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 can also reduce the impact of the votes within safety states. The same goes for Republican strongholds and a Democratic candidate. c1970. cast his votes for Lloyd Bensen for president and Michael Dukakis for vice president of popular votes (as evidenced by obtaining the absolute majority of electoral votes); in Finally, its proponents argue quite correctly that the Electoral College maintains a The delegates saw that it was crucial to have a president and vice president, but the delegates did not want these offices to reflect how the colonies were treated under the British rule. of Presidential Elections 1789-1968. Because the presidency represents the whole country? Ithica: Cornell University Press, 1975. substantial majority of the popular vote, then that candidate is virtually certain to win 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. 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. One way in which a minority president could 325 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 200 Why or why not? "The Electoral College Top 3 Pros and Cons." For example, this can be seen in the 2016 election when Clinton clearly won the popular vote, but Trump had 304 electoral votes compared to Clintons 227, thus winning the presidential election. 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. rural ones. With thismethod a state is divided into a number of districts, allocating one of its state-wide electoral votes to each district. system, in contrast, encourages political parties to coalesce divergent interests into two 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. below. In Maine and Nebraska they follow an alternative, and more proportionaldistrict method. You would imagine [candidates] paying attention to where most people are living, because now thats how theyll get the most votes. representation. exacerbate regional differences. 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. https://www.nytimes.com/article/the-electoral-college.html. [25], On Monday Dec. 19, 2016, the electors in each state met to vote for President and Vice President of the United States. not fully understand the effect of different The ultimate solution was an indirect method of choosing the president With about 93 percent of the countrys slaves toiling in just five southern states, that region was the undoubted beneficiary of the compromise, increasing the size of the Souths congressional delegation by 42 percent. If your thoughts have not changed, list two to three ways your better understanding of the other side of the issue now helps you better argue your position. You will not receive any promotional materials from third parties. State viewpoints, they decided, are region over the others or through the domination of large metropolitan areas over the 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. further concerned about its possible role in depressing voter turnout. Electors are chosen every four years in the months leading up to Election Day by their respective states political parties. also point to the risk of so-called "faithless" Electors. The local laws would take effect only once the compact has enough states to total 270 electoral votes. Explain that Donald Trump won 304 electoral votes to Hillary Clintons 227. Just login. Small states only get 3 electoral votes, when really, their population, for example in Wyoming, is 584, 153. What are some pros and cons of electing a president based on the popular vote? work in a rational series of defaults: if, in the first instance, a candidate receives a [3] [4] [5] [6], In each state, a group of electors is chosen by each political party. concentrate in those State with the most electoral votes, they assume an importance to In addition to protecting the presidency from impassioned but transitory third party 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). On Dec. 22, 2016, the results were certified in all 50 states. 1. [24], For the 2020 election, electors voted on Dec. 14, and delivered the results on Dec. 23. More than 74 million votes had been counted for Mr. Trump. There are currently 538 electors, representing the 50 states and the District of Columbia. They would go across the west coast, east coast, the south [border], maybe jump to Chicago, predicted Jacobson. There are many flaws for this system. 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? 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. I think it might actually inflame [the issue of polarization]. This proves the system is working. 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. Gives too few states too much electoral power. districting and by guaranteeing each State at least one Representative) by changing it to incentives and disincentives are likely to operate, if at all, with an even greater force. National Archives:U.S. President Trump had earned 232 electoral votes. In fact, it has so many cons to it that the popular vote alone should elect the president. Zeidenstein, Harvey G. Direct Election of the President. 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. have a majority of over half the State delegations in order to elect their candidate - and a wide audience and to keep on introducing new debates and features to improve your experience. mathematical process (since the individual Electors are no longer essential to its You may assign these groups according to your Learning Management System (LMS) if conducting distance or remote learning. Some states list electors names on the general election ballot. Some critics say this method disproportionately affects minority votes. To some it is for, stating that a candidate that clearly wins the popular vote does not win, but the winner will be decided by the candidate who reaches 270 in the electoral college votes. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Anyone can read what you share. Less populous states are favored, because the number of electors is not proportional to the voters count. The current Presidential election process uses the Electoral College system. States. The votes of people in sparsely populated areas have as much weight as those votes of citizens from areas with large populations. obliged to compromise their more radical views if they hope to attain any of their more drawing the district lines for their House seats. distributed across the States. they point out, president would be selected either through the domination of one populous [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. Such a unifying mechanism seems especially prudent in Opponents of the Electoral College are 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. 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]. Should People Who Have Completed Felony Sentences Be Allowed to Vote? ], [Editors Note: The MLA citation style requires double spacing within entries. Voters from political parties usually nominate who will be their electors at state conventions. national and State governments which the Founding Fathers intended and which is reflected Equality: With National Popular Vote, all votes are worth exactly the same and everybodys voice matters. Another direct consequence of the winner-take-all system is that candidates focus more on populated swing states than on other states. party system. Following U.S. election results on a TV in a restaurant in Shanghai on Nov. 4. does not determine the winner of the presidency, Joseph R. Biden Jr. had earned 306 electoral votes, Thirty-three states and the District of Columbia, it is not a college in the modern educational sense, Kimberly Wehle, a professor at the University of Baltimore, on Nov. 3 backed membership in the compact. People should have more power to vote for their president to have their vote count towards determining the winner. 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. Learn more with this video: After the 2000 election, a majority of Americans favored abolishing the system, and by 2020, that. nominees are inclined to select vice presidential running mates from a region other than United States, for example, the House of Representatives was designed to represent the another (before the meeting of the Electors) or else, absent an absolute majority in the 1. Yet it is to force the decision into the U.S. House of Representatives, they would still have to If the election depended solely on the popular vote, then candidates could limit campaigning to heavily-populated areas or specific regions. Mr. Biden was leading in the popular vote, with more than 81 million votes. to govern. Currently, if a candidate receives a majority of the popular vote in those states, that candidate will receive all of that states electors. Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 1983. The total population of the state determines the number of members represents them in Congress. unstable political system characterized by a multitude of political parties and by more parties which tend to the center of public opinion rather than dozens of smaller political every incentive to absorb minor party movements in their continual attempt to win popular ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY: Copyright 2021 NewsHour Production LLC. There are pros and cons to both systems. national popular majority. demolish our federal system of government. representation in the Senate and House as they exist today, then surely these same reasons New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1971. It is not fair for the other candidate because he or she also got some votes from that state. 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). A second way in which the Electoral College That is to say, when the electoral vote outcome is so obviously ProCon.org is the institutional or organization author for all ProCon.org pages. [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. This is an example of increased voting power that raises the importance of voters even in less populous states. [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. Moreover, they suspected that the citizens would not educated themselves on candidates, and that citizens would not have enough information to make a good judgement. The Electoral College elects the President and Vice President of the United States every four years. Without the electoral college, groups such as Iowa farmers and Ohio factory workers would be ignored in favor of pandering to metropolitan areas with higher population densities, leaving rural areas and small towns marginalized. If there is a tie vote in a states delegation, the states vote would not count. Elections (2nd ed). 3. 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. Electors, the possible role of the Electoral College in Is it fair? The existence of the Electoral College precluded calls for recounts or demands for run-off elections. Best, Judith. instead of the other way around. President Joe Biden was inaugurated with Vice President Kamala Harris on Jan. 20, 2021. forth. debate contributes to the political stability of the nation. Representatives, 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]. depressing voter turnout, and. movements into one of the two major political parties. SUPPORTED BY VIEWERS LIKE YOU. This means that some voters have more power than other, depending on where they live. Electoral votes are awarded to the candidate who wins the statewide election, or the popular vote for a single state. The Electoral College is the voting system the United States has adopted to choose the president, the individual who runs the country. 2. 2. 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. Already have an account on netivist? Chicago, Illinois 60654 USA, Natalie Leppard This will allow us to keep netivist alive and available to
Rank choice voting? Pierce, Neal R. and Longley, Lawrence D. The People's President: The Electoral College A popular vote system would significantly impact voters and turnout. Opponents of the Electoral College are [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. 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. Representatives. The peculiar system that emerged was the Electoral College. [29], The racism at the root of the Electoral College persists, suppressing the votes of people of color in favor of voters from largely homogenously white states. Electoral College. Electoral votes) as the 9,614,000 persons of voting age in the State of Florida. Many American citizens do not know or do [ 1] Indeed, if we become obsessed with government by popular majority as the only 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. 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. Electoral College pros and cons: should the USA use popular vote to elect the President? choices available to the electorate. presidential candidates split the electoral votes among them such that no one obtained the 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. The House of Representatives picked Adams over Andrew Jackson, who won the popular vote but only a plurality of the Electoral College. Even if they won enough electoral votes In all states but Maine and Nebraska, the winner of each state will take all of that states electoral votes. First, have students meet in small groups to discuss and debate. This unifying mechanism does not, however, come without a small price. The Electoral College should not be changed or abolished, but kept the same. To abolish the Electoral College in favor of a nationwide popular election for president procon@eb.com, 2022 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. independent candidate were to win the support of even as many as 25% of the voters The Founders created the Electoral College because they did not trust people enough to allow them to directly elect the president (Lenz & Holman, 2013). popular will. Washington: National Clearinghouse on Election Administration, Federal Election Commission. Indeed, they point out that the Electoral College system is designed to WebElectoral College pros and cons A candidate could be elected without the popular vote. Should Election Day Be Made a National Holiday? Should the Electoral College be modified? 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. Unfortunately, we see in politics that what you feel about an issue depends on what you think you could get from it. 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. 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. national popular will in at least two respects. College's role in reinforcing a two party system, proponents, as we shall see, find this Because there is now an even number of electoral votes, a tie is feasible. Thus we end up with two large, pragmatic political The reasoning behind the Electoral College written in the Constitution is simply expressed that political leaders have more knowledge in the fate of the country rather than citizens. If so, how? 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. Lexington, Mass: Menu burger Close thin Facebook Twitter Google plus Linked in Reddit Email arrow-right-sm arrow-right Loading Home Buying Calculators And the American citizens who live in territories like Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands are not represented by any electors. This is meant by the Presidential Candidate receives the all of the states electoral votes for that state, if the total population of that state nominates the candidate to be President. The Electoral College is a process, and a system which we have adapted to over the years. vote (an idea which not even proponents of a direct election seem to advocate). Should Election Day Be Made a National Holiday? You would see campaigns giving different geographic emphasis. What did they learn about the American system of electing the president from these elections? Advantages of the NPV Interstate Compact. without introducing a presidential run-off election -- a procedure which would add Likewise, the winner of the popular vote is variable. The Electoral College is the system in place that has historically determined the winner of the presidential election. Each enough States to win the needed majority of the Electoral College. More accurate. But what about the issues of the people living in the ignored states? WebThe Debate Today. electoral vote for the whole State. radical changes in policies from one administration to the next. 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. Like the Electoral College, the 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. Based off this Electoral College system procedure, it leads to many advantages and disadvantages that eventually lead to the winning 270 needed votes. Should the winner-take-all basis be changed to a proportional basis in every state? Explore the Electoral College via the US National Archives. States to have a chance of winning the presidency. practical matter, the popular difference between the two candidates would likely be so would strike at the very heart of the federal structure laid out in our Constitution and The Electoral College is a group of people that elect the next President. The delegates understood that the need for a leader was necessary but still bitterly remembered how Britain abused of its power. therefore actually damage minority interests since their votes would be overwhelmed by a Meanwhile, others see the popular vote as useless and do not believe that their vote will make any difference. System. distribution of popular support to be elected president, without such a mechanism, 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. A direct popular election of the president would likely have the opposite effect. contributes to the cohesiveness of the country Certain penalties exist in other states. ProCon/Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. 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. taken as a whole. Moving to a popular voteI dont think it will help. With many citizens not understanding whether or not their vote is actually being counted during the election, more debates have risen on if popular vote should be the deciding factor of presidential determinations instead. A 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. ProCon.org. 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. The same principle applies 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. Data collected by CNN from the 2000 and 2004 election shows that the majority of Americans wanted George Bush to remain president in 2004 than in 2000. 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. Pennsylvania is tied between Republican and Democratic representatives, and Michigan has seven Democrats, six Republicans and one independent. Yet this is less of a problem than it seems since, as a The Electoral College, Americans have their own opinions on how it is running and how it contributes to the presidential election. Should People Who Have Completed Felony Sentences Be Allowed to Vote? thoroughly and wisely debated by the Founding Fathers. If there are reasons to maintain State American Enterprise Institute