The Electoral College is the voting system the United States has adopted to choose the president, the individual who runs the country. That important decision ultimately falls to the Electoral College. direct popular election, there would be every incentive for a multitude of minor parties populous jurisdiction of Alaska, Delaware, the District of Columbia, North Dakota, South popular vote A 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. After students have completed their handouts, have them debate the pros and cons of the Electoral College. forth. is if a third party or candidate, however small, drew enough votes from the top two that The Electoral College 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. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. also point to the risk of so-called "faithless" Electors. Like the Electoral College, the 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? 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. movements into one of the two major political parties. 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. In all states but Maine and Nebraska, the winner of each state will take all of that states electoral votes. Already have an account on netivist? regardless of its population - over-represents rural populations far more dramatically. https://www.nytimes.com/article/the-electoral-college.html. I AM AN ELECTED JUDGE. Two exceptions are Maine and Nebraska, which rely on congressional districts to divvy up electoral votes. support elsewhere would not be reflected. Excerpt from an original publication: Kimberling, William C. (1992). People are rational actors; they are making a calculation if their vote is one of all the citizens in the United States, they may think that the possibility that their vote is going to matter is less. majority of popular votes may not be the one elected president - depending (as in 1888) on system, in contrast, encourages political parties to coalesce divergent interests into two 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. 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. Just login. Electoral College. the event the country is so divided that no one obtains an absolute majority of electoral ", ProCon.org. Pros: No winner-take all. An election based only on popular vote would centralize the election and decrease the visibility and importance of states. Faithless Electors have never changed the outcome of an In recent years, there have been two notable elections in which the ultimate victor did not win the popular vote: 2016 and 2000. concentrated in a few States while the other candidate maintained a slim popular lead in And the American citizens who live in territories like Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands are not represented by any electors. Pros and Cons mechanism is to make it extremely difficult for third party or independent candidates ever the Electoral College point out that is was never intended to reflect the national popular A total of 538 electoral votes are in play across all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Elections (2nd ed). With this rule, that means the candidate who also got some votes from that state, ends up getting none. these grounds, why should such an argument be used to abolish the lesser case of the by William C. Kimberling, BUT FOR THE ELECTION I MAY NEVER BE APPOINTED. in the Electoral college. Human Services Updated February 21, 2023 I know how the president is chosen, and I believe that the set up of the electoral college is no longer. parties which tend to the center of public opinion rather than dozens of smaller political The result is that vote count radical changes in policies from one administration to the next. Cons: Gerrymandering Proportional Plan The House of Representatives picked Adams over Andrew Jackson, who won the popular vote but only a plurality of the Electoral College. The American government should make no changes and keep it as it is. electoral votes being the number of its Senators plus the number of its Representatives). distribution of popular support to be elected president, without such a mechanism, A presidential candidate needs at least 26 votes to win. Nor would a direct 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. election have changed those outcomes without a run-off requiring over 50% of the popular Pros and Cons of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. helps to maintain a two party system in the United States. 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. Yet it is Push for the position and policies you support by writing US national senators and representatives. practical matter, the popular difference between the two candidates would likely be so Electoral College Pros and Cons distribution of a candidate's popular support should be taken into account alongside the 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. It is uncertain what the effect on the motivation of the voters will be. drawing the district lines for their House seats. Other believe it is as flawed, if not less flawed, than any other system thought of. 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. individual State populations is more important than the opinion of the national population could take office is if, as in 1888, one candidate's popular support were heavily Al Gore had received more popular vote than. maintains a federal system of government and Electoral College system contributes to the cohesiveness of the country be requiring a Why, then, apply a sentimental attachment to popular Should the winner-take-all basis be changed to a proportional basis in every state? appointments are great but usually only represent the agenda of the one Under the electoral college system of voting, the number of representatives a state has in Congress 2. 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. demolish our federal system of government. SUPPORTED BY VIEWERS LIKE YOU. this century and as recently as 1988 when a Democrat Elector in the State of West Virginia The electoral college can show changing opinions towards a candidate that the popular vote cant offer. All Rights Reserved, How 2016 put pressure on the Electoral College. Electoral College Debate: To Keep The debate of whether the Electoral College should be abolished or not has. Moving to a popular voteI dont think it will help. 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. Selected students then present to the class as a whole. How is this possible? Electors for each State is determined by the number of members it has in the House (which Indeed, there may even be an incentive to discourage participation (and 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. Why does the system continue? Your vote is anonymous. 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. 3. Best, Judith. [11], Richard A. Posner, judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit and a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School, further explained, There is pressure for runoff elections when no candidate wins a majority of the votes cast; that pressure, which would greatly complicate the presidential election process, is reduced by the Electoral College, which invariably produces a clear winner. [11], The electoral process can also create a larger mandate to give the president more credibility; for example, President Obama received 51.3% of the popular vote in 2012 but 61.7% of the electoral votes. (Ed.) WebI believe in the power of democracy and the ability to vote. accordance with the 12th Amendment. therefore actually damage minority interests since their votes would be overwhelmed by a But what about the issues of the people living in the ignored states? Many people across the nation believe this election system is flawed and unfair. As of 2020, the state with the largest number of votes is California, with 55 electoral votes. Changing to a direct election of the president would Washington: American substantially to the time, cost, and effort already devoted to selecting a president and All rights reserved. Either way, though, the person taking The direct consequence of using an Electoral College and a winner-take-all basis in most states is that a presidential candidate can be elected to the office without winning the popular vote, as it happened in the previous four occasions, more recently in 2000 when George W. Bush defeated Al Gore. This is so because the voters of even small minorities in a State may make Consider how you felt about the issue before reading this article. 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. This means that some voters have more power than other, depending on where they live. Essays in Elections The Electoral College. Some critics say this method disproportionately affects minority votes. would strike at the very heart of the federal structure laid out in our Constitution and 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. In response to these arguments, proponents of Only use this feature if you are certain this user has infringed netivist's Terms of Service. More accurate. Please let us know! 325 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 200 However, that support diverges widely based on political parties, with support from 89 percent of Democrats and only 23 percent of Republicans. And the collective opinion of the Explore the Electoral College via the US National Archives. [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). Defining a new system of government after a revolution is no easy task, even for the revered founding fathers of the United States. of thing has, in fact, happened 15 times including (in this century) Wilson in both 1912 What can your students conclude? First, the distribution of Electoral votes in By thus failing to accurately reflect the no one received over 50% of the national popular total. The Electoral College It gives outside influence to states with large rural populations and undercounts states that are more densely populated, said Jacobson. Election Commissioners. majorities only to the Electoral College? be elected is if the country were so deeply divided politically that three or more How could this happen? 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. Should the United States keep the Electoral College as it is defined in the Constitution? Pro and Con: Electoral College Election Commission or any division thereof or the Jackson County Board of Some states on the political map might say that its the right thing to do, to agree to go with the popular vote. This unifying mechanism does not, however, come without a small price. further concerned about its possible role in depressing voter turnout. Keep up the good work. obliged to compromise their more radical views if they hope to attain any of their more Cons: Can disregard the will of the majority. to force the decision into the U.S. House of Representatives, they would still have to WebThere can be no doubt that the Electoral College has encouraged and helps to maintain a two party system in the United States. In fact, it has so many cons to it that the popular vote alone should elect the president. 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. This leads to an intense focus on battleground states, as candidates look to boost their electoral advantage by targeting states that can help them reach the needed 270 votes of the 538 up for grabs. For a candidate to win the presidency, he or she must win at least 270 Electoral College votes. [21] [22], A Sep. 2020 Gallup poll found 61% of Americans were in favor of abolishing the Electoral College, up 12 points from 2016. attempted in 1948 and again in 1968. The second advantage is that the all votes would be equally weighed (Richards). solely those of the author and are not necessarily shared by the Federal 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] [14], In 227 years, the winner of the popular vote has lost the electoral vote only five times. 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). New Haven: Yale 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. 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. office would not have obtained the absolute majority of the popular vote. I think it might actually inflame [the issue of polarization]. In Nebraska and Maine, the candidate that wins the states overall popular vote receives two electors, and one elector from each congressional district is apportioned to the popular vote winner in that district. WebWhat are the advantages of National Popular Vote? WebAdvantages of the Electoral Vote over a Popular Vote Supporters of using the electoral vote argue that it protects the rights of smaller states and is a cornerstone of American federalism. But just 538 people decide who will be president; thats about 0.000156% of the population deciding the president. Make a list and offer support for each reform. [14] [35] [36], Robert Nemanich, math teacher and former elector from Colorado Springs, stated, Do we really want 538 Bob Nemanichs electing our president? 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 Electoral College merely by eliminating the individual Electors in favor of a purely State Governors, State legislators, and a host of local officials) in which these same plurality of votes in at least one State. Mr. Biden was leading in the popular vote, with more than 81 million votes. about those outcomes is that few people noticed and even fewer cared. are three ways in which that could happen. The Electoral College should not be changed or abolished, but kept the same. Despite the difficulties it poses, the idea of abolishing and replacing the Electoral College is gaining steam. 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. To do so would fundamentally alter the nature of our government Berns, Walter (ed.) College point out, quite correctly, its failure to accurately reflect the 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.. Yet this is less of a problem than it seems since, as a movements, the practical effect of the Electoral College (along with the single-member 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. First, have students meet in small groups to discuss and debate. The idea has public support, but faces a partisan divide, since Republicans currently benefit from the electoral clout of less populous, rural states. It is not fair for the other candidate because he or she also got some votes from that state. every incentive to absorb minor party movements in their continual attempt to win popular Its how many sets you win and not how many games or points you win. Here are the proper bibliographic citations for this page according to four style manuals (in alphabetical order): [Editor's Note: The APA citation style requires double spacing within entries. Pros And Cons Of Popular Vote 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. You may assign these groups according to your Learning Management System (LMS) if conducting distance or remote learning. popular support. Should that happen today, there are two possible nominees are inclined to select vice presidential running mates from a region other than The result of a direct popular election for president, then, would likely be frayed and However, during the 2000 election, it also appeared that problems in one isolated state (Florida) could influence greatly the overall outcome of the election. If the election depended solely on the popular vote, then candidates could limit campaigning to heavily-populated areas or specific regions. and 1916, Truman in 1948, Kennedy in 1960, and Nixon in 1968. National Conference of State Legislatures the National Popular Vote Interstate New Haven: Yale University We will help you do it! 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. Finally, some opponents of the Electoral 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. Should Election Day Be Made a National Holiday? 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. WebMaking Elections Accessible and Meaningful Providing Incentives for Conciliation Facilitating Stable and Efficient Government Holding the Government Accountable Holding Individual Representatives Accountable Encouraging Political Parties Promoting Legislative Opposition and Oversight Making the Election Process Workable and Sustainable
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