How the US Electoral College System Works, Biography of Donald Trump, 45th President of the United States, What Is Statutory Law? It could help to reduce partisanship. Though the original, some would say highly undemocratic, purpose. By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. There are alternatives to winner-take-all that do not involve abandoning the positive aspects of the Electoral College. To date, the bill has passed at least one legislative chamber in 9 states possessing 82 combined electoral votes: AR, AZ, ME, MI, MN, NC, NV, OK, and OR. Hence, the National Popular Vote plan is an interstate compact a type of state law authorized by the U.S. Constitution that enables states to enter into a legally enforceable, contractual obligation to undertake agreed joint actions, which may be delayed in implementation until a requisite number of states join in. Longley, Robert. NCSL conducts policy research in areas ranging from agriculture and budget and tax issues to education and health care to immigration and transportation. Electoral college reform proposals include (1) the district plan, awarding each state's two at-large electoral votes to the statewide popular vote winners, and one electoral vote to the winning candidates in each congressional district; (2) the proportional plan, awarding electoral votes in states in direct proportion to the popular vote gained In U.S. history, the electoral college winner has failed to secure the popular vote 5 times. 4. The National Popular Vote stems from the winner-take-all approach that validates the presidential candidate interactions with only 4 out of 50 dates during their campaign. ashburnham school committee; its his baby now political cartoon meaning; softstar primal sawyer This National Popular Vote Compact wouldn't take effect until states with 270 electors a majority joined in. List of the Cons of Proportional Representation. This text is available online and is used for gudiance and inspiration, We use cookies to give you the best experience possible. Before the 2016 election, the largest vote deficit in the popular vote was Al Gore securing over 500,000 votes more than George W. Bush. The horror of a potential national recount is only one of the dangers direct presidential elections poses. If the election is based off a popular vote, each of these areas would need to be closely examined in real-time, which would enhance the security of each vote that is cast. HuffPost's top politics stories, straight to your inbox. In Maine, both houses of the legislature passed the bill in 2019, but it failed at the final enactment step. That effectively means that votes in the the 75% of the country that are in swing states effectively dont count at all. Using a popular vote system, candidates could campaign regionally, targeting major areas of support, to secure enough votes to win an election. This brings us to 196 of the 270 electoral votes needed to activate the pact. Two-thirds of the campaign events were in four states, Florida, Iowa, Virginia, and Ohio, that year. For under its plan, the next time the U.S. has very close national vote, a recount would not be of six million votes in one state but of more than 130 million votes in all states and the District of Columbia, all with their own rules for conducting a recount. cons of the national popular vote plan. Learn more about how the National Popular Vote compact works and the ways it could make our elections better for everyone. However that presumably rare exception happened in the 2000 election when Florida could not complete their statewide recount in time for the Electoral College deadline and the Supreme Court forced Florida to use their first vote count without a statewide recount. The electoral college leads to a heavy emphasis on swing states and also typically over-represents citizens in rural states. It fails to reach the ideal of one-person one-vote. Under the plan, Michigan's 15 Electoral . Only Nebraska and Maine do not. Ken Bickers. For the popular vote, however, Hillary Clinton received 65.8 million votes, while Donald Trump received 62.9 million votes. 2015. Resource allocation would be focused on paid advertising, which would negate the need for grassroots activities. The second advantage is that the all votes would be equally weighed (Richards). Some states, such as California and Hawaii, both had their bills vetoed by their governors before it was overridden and enacted by state legislators. Here are six reasons why legislators should reject this attempt to jettison our electoral system: 1. As a result, the percentage of popular votes secured by Donald Trump was just 46.4% in comparison with Hilary Clinton, who secured 48.5% of the votes. Samploon is a database of free essay samples. You can use essay samples to find ideas and inspiration for your paper. There are logistical issues that are managed at the local level in each election. That view of democracy recognizes the existence and desirability of organized interests and enshrines that principle under the concept of pluralism. Lastly, the biggest problem that the Electoral College produces is the reality that a persons vote really doesnt matter (Black). Politicians would focus on fewer swing states (Bigger states more potential votes) With the polarization in global politics today, especially in the United States, a switch to the popular vote would likely increase costs even further. The advantage of this system is that it preserves the preferences of. Just 12 Closely Divided Battleground States Got 96% of 2020 Campaign Events. On a close popular vote, often defined as a difference of 0.5% or less in the tabulated results, an automatic recount would likely be triggered. It knows that a majoritarianism that produces a plurality is not the voice of a majority of the citizenry. That means the cost of counting all the votes would be duplicated. In states with large population centers, individual voters have less power than voters in smaller states. https://www.thoughtco.com/the-national-popular-vote-plan-3322047 (accessed March 4, 2023). In the U.S., that means people who lean Democratic live in urban areas, while people who lean Republican live in rural areas. June 7, 2022 . (See: Electoral Votes by State). If that was to take place, America could potentially face the same issues it is facing now. It was a great idea in 1787 but the country has changed since 1787 and the people today want to elect the president by a simple, direct popular vote where whoever gets the most votes wins like we do in every other election in the country. 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). Definition and Examples. The compact is designed to ensure that the candidate who receives the most votes nationwide is elected president, and it . A direct popular election also ensures that citizens' votes have equal weight. All other elections in the U.S. are through the popular vote. It is not at all clear that it would similarly prosper under the direct election regime being pushed by NPV. 5. Our state will likely vote overwhelmingly for the Republican challenger to Barack Obama in November. Opines that the national popular vote plan is the wrong way to abolith the electoral college. ThoughtCo, Dec. 16, 2020, thoughtco.com/the-national-popular-vote-plan-3322047. This type of system would give the individual voter a much more significant influence. 8. But if some non-member Evidence as to how a nationwide presidential campaign would be run can be found by examining the way presidential candidates currently campaign inside battleground states. That, in turn, would likely diminish voter turnout. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact collectively apportions votes to the winner of the overall popular vote without a constitutional amendment abolishing the electoral college or the assent of Congress. This has occurred in 5 of the nation's 56 presidential elections, most recently in 2016. The time to stop its momentum is now. Under the electoral college system of voting, the number of representatives a state has in Congress (Senators and Representatives) is the total number of electoral votes it is allowed. When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. This was the intent of the Founding Fathers. Lastly, some Americans believe that there would be an increase in voter turn-out if people felt that their vote was viewed as a significant asset to their country. The candidate who placed second in the popular vote was elected in 2016, 2000, 1888, 1876, and 1824. Even if states impose fines on faithless electors for their actions, it is not a guarantee that the behavior will stop. But in practice it could happen every 10 or 20 years when the Electoral College votes change because the congressional boundaries change with the new population census. Louisiana voters should decide who receives Louisiana's electoral votes. As a result, the bill will take effect when enacted by states possessing an additional 74 electoral votes. 1. Bosque de Palabras (2020, December 16). The alternative view of democracy is more complex; it is one that includes but is not limited to the pursuit of equality. Watch out! People are moving to live in like-minded communities more than ever before. It is perhaps the most simplistic form of an election. Unexpected emergencies would be difficult to handle. If a party knows either that it can't win a single elector in a state or has an easy road to winning all of them, it sends its resources to where it has a competitive chance.. But sometime in the future the popular vote will change back and lean Republican. How the National Popular Vote Plan Would Work. Under the National Popular Vote plan,the compact would take effect only when enabling legislation has been enacted by states collectively possessing a majority of the electoral votes:270 of 538 total. sale of united methodist church property. Here are the Cons of the Electoral College 1. The official 2016 election results from the Electoral College gave Donald J. Trump the victory with 306 electoral votes v. Hillary Clinton's 232 votes. Today, the fact that Nebraska and Maine do not use the winner-take-all system serves as proof that modifying the Electoral College system, as proposed by the National Popular Vote plan is constitutional and does not require a constitutional amendment. 4. 9. The method works by electing one elector within each congressional district by popular vote and selecting the remaining two electors by a statewide popular vote. Thats a bank of about 14 million potential voters that reliably vote as a majority for Democratic candidates. The states that join the NPV Compact will not be able to certify their Electoral College Votes until all 50 states and DC certify their state popular votes and any mandated/requested recounts since the Compact state ECVs are dependent on the winner of the national popular vote and not just their own state popular votes. The National Popular Vote plan is a bill passed by participating state legislatures agreeing that they will cast all of their electoral votes for the presidential candidate winning the nationwide popular vote. In the 2000 presidential election, Al Gore won the popular vote by more than 500,000 ballots, but George Bush became president by winning the Electoral College 271 to 266. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. NPV is more than a third of the way to its goal. It would eliminate superfluous votes. Would you like to get a custom essay? Because of the state Winner-Take-All rules, which arent even part of the Constitution, they can lead to presidential elections where the winner of the election doesnt have the most popular votes. Presidential candidates have no reason to poll, visit, advertise, organize, or campaign in states that they cannot possibly win or lose; in 2016, 68% of presidential campaign visits took place in just six states. That's almost 1.5 billion . There are a number of pros for this method. 5. 41 States (with 80% of U.S. population) will be Ignored in the 2024 Presidential Election. Similarly, because a national campaign mandates a national message, there would also be a smaller incentive for coalition-building or taking into account the characteristics, needs and desires of citizens in differing states and regions. The winner would receive one vote per congressional district won with the winner of the state popular vote gaining a two electoral votes. 4. In theory we could change how we elect our president every four years. The first advantage allows for electoral votes to be fairer than the Electoral College (Richards). It would require an Amendment in the U.S. for presidential elections. Because a direct election would be, by definition, national and resource allocation would be overwhelmingly dominated by paid television advertising, there would be little impetus for grass-roots activity. Less would get done, which would affect the needs of households at the local level. The Electoral College distorts presidential campaigns . 10 Apr. Advantages of the NPV Interstate Compact 1. Some areas may bend the rules of an election by extending voting hours illegally. cons of the national popular vote plansuper lemon haze greenhouse. Should that happen, then the final decision of who gets to serve as President of the United States is taken away from individual voters. PBS: What does voter turnout tell us about the 2016 election. 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. Their vote only counts at the local level, not the national level, because of the electoral votes. And in all states but Maine and Nebraska, the candidate who receives the most votes in that state is awarded all of its electoral votes, whether the split is 51% to 49% or 99% to 1%. 8. In 2016, Florida had 29 electoral votes and 9.4 million voters, created a voter value of 0.72. All other votes cast for that candidate are therefore superfluous. 805 15th Street, NW, Suite 800 The issue raised by the National Popular Vote campaign is fundamental: What kind of a democracy should America be? As of December 2020, the bill has been fully adopted predominately by Democratic-majority blue states which delivered the 14 largest vote shares for Barack Obama in the 2012 Presidential Election. A simple change in the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact could fix the flaw and still provide the benefits of a popular election. The President-Elect takes the oath of office and is sworn in as President of the United States on January 20th in the year following the Presidential election (Archives). That would increase the amount of polarization being experienced in politics today because there would be less of a need to compromise. But with the NPV Compact a change in party control of just one or two states could restore the old system of electing the president and then four years later it could be changed back. As of now, 15 states and Washington, D.C. have joined the National Popular Vote compact: Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maryland, Washington, New Jersey, Illinois, New York, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Delaware and Oregon. Privacy Policy. Maine and Nebraska are the only two states that are not affected by this approach. For the 7 presidential elections between 1992-2016, the Republican candidate has won the Electoral college 3 times. Instead, it modifies the winner-take-all rule in a way its supporters say would assure that every vote will matter in every state in every presidential election. Their answer is simple: one in which every citizen's vote is equal to every other citizen's vote and one in which the winner of the presidential popular vote, no matter how small his or her percentage is of those who voted, would be elected. Either would likely produce an electoral vote count closer to the popular vote. 12th Amendment: Fixing the Electoral College, What Is Majoritarianism? Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. The Constitution specifically leaves details like how the electoral votes are cast up to the states. With a popular vote in place, each election win would be decreed a mandate to follow the platform of the winning party. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Richard F. Potthoff looks critically at a proposed alternative way of electing the US president, the National Popular Vote plan, where all states in an interstate compact which cover 270 or more electoral votes would cast their electoral votes for the candidate who won the nationwide vote, no matter who wins their state. That created a voter value of 2.85. It would reduce the threshold necessary to win the office. A majority of 270 electoral votes is required to elect the president. 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). It is also true that no president since 1824 has received the votes of a majority of the eligible voters and 18 presidents, including Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson, Harry S. Truman, John. First it would be relatively easy to implement. For example, if a state used NPV and voted for candidate A, but candidate B received the most votes nationwide, the state would allocate its presidential electors to candidate B. 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. Explains kimberling, william c., and dave leip's . Pros & Cons of a National Popular Vote Buy Complete Issue $19.95 Login or Subscribe The National Popular Vote How would the interstate compact work? Yes. It makes things easier for extreme parties to gain representation. When a popular vote is held for a national office, the election becomes more about platform issues than local issues. Common Cause The NPV Interstate Compact does not eliminate the very complicated Electoral College system that most voters dont really understand. 5. 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. In countries where the concept of popular votes is in place, every vote has an equal weight regarding the election outcome. 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. It would eliminate the threat of a faithless elector. According to Article II, Section 1, "Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress." And that would undermine the legitimacy of the NPV among those people. It seeks to be a bulwark against mass hysteria and the hysteria created by mass media. There would be a reduced need to build coalitions. a plan for a national popular vote could undermine the . It isnt impossible to pass a Constitutional amendment, though history shows that it is not an easy process to complete. More people live in urban regions, which means they would have a constant sway over the election. The pros and cons of the popular vote structure of an election allow for the majority to have their say in who they wish to serve. Under the current structure of the electoral college, the focus of a presidential campaign is on the so-called battleground states. 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. Surprisingly enough, the National Popular Vote bill could possibly bring forth some problems. The states would implement this plan once enough states controlling 270 electoral votes have signed on, guaranteeing that the national popular vote winner will win the presidency.. 1. But NPV could force our electors to disregard the wishes of the . Is the National Popular Vote Plan Constitutional? Under the electoral college system (and other voting systems not based on popular voting), it only takes one extra vote more than the other candidate to create the needed results for the election. The Electoral College is very undemocratic and riddled with issues. It has been enacted into law in 11 states with 165 electoral votes, and will take effect when enacted by states with 105 more. As of July 2020, a National Popular Vote bill has been signed into law in 16 states controlling a total of 196 electoral votes, including 4 small states, 8 medium-sized states, 3 big states (California, Illinois, and New York), and the District of Columbia. However, some critics argue that the advantages of a direct popular election including reflecting democratic principals, outweigh the disadvantages. Today the Democrats want to replace the Electoral College/Winner-Take-All system with a direct popular vote and the Republicans adamantly want to keep it. It has its pros and cons though, many of which critics debate over. Do you have information you want to share with HuffPost. Under the electoral college system, the candidates which receive the most votes in each state (or district) receive its assigned electoral votes. But for those people who feel that changing how we elect the president should only be done by constitutional amendment they will feel that using the NPV Compact will undermine the legitimacy of the process even though its perfectly legal and constitutional. The states' approval of the compact is a victory for democracy and the principle of "one person, one vote." OKLAHOMA CITY Oklahomans will head to the polls March 7 to decide if the state will become the 22nd in the country to legalize recreational marijuana for use by anyone 21 and older. All states could adopt the system that now exists in Maine and Nebraska, where all but two electors are chosen by congressional district, and the other two go to the statewide winner. 2. Under the Electoral College system, voters in states that are overwhelmingly in support of one candidate might feel like their vote is unimportant. Inicio; Nota Biografica; Obra; Blogs. Bush and Al Gore (Black). These battleground or swing states receive 7% more federal grants, twice as many presidential disaster declarations, more Superfund enforcement exemptions, and more No Child Left Behind law exemptions (National Popular Vote). Because of the Winner-Take-All state laws candidates for president only campaign and spend their money in 12-13 swing states because voters in those few swing states determine who wins the election and presidential candidates totally ignore voters in the rest of the country(except to raise money). Thats how politics works in America. The popular vote eliminates this issue too. The plan would not get rid of the Electoral College. Imperfect, because its modern-day blessings -- enhancing coalition building, pluralism, federalism and grass-roots participation -- are enjoyed only by a minority of states (in any given presidential election 18 or 20), where the battle for electoral votes is competitive for both major parties. Right now, the President of the United States is not elected by a popular vote. The votes of those who do not live in closely divided battleground states effectively count less. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. It would reduce the influence of third parties on the U.S. presidential election. The winner would receive all of the compact states electoral votes, giving them at least the necessary 270 to win the White House. Without the popular vote bill, swing states would continue to get more leverage and attention from candidates to ensure that they would be able to capture their votes. NPV supporters claim, accurately, that a direct election for president would reduce or eliminate the possibility that a fringe candidate (like a Ralph Nader or Ron Paul) winning five percent or less of the vote in a single state could serve to defeat a major party candidate from the same side of the political spectrum. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. Rural voters would almost always be in the minority. A popular vote structure would virtually eliminate the idea of a third-party candidate having a chance in an election. Others may struggle to meet higher than expected voter turnout levels. This is a situation that has caused controversy in the election years of of 1800, 1876, 1888, 2000 and 2016 when the elected president won the Electoral College and the presidency but did not win the popular vote. Hence, the National Popular Vote plan is an interstate compact a type of state law authorized by the U.S. Constitution that enables states to enter into a legally enforceable, contractual obligation to undertake agreed joint actions, which may be delayed in implementation until a requisite number of states join in. In the 2016 election, "swing states" that might vote Republican or Democrat like Wisconsin were targets of candidates Donald J. Trump and Hillary R. Clinton. Robert Longley is a U.S. government and history expert with over 30 years of experience in municipal government and urban planning. There would be fewer opportunities to illegally alter the results of an election. . If enacted by enough states, the National Popular Vote bill would guarantee the presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. cons of the national popular vote planchicago religious demographics. 4. 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. ThoughtCo. Start and finish your paper with ease. The Congressional District method would allocate electoral votes based on the winner of each congressional district. Make a contribution to support Common Cause today. It awards all the bonus votes to the winner of the popular vote. 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. Secondly, it creates a minimalist depiction in the minds of the candidate towards more than 40 states. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/the-national-popular-vote-plan-3322047. In U.S. history, there has been one vice-presidential candidate who died after being nominated and one that withdrew from their partys ticket. And finally, the Electoral College doesnt work today anywhere near how the Founding Fathers intended it to work when they created it back in 1787. National Popular Vote will create a single member district (all 50 states and D.C.), where the candidate with the most votes wins and . Cookies collect information about your preferences and your devices and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. Under the electoral college, the majority votes of states assign electoral votes to a candidate, which then creates a majority total required for a victory.
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cons of the national popular vote plan