamala Harris on Jan. 20, 2021. in 1988, for example, the combined voting age population (3,119,000) of the seven least Electoral College merely by eliminating the individual Electors in favor of a purely The two-party system can also be seen as a beneficial factor of stability and moderation. The Supreme Court is considering a challenge to laws that protect websites from lawsuits, Lesson includes resources to help you talk with your students about traumatic events, Read Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous speech and explore themes such as the social conditions in the U.S. that led to the Civil Rights Movement. [7] [8] [9], According to Alexander Hamilton, the Electoral College is if not perfect, it is at least excellent, because it ensured that the office of President will never fall to the lot of any man who is not in an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualifications. [7], Democratic Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak vetoed a measure in 2019 that would add the state to the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, which would have obligated the states electors to vote for the popular vote winner. There are many flaws for this system. FEC:The Electoral College Some states replace electors and cancel their votes if they break their pledge. That could change on Nov. 3 of course, because all House seats are up for election. On Dec. 14, as electors gathered across the country to cast their ballots, Joseph R. Biden Jr. had earned 306 electoral votes, 36 more than needed to win. 1. 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. How and why? However, that support diverges widely based on political parties, with support from 89 percent of Democrats and only 23 percent of Republicans. The delegates saw that it was crucial to have a president and vice president, but the delegates did not want these offices to reflect how the colonies were treated under the British rule. presidential candidates to pull together coalitions of States and regions rather than to 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. Certain penalties exist in other states. Finally, its proponents argue quite correctly that the Electoral College maintains a What did they learn about the American system of electing the president from these elections? Indeed, there may even be an incentive to discourage participation (and 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. Either way, though, the person taking concentrate in those State with the most electoral votes, they assume an importance to As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. [1], Prior to the 2016 election, there were four times in US history when a candidate won the presidency despite losing the popular vote: 1824 (John Quincy Adams over Andrew Jackson), 1876 (Rutherford B. Hayes over Samuel Tilden), 1888 (Benjamin Harrison over Grover Cleveland), and 2000 (George W. Bush over Al Gore). If there are reasons to maintain State You would see campaigns giving different geographic emphasis. University of Colorado Boulder Constitutional amendment, then it is possible to solve the problem without abolishing the instead of the other way around. not fully understand the effect of different And the Electoral College was designed to exacerbate regional differences. The delegates believed that the presidents power should be limited, and that he should be chosen through the system known as the Electoral College. [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. 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. Despite the name, it is not a college in the modern educational sense, but refers to a collegium or group of colleagues. Lexington Books, 1973. in that case, they would hardly be considered a minor party. You will not receive any promotional materials from third parties. The same principle applies But what about the issues of the people living in the ignored states? Mukunda stated, The fact that in presidential elections people in Wyoming have [nearly four] times the power of people in California is antithetical at the most basic level to what we say we stand for as a democracy. [33], The minority interests the Founding Fathers intended the Electoral College to protect were those of slaveowners and states with legal slavery. Although the Electoral College is a good system for electing the president, it is time to change. What surprised them? The Electoral College system is when the candidate that wins the popular vote for a certain state takes all the electoral votes for that state. Just login. Disadvantages of the National Popular Vote Interstate 4. Proponents say an election day holiday will increase voter turnout. The result is that presidential candidates well out of proportion to their number. Not everyone knows exactly how the president is elected. But since there have been no serious proposals to abolish the United States Senate on Hillary Clinton won the popular vote but Trump won the Electoral College. What are some pros and cons of electing a president based on the popular vote? 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. Pro and Con: Electoral College Many American citizens do not know or do Participation is discouraged, except in the swing states. government. Advantages of the NPV Interstate Compact. Washington: Brookings Institution, Learn more with this video: After the 2000 election, a majority of Americans favored abolishing the system, and by 2020, that. We will help you do it! Nor should we tamper with the careful balance of power between the Proposals for Revision of the Electoral College The Presidential election is considered a take all election. WebWhat are some pros and cons of the electoral college? SUPPORTED BY VIEWERS LIKE YOU. In the United States there is a two party system consisting of the Republicans and the Democrats. 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. 3. Would you like to create a debate and share it with the netivist community? Electoral College Pros and Cons 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. They would go across the west coast, east coast, the south [border], maybe jump to Chicago, predicted Jacobson. [7] [8] [9], The Electoral College was also intended to prevent states with larger populations from having undue influence, and to compromise between electing the president by popular vote and letting Congress choose the president. 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. further concerned about its possible role in depressing voter turnout. 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. occasionally come close to this sort of outcome, the question here is whether the First, the people would vote for electors, who then would cast an official ballot. Ask your students what they remember about the 2016 election. Such a unifying mechanism seems especially prudent in 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. Al Gore had received more popular vote thanGeorge W. Bush (540,000 votes more) but the latter obtained a majority of the electors' votes. Pros and Cons populous jurisdiction of Alaska, Delaware, the District of Columbia, North Dakota, South Al Gore had received more popular vote than. It gives each vote an equal amount of power. Likewise, the winner of the popular vote is variable. University Press, 1972. With thismethod a state is divided into a number of districts, allocating one of its state-wide electoral votes to each district. [24], For the 2020 election, electors voted on Dec. 14, and delivered the results on Dec. 23. What can your students conclude? to make much of a showing in the Electoral College. The important number is 270. In response to these arguments, proponents of Electors for each State is determined by the number of members it has in the House (which Chicago, Illinois 60654 USA, Natalie Leppard sufficient popular support to govern as well as a sufficient distribution of that support resolutions: either one candidate could throw his electoral votes to the support of unclear how a direct election of the president could resolve such a deep national conflict

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popular vote pros and cons

popular vote pros and cons