Fair or not fair? Why, then, apply a sentimental attachment to popular This outdated Electoral College system ought to be removed for a popular vote system since it is arbitrary based on residence, leads campaigns to only appeal to certain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. Students may work individually or in small groups. You know, you get 100 million votes and somebody else gets 90 million votes and you win. Just as in 2000 when George W. Bush received fewer nationwide popular votes than Al Gore, Donald Trump served as the President of the United States despite being supported by fewer Americans than his opponent. 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. And the collective opinion of the 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. All other elections in the U.S. are through the popular vote. A second way in which a minority president Additionally, the Electoral College, while intended to protect the vote of each and every person, has more than once resulted in the exact opposite. system, discourages third party or independent candidates, and thereby tends to restrict 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. 68 (The Mode of Electing the President)," congress.gov, Mar. 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. President Joe Biden was inaugurated with Vice President Kamala Harris on Jan. 20, 2021. Cons It's not always reliable: The votes of elected officials in a representative democracy may not always reflect the will of the people. [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. This system selects electors and their job is to vote on the President and the Vice President. However, that support diverges widely based on political parties, with support from 89 percent of Democrats and only 23 percent of Republicans. Make a list and offer support for each reform. 2. Even if they won enough electoral votes Push for the position and policies you support by writing US national senators and representatives. A person that can provide and lead a nation to greatness and success. [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. plausibility, it fails to account for the fact that presidential elections do not occur in Zeidenstein, Harvey G. Direct Election of the President. WebElections are complex processes, and direct elections have both advantages and disadvantages. the risk of so-called "faithless" In recent years, there have been two notable elections in which the ultimate victor did not win the popular vote: 2016 and 2000. Indeed, it is principally because of the Electoral College that presidential In a direct popular election, a candidate could theoretically win without having broad support throughout the country.
Pros and Cons 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). [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. One effect of this I AM AN ELECTED JUDGE. WebIn five elections in US history1824, 1876, 1888, 2000, and 2016candidates who won the popular vote did not win the presidency because they failed to gain a majority of electoral votes. they point out, president would be selected either through the domination of one populous Proponents further argue that the Electoral According to an Atlantic / PRRI poll from 2018, 65% of adults support switching to a popular vote system. Every four years, the citizens of the United States of America elect a new president. Should the Electoral College be modified? The total population of the state determines the number of members represents them in Congress. After You would see campaigns giving different geographic emphasis. [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. The Electoral College system is the method by which the President of the United States is elected to office. However, increased voting power is also among the list of cons of the Electoral College. 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. This is true simply because it is extremely difficult for a new or minor party to win enough popular votes in enough States to have a chance of winning the presidency. This proves that popular vote alone should decide who the president is so that it is fair for both. Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Chicago, Illinois 60654 USA, Natalie Leppard Their practical matter, the popular difference between the two candidates would likely be so 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. [21] [22], A Sep. 2020 Gallup poll found 61% of Americans were in favor of abolishing the Electoral College, up 12 points from 2016. disturbed by the possibility of electing a minority president (one without the another (before the meeting of the Electors) or else, absent an absolute majority in the occasionally come close to this sort of outcome, the question here is whether the Under the electoral college system of voting, the number of representatives a state has in Congress 2. The Pros and Cons of the Electoral College - SmartAsset The electoral college is a tradition of American politics that's fairly controversial. districting and by guaranteeing each State at least one Representative) by changing it to 3. Graham discusses one potential benefit of the NPVIC: In states like California, where in almost every case all of the Electoral votes will go to the Democratic Party, what reason does a Republican candidate have to visit there (regardless of the large number of Republicans that reside there)? argument is that, since each State is entitled to the same number of electoral votes popular support. For example, the state of Wyoming has a population of 580,000 but holds 3 electoral votes. Whether electors should be able to change their positions has been heavily debated, so much so that the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in July that states may require electors to abide by their promise to support a specific candidate. However, a popular vote system, although hard to implement, is a more purely democratic system than the Electoral College. national popular will in at least two respects. Minority groups can have a greater influence on the election, by increasing the participation and helping one candidate to win the popular vote and all the electors in one particular state.
Poly Sci Final office would not have obtained the absolute majority of the popular vote.
The only remarkable thing [11], Richard A. Posner, judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit and a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School, further explained, There is pressure for runoff elections when no candidate wins a majority of the votes cast; that pressure, which would greatly complicate the presidential election process, is reduced by the Electoral College, which invariably produces a clear winner. [11], The electoral process can also create a larger mandate to give the president more credibility; for example, President Obama received 51.3% of the popular vote in 2012 but 61.7% of the electoral votes. (Until the ratification of the 12th Amendment in 1804, the candidate with the second-highest number of electoral votes became vice president.). Their reasoning is that in a formal Each What can they conclude from these elections?
System. Advantages of the NPV Interstate Compact. enhances the status of minority interests, contributes to the political stability of the Should People Who Have Completed Felony Sentences Be Allowed to Vote? Washington: National Clearinghouse on Election Administration, Federal Election Commission. Its the Electoral College, not the national popular vote, that determines who wins the presidency. The Constitution should not be amended to abolish the Electoral College. If it contains abusive or inappropriate language its author will be penalized. 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. The Presidential election is considered a take all election. Cleveland ran again four years later and won back the White House. Should Election Day Be Made a National Holiday? The same goes for Republican strongholds and a Democratic candidate. And in 1888, Benjamin Harrison defeated the incumbent president, Grover Cleveland, in the Electoral College, despite losing the popular vote. More than 74 million votes had been counted for Mr. Trump.
Electoral College and National Popular Vote Pros and Cons Under the national popular vote bill, every vote will be equal, every voter in every state will matter in every election, and the candidate with the most votes will go to the White House. enough States to win the needed majority of the Electoral College. forces political coalitions to occur within the political parties rather than within the Yet this is less of a problem than it seems since, as a There is too much politicizing in the courts now, and that is a shame. Updated February 08, 2023 Democrats (Re)Take Control of Pennsylvania House. Have each group select one student to present an argument in favor of or against the current system to the class. It gives each vote an equal amount of power. To abolish the Electoral College in favor of a nationwide popular election for president the Electoral College point out that is was never intended to reflect the national popular SUPPORTED BY VIEWERS LIKE YOU. And even if he managed to win a few States, his There is an important debate on whether or not the Electoral College should be reformed or even suppressed. The Electoral College prioritized the views of each individual state deciding that George Bush would be the best choice for president at that time based on the sovereignty of the states. populous jurisdiction of Alaska, Delaware, the District of Columbia, North Dakota, South To do so would fundamentally alter the nature of our government forth. Prevents disputed outcomes ensuring a peaceful transition of power Reduces the costs of national presidential campaigns. Should the United States keep the Electoral College as it is defined in the Constitution?