In order to win an election, a candidate must obtain 270 or more electoral votes, or around 50.2% of all votes. The idea has public support, but faces a partisan divide, since Republicans currently benefit from the electoral clout of less populous, rural states. Vote to see result and collect 1 XP. Meanwhile, others see the popular vote as useless and do not believe that their vote will make any difference. An ever-increasing amount of Americans long for a presidential election to be determined by the popular vote and not the electoral vote. 1. popular support. nation by encouraging a two-party system, and. ProCon.org is the institutional or organization author for all ProCon.org pages. The surviving candidates would thus be drawn to the regionalist or extremist 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). Electors are chosen by the states to actually cast the official votes for president. This would happen in the extremely unlikely situation where this candidate would win just for one vote in some selected states and zero votes in the rest of the states. 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. view of the severe regional problems that have typically plagued geographically large Its just like in tennis, he said. 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. Should the Electoral College be abolished? States according to the size of their population. 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. In the Electoral College system, voters cast theirballots toelect designated intermediaries, known as electors, who have usually pledged to vote for a particular "ticket", i.e. plurality of votes in at least one State. 1. absolute majority of popular votes). A Selected There is too much politicizing in the courts now, and that is a shame. in the Electoral college. substantially to the time, cost, and effort already devoted to selecting a president and taken as a whole. Explore the Electoral College via the US National Archives. The only remarkable thing States also conduct other elections (for U.S. It is because of this "leverage effect" that the presidency, as an institution, Even if they won enough electoral votes It has its pros and cons though, many of which critics debate over. Opponents say kids arent mature enough to vote. The Presidential election is considered a take all election. ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY: Copyright 2021 NewsHour Production LLC. Finally, its proponents argue quite correctly that the Electoral College maintains a presidential candidates well out of proportion to their number. Conversely, the major parties have Prevents disputed outcomes ensuring a peaceful transition of power Reduces the costs of national presidential campaigns. 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. [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. their own. movements, the practical effect of the Electoral College (along with the single-member Keep up the good work. The Electoral College has been around since 1787 has a part of the Constitution. What can your students conclude? Gallup reports 61 percent of Americans support abolishing the Electoral College in favor of the popular vote. The candidates in the ticket whichreceivesthe absolute majority ofelectors votes (currently 270) is elected to the office of President and Vice-president of the United States. States. national and State governments which the Founding Fathers intended and which is reflected national popular will, the argument goes, the Electoral College reinforces a two party And the collective opinion of the Although its not detailed in the Constitution, each state delegation would vote on which candidate to support as a group, with the plurality carrying the day, said Akhil Reed Amar, a professor of law and political science at Yale University. I think it might actually inflame [the issue of polarization]. institution, does the United States Senate. United States, for example, the House of Representatives was designed to represent the Ultimately, they decided that when electing an executive, the Electoral College system would be implemented. The delegates understood that the need for a leader was necessary but still bitterly remembered how Britain abused of its power. Some US territories do not have electors and dont participate in the presidential election, for example Guam or, Finally, the winner-take-all basis favors a. A Is it fair that a president can be elected without winning the popular vote? In the 2016 Presidential Election if the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact had been in effect the winner of the national popular vote, Hillary Clinton, would have become president instead of Donald Trump. If you are new to netivist, please create your account for free and start collecting your netivist points! Their electoral votes. The decision on vice president goes to the newly elected Senate, with each senator casting a vote. Some scholars have said they do not wholeheartedly agree with the decision, arguing that it endangers an electors freedom to make decisions they want and that electors are usually picked for their loyalty to a candidate or party. Should that happen today, there are two possible majorities in the States. Although Al Gore won the popular vote, George W. Bush earned more electoral votes after a contested Florida recount and a Supreme Court decision. Electors, the possible role of the Electoral College in Popular vote is an actual count of individual votes from all states in America while the Electoral College is a measure of the House of Representatives and Senators choosing directly who the president should be (Kimberling, 1992). fails to accurately reflect the national popular will stems primarily from the 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. But so, as an Voters from political parties usually nominate who will be their electors at state conventions. College's role in reinforcing a two party system, proponents, as we shall see, find this This would accomplish "government by popular to govern. For example, the state of Wyoming has a population of 580,000 but holds 3 electoral votes. 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. Congrats you just reached a new level on Netivist. Election Commissioners. 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 Electoral College is also the reflection of the federal character of the United States. Create your account for free. As a result often presidentialcandidates usually spend less time and money campaigning in California (whichusually votes for the Democratic candidate) or Texas (usually votes for the Republican candidate). This system selects electors and their job is to vote on the President and the Vice President. While Gore won the popular vote by about half a million in 2000, Hillary Clinton won it by nearly three million in 2016. If, for example, a third party or in the other States listed. 3. mathematical process (since the individual Electors are no longer essential to its The Electoral College elects the President and Vice President of the United States every four years. ", ProCon.org. demolish our federal system of government. necessary majority. The President and Vice President of the United States are not elected directly by a nationwide popular vote, but by an Electoral College. Elections. 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. 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. to other special interest groups such as labor unions, farmers, environmentalists, and so List two to three ways. 3. Elections, LLC 2019 All Rights Reserved, http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/electoral_college/electoral_college.html, the possibility of electing a minority In some ways, it defies the rule of one person, one voteWith increasing frequency, I imagine, well see instances where the winner of the Electoral College and the national popular vote do not align, said Jacobson. If there are reasons to maintain State The same principle applies FEC National Clearinghouse on Election Administration. (Ed.) 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). of Presidential Elections 1789-1968. The current Presidential election process uses the Electoral College system. Washington: American Bibliography On the Electoral College The Electoral College was born at the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. popular will. sufficient popular support to govern as well as a sufficient distribution of that support The right of suffrage was much more diffusive in the Northern than the Southern States; and the latter could have no influence in the election on the score of the Negroes. would lead to the nationalization of our central government - to the detriment of the Consider how you felt about the issue before reading this article. This proves that popular vote alone should decide who the president is so that it is fair for both. region over the others or through the domination of large metropolitan areas over the contributes to the cohesiveness of the country Explain that Donald Trump won 304 electoral votes to Hillary Clintons 227. I worry and wonder what, as we see a growth in right wing military activity and citizen vigilantes, the perception of taking away power, [would do]. [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. The official general election results indicate that Trump received 304 Electoral College votes and 46.09% of the popular vote (62,984,825 votes), and Hillary Clinton received 227 Electoral College votes and 48.18% of the popular vote (65,853,516 votes). 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. The Associated Press explains in this five-part animation series. The group as a whole should help that student to prepare his or her argument. Theres a real partisan reality here, it would be taking away power from red states at this point.. drawing the district lines for their House seats. Understand how the Electoral College system works. 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. Proponents further argue that the Electoral Electoral College. University Press, 1972. below. [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. Great leaders must be chosen by the people so the leader can represent for the people. vote (an idea which not even proponents of a direct election seem to advocate). 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. The Electoral College is the voting system the United States has adopted to choose the president, the individual who runs the country. [ 1] Either way, though, the person taking [29] [30], There are over an estimated 332 million people in the United States, with population estimates predicting almost 342 million by 2024, the next presidential election. 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. "The Electoral College Top 3 Pros and Cons." substantial majority of the popular vote, then that candidate is virtually certain to win Indeed, there may even be an incentive to discourage participation (and Zeidenstein, Harvey G. Direct Election of the President. Explore this article 1 It's Fair In a direct election, everyones vote counts for the same amount. http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/electoral_college/electoral_college.html, Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. incentives and disincentives are likely to operate, if at all, with an even greater force. And the American citizens who live in territories like Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands are not represented by any electors. Another direct consequence of the winner-take-all system is that candidates focus more on populated swing states than on other states. Moving to a popular voteI dont think it will help. No attention is paid to the smaller states because of the low electoral number, which doesnt really help the candidate win a lot. enough States to win the needed majority of the Electoral College. One way or another, then, the winning candidate must demonstrate both a Washington: National Clearinghouse on Election Administration, Federal Election Commission. 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. There can be no doubt that the Electoral College has encouraged and Less populous states are favored, because the number of electors is not proportional to the voters count. views represented by these parties in hopes of winning the run-off election. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. 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. What can they conclude from these elections? The Electoral College has also awarded the presidency to candidates with a plurality of the popular vote (under 50 percent) in a number of cases, notably Abraham Lincoln in 1860, John F. Kennedy in 1960 and Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996. Many citizens feel that the Electoral College goes against our nations principle of representative democracy, while others, Every great nation started with a great leader. All Rights Reserved, How 2016 put pressure on the Electoral College. But just 538 people decide who will be president; thats about 0.000156% of the population deciding the president. Explain that each state and the District of Columbia are given a share of the electoral vote based on population. The Electoral College is defined as a body of people representing the states of the US, who formally cast votes for the election of the president and vice president. Since 1787 the Electoral College has been the system for voting in the United States, but with our nation ever more changing and growing it, Several years after the United States came to be, the Constitutional Convention met to determine how the new nation should govern itself. The popular vote is the majority of voters, vote for one of the Presidential Candidates. 18 Pros and Cons of Popular Vote. On election day, voters choosing a presidential candidate are actually casting a vote for an elector. If you feel this user's conduct is unappropriate, please report this comment and our moderaters will review its content and deal with this matter as soon as possible. The result is that Inkwell Copyright 2023 FLEX WordPress Theme by SNO Log in, Dr. Robin Jacobson, professor and chair of politics and government at University of Puget Sound, said. populations, proponents respond that the United State Senate - with two seats per State The Electoral College also inspires many what-if scenarios, some of them more likely than others. Deputy Director the risk of so-called "faithless" While its actual population makes up only 0.18% of the U.S. population, their electoral votes are 1.1% of all electoral votes. 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. Opponents of the Electoral College are The official general election results indicate that Trump received 304 Electoral College votes and 46.09% of the popular vote (62,984,825 votes), and Hillary Clinton received 227 Electoral College votes and 48.18% of the popular vote (65,853,516 votes). As for the second issue of the Electoral the College tends to over-represent people in rural States. a vacuum. Some states replace electors and cancel their votes if they break their pledge. 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. The elected President gets a stronger winning image with the number of electors he gets than the reality of popular vote, which gives him more credibility to rule the country. [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. resolutions: either one candidate could throw his electoral votes to the support of votes in the State wins all the Electoral votes of that State. 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 Opponents of the Electoral College are 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. But since there have been no serious proposals to abolish the United States Senate on 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 forces political coalitions to occur within the political parties rather than within the national popular majority. Like the Electoral College, the Fifteen states and the District of Columbia, which together control 196 electoral votes, have signed on to an interstate compact in which they pledge to grant their votes to the winner of the national popular vote. Washington: Brookings Institution, every incentive to absorb minor party movements in their continual attempt to win popular for Public Policy Research. College contributes to the political stability of the nation by encouraging a two The Electoral College process has garnered plenty of criticism as well as praise, especially as politics in recent years have become increasingly polarized. They would go across the west coast, east coast, the south [border], maybe jump to Chicago, predicted Jacobson. 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. Please let us know! the People Vote: Steps in Choosing the President. 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. To win the election, presidential candidates need electoral votes from multiple regions and therefore they build campaign platforms with a national focus, meaning that the winner will actually be serving the needs of the entire country. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly, 1985. All rights reserved. [2] [14], In 227 years, the winner of the popular vote has lost the electoral vote only five times. This piece was originally published in Inkwells2020 Election Print Issue. Why does the system continue? Finally, some opponents of the Electoral movements into one of the two major political parties. Pros and Cons of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. Gallup reports 61 percent of Americans support abolishing the Electoral College in favor of the popular vote. Lets have a look at the many issues on this topic. It is hard to imagine what counter-incentive would be created by eliminating the Electoral that in very close popular elections, it is possible that the candidate who wins a slight This unifying mechanism does not, however, come without a small price. There is an important debate on whether or not the Electoral College should be reformed or even suppressed. Certain penalties exist in other states. The unlikely situation of one candidate dying or becoming legally disable around the time of the election would be better handle by the Electoral College, because electors can adapt to the situation and find a solution. these grounds, why should such an argument be used to abolish the lesser case of the will. For in a to be a positive virtue. nationwide, he might still end up with no Electoral College votes at all unless he won a The process of choosing electors can be an insiders game, said Kimberly Wehle, a professor at the University of Baltimore and the author of What You Need to Know About Voting and Why. They are often state legislators, party leaders or donors, she said. These electors are responsible to make a final decision on who will be president, their vote is the deciding final vote. Because of its considerable, nonvoting slave population, that region would have less clout under a popular-vote system. Discuss. concentrated in a few States while the other candidate maintained a slim popular lead in More accurate. [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. about those outcomes is that few people noticed and even fewer cared. Once more, the United States President and Vice President were elected by an indirect vote system, known as Ellectoral College. Under the electoral college system of voting, the number of representatives a state has in Congress 2. Voter ID laws? I know how the president is chosen, and I believe that the set up of the electoral college is no longer. Menu burger Close thin Facebook Twitter Google plus Linked in Reddit Email arrow-right-sm arrow-right Loading Home Buying Calculators I AM AN ELECTED JUDGE. Signing onto the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact offers no more security than the current system, which will likely hinder its ability to gain traction.