There was a lot of confusion over how Donald Trump won the presidency in 2016. It happened once, in 1876. Image the country thinks it is going to elect the president by National Popular Vote and then changing back to using the old Electoral College/Winner-Take-All system just four months before an election. Since the Constitution and the Bill of Rights became governing documents in the United States, there have only been 17 amendments made to it. Congress broke the tie, and Jefferson became president and Burr became vice president. In a stark example, sparsely populated Wyoming has three votes and a population of about 580,000, giving its individual voters far more clout in the election than their millions of counterparts in densely populated states like Florida, California and New York. 5. The winner of the states popular vote gets two electoral votes, and one vote is awarded to the winner of the popular vote in each congressional district. Removing this system could encourage more people to come out to support their candidate. Pennsylvania is tied between Republican and Democratic representatives, and Michigan has seven Democrats, six Republicans and one independent. Security would be improved across the country. The Supreme Court has said in local and state elections voting should be based on the principle of one person one vote. Donald Trump won the presidential election by securing 304 electoral votes, compared to Hillary Clinton's 227 electoral votes. National Popular Vote Fix the Broken Electoral College. The selection of presidential electors is specifically entrusted to the states by the Constitution. The group as a whole should help that student to prepare his or her argument. The Electoral College system has been a topic of debate for many years. 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. Once effective, states could withdraw from the compact at any time except during the six-month window between July 20 of an election year and Inauguration Day (January 20). This new series from the AP is dedicated to answering commonly asked questions from our audience about the 2020 U.S. presidential election. More attention is given to the swing states, such as Florida and Iowa, which causes the third problem the Electoral College can cause. National Popular Vote is a constitutional and practical way to implement nationwide popular election of the President a goal traditionally supported by an overwhelming majority of Americans How does the system currently work? Its the Electoral College, not the national popular vote, that determines who wins the presidency. What can they conclude from these elections? That means the bill needs 74 votes to reach a 270 majority, putting it into effect across the country . Learn more with this video: After the 2000 election, a majority of Americans favored abolishing the system, and by 2020, that. Our experts will write for you an essay on any topic, with any deadline and requirements from scratch, Electoral College and National Popular Vote Pros and Cons. Lastly, it may cause a third-party candidate to prevail and win, which would allow Americans to be given more choices besides the two primary parties (Richards). Pro: It's the only way to avoid defaulting. NCSL Child Welfare Fellows program is designed to support legislators and legislative staff who are experienced or emerging leaders in child welfare policy. Cons: Can disregard the will of the majority. When you vote for a presidential candidate, you are actually voting for a group of electors from your state who have all pledged to vote for your candidate. Using the NPV system means that every vote counts the same. Since 2008, 15 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws to adopt the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC), which is an multi-state agreement to commit electors to. Contact your states liaison to schedule a briefing or to learn more. Cons of Electoral College. 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. 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. Wyoming had just 3 electoral votes, but only had 255,000 voters as well. ; Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. Two exceptions are Maine and Nebraska, which rely on congressional districts to divvy up electoral votes. As an alternative to the long and unlikely method amending the Constitution, critics of the Electoral College are now perusing the National Popular Vote plan designed to ensure that the candidate who wins the overall popular vote in inaugurated president. 2. It could encourage voter turnout. Make a contribution to support Common Cause today. (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.) There are arguments that the states with smaller populations are overrepresented in the Electoral College, because every state gets at least 3 electors regardless of population. The idea has public support, but faces a partisan divide, since Republicans currently benefit from the electoral clout of less populous, rural states. Actually the NPV Compact doesnt change one word in he Constitution and in fact only changes state laws. In theory we could change how we elect our president every four years. on Advantages and Disadvantages of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, Follow All U.S. Citizens Should Vote. However, that support diverges widely based on political parties, with support from 89 percent of Democrats and only 23 percent of Republicans. 15 states and Washington, D.C. have joined the National Popular Vote compact. Some states replace electors and cancel their votes if they break their pledge. According to the University of Missouri-Kansas City Law School, some proponents of the Electoral College argue that it isolates election problems, such as illegally extended voting hours or irregularly high voter turnout. That principle should be expanded to presidential elections. How the US Electoral College System Works, Biography of Donald Trump, 45th President of the United States, The Most Lopsided Presidential Elections in US History, Presidential Election of 1800 Ended in a Tie, The Election of 1824 Was Decided in the House of Representatives, How Presidents and Vice Presidents Are Elected, Election of 1800: Thomas Jefferson versus John Adams, Biography of Mike Pence, Vice President of the United States, What Is Dealignment? By continuing well assume youre on board with our, https://samploon.com/electoral-college-and-national-popular-vote-pros-and-cons/, Select a writer from a large pool of experts. Some hope to reduce the Electoral Colleges importance without an amendment. National popular vote plan. The Pros and Cons of the Electoral College - SmartAsset The electoral college is a tradition of American politics that's fairly controversial. In the early 19th century, many states ratified an approach that would allow the candidate with the most votes in that state to be the winner. 1. 48 Vitosha Boulevard, ground floor, 1000, Sofia, Bulgaria, Samploon, Inc. 2023. A close election would trigger the need for a full recount. It would eliminate the Congressional provisions for a non-majority election. The Electoral College is very undemocratic and riddled with issues. Individual states agree to pledge their electors to the winner of the national popular vote, provided that enough other states follow suit. 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. NCSL conducts policy research in areas ranging from agriculture and budget and tax issues to education and health care to immigration and transportation. There would be a reduced need to build coalitions. That could lead to a very bad situation where, instead of the people voting in November to determine who the next president is, one or two states could effectively decide who becomes the next president simply by joining or withdrawing from the NPV Compact and changing the rules on how the votes for president are counted in the next election. The second advantage is that the all votes would be equally weighed (Richards). https://www.thoughtco.com/electoral-college-pros-and-cons-4686409 (accessed May 1, 2023). 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. 5 terms. Although moving to a popular vote election would balance the weight of each vote, it would also create more sway in larger population states. Cleveland ran again four years later and won back the White House. It has been enacted by twelve states, which include Rhode Island, Vermont, Hawaii, the District of Columbia, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Washington, New Jersey, Illinois, New York, and California. A presidential candidate needs at least 26 votes to win. 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. 6. "Electoral College Pros and Cons." Unless the national popular vote was very close, or there were all lot of recounts outstanding, the Compact states in most cases would effectively know what the outcome would be and could be prepared to certify their state votes very quickly to make the Electoral College meeting date deadline. Many people may feel that any major change in how we elect the president should be in the Constitution and not in a legal loop hole even if its legal and technically constitutional. With the polarization in global politics today, especially in the United States, a switch to the popular vote would likely increase costs even further. Although faithless electors have not affected the results or outcome of an election yet, in 2016, there were 7 faithless electors. lilj512. Its just like in tennis, he said. Candidates feel they either cant win or lose with the votes from these states. A faithless elector in the United States is someone who casts an electoral ballot for someone other than the individuals to whom they are pledged. The same thing happened in 2000. And thats not how it should be in a democracy. 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 California. Even though we will be able to elect the president by national popular vote using the The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, eventually the rules for how we elect the president should be an official part of the Constitution. Today, opinions on the future of the Electoral College range from protecting it as the basis of American democracy to abolishing it completely as an ineffective and obsolete system that may not accurately reflect the will of the people. If this happens many people in the red states will not feel that the change is legitimate even if its legal and technically constitutional. 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. As of 2020, the state with the largest number of votes is California, with 55 electoral votes. Although Al Gore won the popular vote, George W. Bush earned more electoral votes after a contested Florida recount and a Supreme Court decision. Hillary Clinton won the popular vote but Trump won the Electoral College. In 2016, Florida had 29 electoral votes and 9.4 million voters, created a voter value of 0.72. Longley, Robert. Reduces the costs of national presidential campaigns. 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? In the case of a tie, there are contingencies in place to determine which person will serve in the elected office. This advance is referred to as the winner-take-all approach. Currently, 48 of the 50 states follow the winner-take-all rule. https://www.nytimes.com/article/the-electoral-college.html. Fifteen states and DC have already enacted it into law, for a total of 196 electoral votes. Four candidates in history have won the popular vote only to be denied the presidency by the Electoral College. Menu burger Close thin Facebook Twitter Google plus Linked in Reddit Email arrow-right-sm arrow-right Loading Home Buying Calculators That would increase the amount of polarization being experienced in politics today because there would be less of a need to compromise. Others may struggle to meet higher than expected voter turnout levels. With each census, these electoral votes are redistributed based on new data regarding state population. It would reduce the threshold necessary to win the office. [Add switching votes of losing party to the other partys voter totals in every state using the Electoral College/Winner-Take-All system (except for 5 EC votes in Maine and Nebraska that are awarded proportionally instead of by Winner-Take-All.]. Under the current structure of the electoral college, the focus of a presidential campaign is on the so-called battleground states. 8. So you run a campaign designed to maximize your votes in those few largest states. It would be a national mandate to put someone in office, even if that winning candidate received less than 50% of the vote. Texas has 38. NCSL actively tracks more than 1,400 issue areas. That means some voters, like Republicans in California or Democrats in Mississippi, are voting without power and without attention from their preferred candidates each year. President Trump had earned 232 electoral . Many of these states dont participate in campaign visits or get televised ads.
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