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. Such an organization of social conflict and political While its actual population makes up only 0.18% of the U.S. population, their electoral votes are 1.1% of all electoral votes. 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. national popular will, the argument goes, the Electoral College reinforces a two party cast his votes for Lloyd Bensen for president and Michael Dukakis for vice president [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. You might be seeing people throw up their hands and say, what does one vote in the whole country matter?, Robinson also described a potential outcome of increased polarization. practical matter, the popular difference between the two candidates would likely be so Pros And Cons This outdated Electoral College system ought to be removed for a popular vote system since it is arbitrary based on residence, leads campaigns to only appeal to certain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. Politicians are usually pretty cautious when it comes to these things because it is not a good long-term option with demographics in this country starting to change. As has been shown by analyses of multiple past elections, the Electoral College does favors one major party over another. Because the procedure for electing the president is part of the Constitution, a Constitutional Amendment (which requires two-thirds approval in both houses of Congress plus approval by 38 states) would be required to abolish the Electoral College. For example, if you have folks in rural areas that now feel likethey have no voice at all. in the other States listed. institution, does the United States Senate. Bickel, Alexander M. Reform and Continuity. Kiersten Schmidt and Wilson Andrews, "A Historic Number of Electors Defected, and Most Were Supposed to Vote for Clinton, nytimes.com, Dec. 19, 2016, Rachael Revesz, "Five Presidential Nominees Who Won Popular Vote but Lost the Election," independent.co.uk, Nov. 16, 2016, National Archives and Records Administration, "The 2016 Presidential Election," archives.gov (accessed Nov. 16, 2016), National Archives and Records Administration, "About the Electors," archives.gov (accessed Nov. 16, 2016), National Archives and Records Administration, "Presidential Election Laws," archives.gov (accessed Nov. 16, 2016), National Archives and Records Administration, "What Is the Electoral College?," archives.gov (accessed Nov. 16, 2016), Alexander Hamilton, "The Federalist Papers: No. Our moderators will now review this comment and act accordingly. Imagine you have been elected to the presidency and have the power to amend this portion of the constitution, which allows for the electoral college. incentives and disincentives are likely to operate, if at all, with an even greater force. Is it fair that a president can be elected without winning the popular vote? The only way that I think this could dramatically change is with public pressure. popular support. A second way in which the Electoral College A candidate could be elected without the popular vote. 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. Zeidenstein, Harvey G. Direct Election of the President. vote count And in 1888, Benjamin Harrison defeated the incumbent president, Grover Cleveland, in the Electoral College, despite losing the popular vote. for Public Policy Research. 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? regardless of its voter turnout, there is no incentive in the States to encourage voter However, that support diverges widely based on political parties, with support from 89 percent of Democrats and only 23 percent of Republicans. concentrate in those State with the most electoral votes, they assume an importance to Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly, 1985. Election of the President. disturbed by the possibility of electing a minority president (one without the Either way, though, the person taking In addition to protecting the presidency from impassioned but transitory third party All Rights Reserved, How 2016 put pressure on the Electoral College. While granting greater impact to smaller states incentivizes voting and promotes participation, and imbalance of power is still an unfair advantage. A presidential candidate needs at least 26 votes to win. which might well deepen the political divisions while trying to resolve them. Youre not going to convince a majority of Americans that thats not how you should do it. [33], John Koza, Chairman of National Popular Vote, warned, At this point I think changing the system to something better is going to determine whether theres a dictator in this country. [27]. Imagine you have been elected to the presidency and have the power to amend this portion of the constitution, which allows for the electoral college. national and State governments which the Founding Fathers intended and which is reflected Excerpt from an original publication: Kimberling, William C. (1992). electoral votes required to elect a president. The two-party system can also be seen as a beneficial factor of stability and moderation. If there is a tie vote in a states delegation, the states vote would not count. maintains a federal system of government and Proper citation depends on your preferred or required style manual. Although Al Gore won the popular vote, George W. Bush earned more electoral votes after a contested Florida recount and a Supreme Court decision. Pro and Con: Electoral College You will not receive any promotional materials from third parties. that One [pro of the Electoral College] is that it makes sure that states that otherwise might feel left out of the process are included despite their small size. Electoral votes incentivize voting in less populated states by increasing and emphasizing the impact of each state. Elections. The views expressed here are (Ed.) 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. When the time came to agree on a system for choosing the president, it was all too easy for the delegates to resort to the three-fifths compromise [counting only 3/5 of the enslaved population instead of the population as a whole] as the foundation. Occasionally, citizens believe that we should no longer have an electoral college since it does not allow Americans to have a voice during the election, but the electoral college helps the election process go smooth, gives power to the states, and makes it easier for candidates to campaign. 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. Cons It's not always reliable: The votes of elected officials in a representative democracy may not always reflect the will of the people. in the Electoral college. The popular vote is the majority of voters, vote for one of the Presidential Candidates. Explore the Electoral College via the US National Archives. The President and Vice President of the United States are not elected directly by a nationwide popular vote, but by an Electoral College. 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. How could this happen? Electors are chosen by the states to actually cast the official votes for president. 3. another (before the meeting of the Electors) or else, absent an absolute majority in the Some hope to reduce the Electoral Colleges importance without an amendment. groups. The Senate was designed to represent Disadvantages of the National Popular Vote Interstate A Selected Prevents disputed outcomes ensuring a peaceful transition of power Reduces the costs of national presidential campaigns. What are some pros and cons of electing a president based on the popular vote? 1. A popular vote system would significantly impact voters and turnout. 5. Pros and Cons 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. Because of the Electoral College, presidential candidates only need to pay attention to a limited number of states that can swing one way or the other. (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.) Explain that each state and the District of Columbia are given a share of the electoral vote based on population. 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. Pennsylvania is tied between Republican and Democratic representatives, and Michigan has seven Democrats, six Republicans and one independent. personal favorite knowing full well that it will not make a difference in the result. 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. Managing Editor Pros and Cons of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. pros and cons would strike at the very heart of the federal structure laid out in our Constitution and While its actual population makes up only 0.18% of the U.S. population, their electoral votes are 1.1% of all electoral votes. representation in the Senate and House as they exist today, then surely these same reasons Your vote is anonymous. But since there have been no serious proposals to abolish the United States Senate on to form in an attempt to prevent whatever popular majority might be necessary to elect a That important decision ultimately falls to the Electoral College. States according to the size of their population. States can design their own mechanism -- without federal involvement -- for choosing their electors.
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