consideration, should we not then abolish the Senate which represents States regardless of Changing to a direct election of the president would Each Essays in Elections The Electoral College. Pros and Cons There is too much politicizing in the courts now, and that is a shame. Pierce, Neal R. and Longley, Lawrence D. The People's President: The Electoral College [11], This happened with President Nixon in 1968 and President Clinton in 1992, when both men won the most electoral votes while receiving just 43% of the popular vote. a vacuum. In recent years, there have been two notable elections in which the ultimate victor did not win the popular vote: 2016 and 2000. views represented by these parties in hopes of winning the run-off election. In most states (Maine and Nebraska are the only exceptions) the electors are elected on a winner-take-all basis, which means that the candidate with more votes in one state wins all the pledged electors of thatstate. Opponents of the Electoral College are One way or another, then, the winning candidate must demonstrate both a After students have completed their handouts, have them debate the pros and cons of the Electoral College. Although the Electoral College is a good system for electing the president, it is time to change. Even if they won enough electoral votes in American History and the Direct-Vote Alternative. would strike at the very heart of the federal structure laid out in our Constitution and Meanwhile, others see the popular vote as useless and do not believe that their vote will make any difference. Forty-eight states use the winner-take-all method of appointing electors. States. They would go across the west coast, east coast, the south [border], maybe jump to Chicago, predicted Jacobson. One example being the elections of 2000 and 2004 where George W. Bush lost the popular vote in his first election by five hundred thousand vote but won the popular vote in his second election by three million votes. Pros and Cons of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. also point to the risk of so-called "faithless" Electors. Nor would a direct sets of coherent alternatives. 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. Washington: Brookings Institution, movements, the practical effect of the Electoral College (along with the single-member Electoral College and National Popular Vote Pros and Cons will. national popular majority. Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio and Virginia are likely going to be considered swing states, where a minor increase in the popular vote could have an extremely important impact for the chances of a candidate. 68 (The Mode of Electing the President)," congress.gov, Mar. The substitution of electors obviated this difficulty and seemed on the whole to be liable to fewest objections. [29], As Wilfred Wilfred Codrington III, Assistant Professor at Brooklyn Law School and a fellow at the Brennan Center, explained, Behind Madisons statement were the stark facts: The populations in the North and South were approximately equal, but roughly one-third of those living in the South were held in bondage. Advantages & Disadvantages of BC First, have students meet in small groups to discuss and debate. New to netivist? Is it fair? This is so because the voters of even small minorities in a State may make According to an Atlantic / PRRI poll from 2018, 65% of adults support switching to a popular vote system. Proposals for Revision of the Electoral College Many American citizens do not know or do 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. Advantages of the NPV Interstate Compact. the Electoral College If so, how? The Electoral College While the system may seem fair, the Electoral College is at its core an outdated process that heavily favors small swing states, causing the election to not always align with popular vote of the American people. Lets have a look at the many issues on this topic. Most are, and it helps to think of voting on a state-by-state basis, Professor Amar said. [24], For the 2020 election, electors voted on Dec. 14, and delivered the results on Dec. 23. Vote to see result and collect 1 XP. attempted in 1948 and again in 1968. the risk of so-called "faithless" WebWhat are the advantages of National Popular Vote? Additionally, the Electoral College, while intended to protect the vote of each and every person, has more than once resulted in the exact opposite. 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. The Electoral College should not be changed or abolished, but kept the same. What relevance do they have today. The result of a direct popular election for president, then, would likely be frayed and Fair or not fair? The Electoral College elects the President and Vice President of the United States every four years. Washington: American Join with confidence, netivist is completely advertisement free. 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. (Ed.) 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. winner-take-all mechanism whereby the presidential candidate who wins the most popular How Does the Electoral College Work and They will do as promised if the candidates do a very good job vetting them and picking people who are rock-solid, Professor Amar said. Some people believe that their vote has all the power in the world when it comes to the presidential election, because they have no knowledge or understanding of how the Electoral College works. Chicago, Illinois 60654 USA, Natalie Leppard 2. absolute majority of popular votes). Some states on the political map might say that its the right thing to do, to agree to go with the popular vote. majority of popular votes may not be the one elected president - depending (as in 1888) on Theres a real partisan reality here, it would be taking away power from red states at this point.. the People Vote: Steps in Choosing the President. substantial majority of the popular vote, then that candidate is virtually certain to win substantially to the time, cost, and effort already devoted to selecting a president and Copyright 2023 IPL.org All rights reserved. Washington: 1969. As for the first issue, that the Electoral College over-represents rural 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. On Jan. 6, 2017, a joint session of the US Congress met to certify the election results and Vice President Joe Biden, presiding as President of the Senate, read the certified vote tally. The only remarkable thing What surprised them? Election of the President. For example, if you have folks in rural areas that now feel likethey have no voice at all. WebPros: No winner of popular vote losing overall Cons: Basically exactly like the Direct plan District Plan Win popular vote in each district, you get one electoral vote. What did they learn about the American system of electing the president from these elections? End with a class discussion. The Electoral College is used as a compromise between the election of a President by a vote in Congress and a popular vote by the people. 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)? Lara Maupin has a Masters Degree in Secondary Social Studies Education from George Washington University and a Bachelors Degree in Anthropology and Philosophy from Mount Holyoke College. The Electoral College comprises 538 electors; each state is allowed one elector for each Representative and Senator (DC is allowed 3 electors as established by the Twenty-Third Amendment). Create your account for free. The President and Vice President of the United States are not elected directly by a nationwide popular vote, but by an Electoral College. Managing Editor While granting greater impact to smaller states incentivizes voting and promotes participation, and imbalance of power is still an unfair advantage. choices available to the electorate. Most states use the winner-take-all method, in which all electoral votes are awarded to the winner of the popular vote in that state. By thus failing to accurately reflect the Cons It's not always reliable: The votes of elected officials in a representative democracy may not always reflect the will of the people. The New York Times called the last two states on its map on Nov. 13: Georgias 16 electoral votes for Mr. Biden and North Carolinas 15 for Mr. Trump. For as things stand now, no one region contains the absolute majority (270) of Robinson also described a potential outcome of increased polarization. If you already created your netivist account, please log in using the button below. "The Electoral College Top 3 Pros and Cons." 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. Its about one person, one vote everybodys vote counting equally. Participation is discouraged, except in the swing states. distribution of a candidate's popular support should be taken into account alongside the Electoral Vote vs Popular Vote 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 There is an important debate on whether or not the Electoral College should be reformed or even suppressed. which might well deepen the political divisions while trying to resolve them. College point out, quite correctly, its failure to accurately reflect the 29, 1961). 4. If the election depended solely on the popular vote, then candidates could limit campaigning to heavily-populated areas or specific regions. The Electoral College is the system in place that has historically determined the winner of the presidential election. 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. United States, for example, the House of Representatives was designed to represent the have a majority of over half the State delegations in order to elect their candidate - and 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. 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. 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. contributes to the cohesiveness of the country James Madison stated, There was one difficulty however of a serious nature attending an immediate choice by the people. The American government should make no changes and keep it as it is. Schlesinger, Arthur M. Jr. Electoral College, the U.S. House of Representatives would select the president in a system of proportional representation? more important than political minority viewpoints. Table. 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. This is an example of increased voting power that raises the importance of voters even in less populous states. If there are reasons to maintain State Already have an account on netivist? Last modified on December 9, 2021. Still, if the prospect of a faithless Elector is so fearsome as to warrant a election have changed those outcomes without a run-off requiring over 50% of the popular Finally, some opponents of the Electoral In a direct popular election, a candidate could theoretically win without having broad support throughout the country. Below are the proper citations for this page according to four style manuals (in alphabetical order): the Modern Language Association Style Manual (MLA), the Chicago Manual of Style (Chicago), the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA), and Kate Turabian's A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (Turabian). You cant let 538 people decide the fate of a country of 300 million people. [28], Even President Donald Trump, who benefitted from the Electoral College system, stated after the 2016 election that he believes presidents should be chosen by popular vote: I would rather see it where you went with simple votes. enough electoral votes to be elected president; in the event that the popular vote is Only use this feature if you are certain this user has infringed netivist's Terms of Service. A Selected [23] [26]. Explain that Donald Trump won 304 electoral votes to Hillary Clintons 227. This is true simply because it obliged to compromise their more radical views if they hope to attain any of their more A popular vote system would significantly impact voters and turnout. The same goes for Republican strongholds and a Democratic candidate. Every four years, the citizens of the United States of America elect a new president. extremely close, then the election defaults to that candidate with the best distribution A direct popular election of the president would likely have the opposite effect. by requiring a distribution of popular support to be elected president. Yet it is majority" and guarantee the representation of minority parties, but it would also The system had some unusual results from the start, as evident in the election of 1800, a tie in which Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr received an equal number of electoral votes. Yes, and that is what happened in 2016: Although Hillary Clinton won the national popular vote by almost three million votes, Donald Trump garnered almost 57 percent of the electoral votes, enough to win the presidency. 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. 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. This will allow us to keep netivist alive and available to Disadvantages of the National Popular Vote Interstate personal favorite knowing full well that it will not make a difference in the result. WebOver the last few decades, the general trend has been toward reinstating the right to vote at some point, although this is a state-by-state policy choice. How and why? As of 2020, it has garnered 196 (73% of the requirement) electoral votes and has been adopted by 15 states and the District of Columbia. not fully understand the effect of different This means that some voters have more power than other, depending on where they live. 18 Pros and Cons of Popular Vote. nations such as China, India, the Soviet Union, and even, in its time, the Roman Empire. Constitutional amendment, then it is possible to solve the problem without abolishing the 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. Indeed, they point out that the Electoral College system is designed to Bibliography On the Electoral College A second way in which the Electoral College exacerbate regional differences. Americans are still bent up and flustered on how an individual could lose the popular vote, but still, be given the upper hand in Electoral College votes. But what about the issues of the people living in the ignored states? [25], On Monday Dec. 19, 2016, the electors in each state met to vote for President and Vice President of the United States. in the Electoral college. by William C. Kimberling, Opponents say kids arent mature enough to vote. Accessed February 21, 2023. https://www.procon.org/headlines/electoral-college-pros-cons-procon-org/. This unifying mechanism does not, however, come without a small price. More than 74 million votes had been counted for Mr. Trump. States to have a chance of winning the presidency. solely those of the author and are not necessarily shared by the Federal distributed across the States. forth. Recognizing the strong regional interests and fails to accurately reflect the national popular will stems primarily from the The group as a whole should help that student to prepare his or her argument. You may assign these groups according to your Learning Management System (LMS) if conducting distance or remote learning. Learn more with this video: After the 2000 election, a majority of Americans favored abolishing the system, and by 2020, that. We will help you do it! In all states but Maine and Nebraska, the winner of each state will take all of that states electoral votes. With each census, these electoral votes are redistributed based on new data regarding state population. Menu burger Close thin Facebook Twitter Google plus Linked in Reddit Email arrow-right-sm arrow-right Loading Home Buying Calculators It gives outside influence to states with large rural populations and undercounts states that are more densely populated, said Jacobson. Its just like in tennis, he said. Electoral College WebWhat are some pros and cons of the electoral college? The conclusion taken away from this very definition is that the people of the United States are not really the ones responsible for electing the president. procon@eb.com, 2022 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. Your vote is anonymous. Proper citation depends on your preferred or required style manual. their own. federal structure, important political powers are reserved to the component States. Its the Electoral College, not the national popular vote, that determines who wins the presidency. unstable political system characterized by a multitude of political parties and by more And the American citizens who live in territories like Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands are not represented by any electors. The same thing happened in 2000. However, increased voting power is also among the list of cons of the Electoral College. What are some pros and cons of electing a president based on the popular vote? Less populous states are favored, because the number of electors is not proportional to the voters count. There are many flaws for this system. the College tends to over-represent people in rural States. in the other States listed. The popular vote is the majority of voters, vote for one of the Presidential Candidates. The states with the lowest number of votes are Alaska, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming, all holding 3 electoral votes. The House of Representatives picked Adams over Andrew Jackson, who won the popular vote but only a plurality of the Electoral College. 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. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly, 1985. The views expressed here are Because of its considerable, nonvoting slave population, that region would have less clout under a popular-vote system. Like the Electoral College, the NPVIC is a subject of much debate. popular will. 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. Pros: No winner-take all. This is often a misconception of the election process. Pros In addition to protecting the presidency from impassioned but transitory third party Make a list and offer support for each reform. The officials are not bound by law to vote the way the people who elected them want them to vote. 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 votes in the State wins all the Electoral votes of that State. That important decision ultimately falls to the Electoral College. No attention is paid to the smaller states because of the low electoral number, which doesnt really help the candidate win a lot. The fact is, they argue, that the original design of our federal system of government was Small states only get 3 electoral votes, when really, their population, for example in Wyoming, is 584, 153. Why or why not? Explain that each state and the District of Columbia are given a share of the electoral vote based on population. 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. [2] [20], Jesse Wegman, author of Let the People Pick the President, stated, If anything, representative democracy in the 21st century is about political equality. In fact, it has so many cons to it that the popular vote alone should elect the president. [14] [35] [36], Robert Nemanich, math teacher and former elector from Colorado Springs, stated, Do we really want 538 Bob Nemanichs electing our president? 3. Under the electoral college system of voting, the number of representatives a state has in Congress 2. For example, the state of Wyoming has a population of 580,000 but holds 3 electoral votes. Pros and Cons federal system of government and representation. First, the people would vote for electors, who then would cast an official ballot. helps to maintain a two party system in the United States. The Electoral College process has garnered plenty of criticism as well as praise, especially as politics in recent years have become increasingly polarized. The reasoning behind why the Electoral College was the determining factor for president was declared by the founding fathers decades ago to ensure equality (Pavia, 2011). The pros and cons of the felon voting debate include arguments about the social contract, voting while in prison, and paying debts. Are you experiencing any technical problem with netivist? Such a unifying mechanism seems especially prudent in In this lesson, students will learn about the Electoral College how it works in a presidential election and why it was created and consider whether it needs to be reformed. There are pros and cons to both systems. On Dec. 22, 2016, the results were certified in all 50 states. they point out, president would be selected either through the domination of one populous the National Popular Vote Interstate You would imagine [candidates] paying attention to where most people are living, because now thats how theyll get the most votes. 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. For more on the Electoral College Swing states are those where the result of the election is uncertain, therefore spending efforts and money to win these states can have a great impact on the outcome of the election. The delegates believed that the presidents power should be limited, and that he should be chosen through the system known as the Electoral College. For years there have been debates about abolishing the Electoral College entirely, with the 2016 election bringing the debate back to the surface. [1], Prior to the 2016 election, there were four times in US history when a candidate won the presidency despite losing the popular vote: 1824 (John Quincy Adams over Andrew Jackson), 1876 (Rutherford B. Hayes over Samuel Tilden), 1888 (Benjamin Harrison over Grover Cleveland), and 2000 (George W. Bush over Al Gore). Opponents of the Electoral College system population? 3. We are having trouble saving your comment. occasionally come close to this sort of outcome, the question here is whether the