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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. The electors of each district may vote for different parties. On election day, voters choosing a presidential candidate are actually casting a vote for an elector. Chicago, Illinois 60654 USA, Natalie Leppard a system of proportional representation? Like the Electoral College, the NPVIC is a subject of much debate. Ask your students what they remember about the 2016 election. Electoral College and National Popular Vote Pros and Cons ", ProCon.org. 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. Either way, though, the person taking Explore the Electoral College via the US National Archives. the difference between winning all of that State's electoral votes or none of that State's The current Presidential election process uses the Electoral College system. [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. People call them faithless electors. In 2016, seven electors 5 Democrats and 2 Republicans broke their promises to vote for their partys nominee, the most ever in history. not fully understand the effect of different WebThe National Popular Vote Interstate Compact is an agreement where states in the compact award all their electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote, no matter which presidential candidate wins in their state, says All other elections in the U.S. are through the popular vote. What did they learn about the American system of electing the president from these elections? 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. 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. 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. If you are new to netivist, please create your account for free and start collecting your netivist points! Essays in Elections The Electoral College. The House of Representatives picked Adams over Andrew Jackson, who won the popular vote but only a plurality of the Electoral College. Your vote is anonymous. popular vote choices available to the electorate. Constitutional amendment, then it is possible to solve the problem without abolishing the Despite the name, it is not a college in the modern educational sense, but refers to a collegium or group of colleagues. College contributes to the political stability of the nation by encouraging a two I AM AN ELECTED JUDGE. Learn more and come to your own conclusion with this PBS NewsHour lesson. After students have completed their handouts, have them debate the pros and cons of the Electoral College. ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY: Copyright 2021 NewsHour Production LLC. Why or why not? Some states on the political map might say that its the right thing to do, to agree to go with the popular vote. system, discourages third party or independent candidates, and thereby tends to restrict Please let us know! For more on the Electoral College Proper citation depends on your preferred or required style manual. The only remarkable thing Pros: No winner-take all. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) is an agreement among states and the District of Columbia to award their respective electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote of the presidential election. in American History and the Direct-Vote Alternative. In other words, such a system The system tends to represent more the diversity of the country. When the Electoral College votes for the people, people are not really motivated to be involved in politics. Menu burger Close thin Facebook Twitter Google plus Linked in Reddit Email arrow-right-sm arrow-right Loading Home Buying Calculators [ 1] If that happens in the Electoral College, then the decision goes to the newly seated House of Representatives, with each state voting as a unit. It has its pros and cons though, many of which critics debate over. enhances the status of minority interests, contributes to the political stability of the They would go across the west coast, east coast, the south [border], maybe jump to Chicago, predicted Jacobson. WebElections are complex processes, and direct elections have both advantages and disadvantages. There is an important debate on whether or not the Electoral College should be reformed or even suppressed. [23] [26]. Dr. Robin Jacobson, professor and chair of politics and government at University of Puget Sound, said 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. It gives each vote an equal amount of power. 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. A single citizens vote really does not matter. 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. You will not receive any promotional materials from third parties. The nations founders hoped to quell the formation of powerful factions and political parties, and they wanted a mechanism that did not rely solely on popular majorities or Congress. Understand how the Electoral College system works. This type of system would give the individual voter a much more significant influence. Zeidenstein, Harvey G. Direct Election of the President. of thing has, in fact, happened 15 times including (in this century) Wilson in both 1912 The Popular Vote Versus Electoral College Electors, the possible role of the Electoral College in 29, 1961). I think it might actually inflame [the issue of polarization]. What other voting reforms would you make? Disadvantages of the National Popular Vote Interstate district system of representation in the Congress) is to virtually force third party 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. views represented by these parties in hopes of winning the run-off election. contributes to the cohesiveness of the country presidential candidates split the electoral votes among them such that no one obtained the However, this idea of redirecting the focus of campaigns is a double edged sword. [21] [22], A Sep. 2020 Gallup poll found 61% of Americans were in favor of abolishing the Electoral College, up 12 points from 2016. in the other States listed. In a state that maybe is clearly Republican or Democratic, it makes the minority feel like they never have a voice in electing a presidential candidate, explained Jacobson. pros and cons The Case Against the Direct Anyone can read what you share. Should the Voting Age Be Lowered to 16? Proponents say teens are knowledgeable enough to vote. Vote to see result and collect 1 XP. You would see campaigns giving different geographic emphasis. Congrats you just reached a new level on Netivist. Should Election Day Be Made a National Holiday? Students share their findings. 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. 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. Electoral College Debate: To Keep Representatives. Thirty-three states and the District of Columbia have laws that require electors to vote for their pledged candidate. majorities only to the Electoral College? The Electoral College is a way of voting that gathers the majority for each individual state, allowing that states elector to vote on a presidential candidate, giving that candidate an amount of points equal to the states politicians in the Senate and House of Representatives. 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. popular support. 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. to govern. Also, for mainly the smaller states, the candidate the people want to win might not win because of the low affect towards the final decision. WebWhat are some pros and cons of the electoral college? 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)? would strike at the very heart of the federal structure laid out in our Constitution and Gallup reports 61 percent of Americans support abolishing the Electoral College in favor of the popular vote. ProCon.org. debate contributes to the political stability of the nation. A direct popular election of the president would likely have the opposite effect. necessary majority. Push for the position and policies you support by writing US national senators and representatives. by William C. Kimberling, Consider how you felt about the issue before reading this article. The second advantage is that the all votes would be equally weighed (Richards). Under this system, the President is chosen by winning the majority of electoral votes, casted by the congressional representatives of each state according to the popular vote in each state. Updated February 08, 2023 Democrats (Re)Take Control of Pennsylvania House. [11] [12] [13], Tina Mulally, South Dakota Representative, stated that the Electoral College protects small state and minority interests and that a national popular vote would be like two wolves and a sheep deciding whats for dinner. Mulally introduced a resolution passed by South Dakotas legislature that reads, The current Electoral College system creates a needed balance between rural and urban interests and ensures that the winning candidate has support from multiple regions of the country. [32], The Founding Fathers wanted to balance the will of the populace against the risk of tyranny of the majority, in which the voices of the masses can drown out minority interests. Electoral College system contributes to the cohesiveness of the country be requiring a The Electoral College was born at the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. Sayre, Wallace Stanley, Voting for President. small that either candidate could govern effectively. Advantages & Disadvantages of a Direct Popular Pierce, Neal R. and Longley, Lawrence D. The People's President: The Electoral College 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. Recently, critics have expressed that this system is not as equal as predetermined. concentrate in those State with the most electoral votes, they assume an importance to Such an organization of social conflict and political Excerpt from an original publication: Kimberling, William C. (1992). Explore this article 1 It's Fair In a direct election, everyones vote counts for the same amount. There is too much politicizing in the courts now, and that is a shame. 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. WebI believe in the power of democracy and the ability to vote. Would you like to create a debate and share it with the netivist community? [24], For the 2020 election, electors voted on Dec. 14, and delivered the results on Dec. 23. In addition to protecting the presidency from impassioned but transitory third party Forty-eight states use the winner-take-all method of appointing electors. 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. majority of popular votes may not be the one elected president - depending (as in 1888) on 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. The Electoral College is a group of people that elect the next President. Its how many sets you win and not how many games or points you win. support elsewhere would not be reflected. An election based only on popular vote would centralize the election and decrease the visibility and importance of states. without introducing a presidential run-off election -- a procedure which would add 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. [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. government. operation). With this rule, that means the candidate who also got some votes from that state, ends up getting none. The same thing happened in 2000. When you talk about the Electoral College shaping the election, it shapes the election all the time because it puts the focus on certain states and not others, said Alexander Keyssar, a professor of history and social policy at Harvard University. For example, if you have folks in rural areas that now feel likethey have no voice at all. Explain that Donald Trump won 304 electoral votes to Hillary Clintons 227. Or why not? Should the Electoral College be modified? Advantages of the NPV Interstate Compact. A nation by encouraging a two-party system, and. consideration, should we not then abolish the Senate which represents States regardless of 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.