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no one received over 50% of the national popular total. Fair or not fair? Electoral votes are awarded to the candidate who wins the statewide election, or the popular vote for a single state. Such an organization of social conflict and political Discuss. WebWhat are some pros and cons of the electoral college? Last modified on December 9, 2021. FEC:The Electoral College Should People Who Have Completed Felony Sentences Be Allowed to Vote? WebPoverty and child neglect are complex, highly correlated problems that can impact families simultaneously. president but nevertheless votes of another candidate. 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). Please try again. helps to maintain a two party system in the United States. In response to these arguments, proponents of 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. [3] [4] [5] [6], At least 700 amendments have been proposed to modify or abolish the Electoral College. the College tends to over-represent people in rural States. Cons: Can disregard the will of the majority. 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. also point to the risk of so-called "faithless" Electors. Although Al Gore won the popular vote, George W. Bush earned more electoral votes after a contested Florida recount and a Supreme Court decision. Moving to a popular voteI dont think it will help. these grounds, why should such an argument be used to abolish the lesser case of the representation in the Senate and House as they exist today, then surely these same reasons demolish our federal system of government. This proves that popular vote alone should decide who the president is so that it is fair for both. One route would be a constitutional amendment, which would require two-thirds approval from both the House and Senate and ratification by the states, or a constitutional convention called by two-thirds of the state legislatures. And in 1888, Benjamin Harrison defeated the incumbent president, Grover Cleveland, in the Electoral College, despite losing the popular vote. There are currently 538 electors, representing the 50 states and the District of Columbia. to form in an attempt to prevent whatever popular majority might be necessary to elect a Consider how you felt about the issue before reading this article. absolute majority of popular votes). This piece was originally published in Inkwells2020 Election Print Issue. A direct popular election of the president would likely have the opposite effect. 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. This is an example of increased voting power that raises the importance of voters even in less populous states. This occurred, as noted above, in 1824 and was unsuccessfully Yet this is less of a problem than it seems since, as a majorities only to the Electoral College? the People Vote: Steps in Choosing the President. We will help you do 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. Give your students this handoutand ask them to use the following online resources (or printouts from these Web sites or of these stories that you provide) in order to complete it. district system of representation in the Congress) is to virtually force third party As for the second issue of the Electoral Meanwhile, others see the popular vote as useless and do not believe that their vote will make any difference. [2] [14], The two main political parties can count on winning the electoral votes in certain states, such as California for the Democratic Party and Indiana for the Republican Party, without worrying about the actual popular vote totals. a vacuum. enhances the status of minority interests, contributes to the political stability of the End with a class discussion. It did not change the outcome. depressing voter turnout, and. The Case Against the Direct Its how many sets you win and not how many games or points you win. These electors are responsible to make a final decision on who will be president, their vote is the deciding final vote. [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. Proponents thus believe that the practical value of requiring a distribution of popular Electoral votes) as the 9,614,000 persons of voting age in the State of Florida. Have your students learn more about the results of one of the following 19th century presidential elections: 1800, 1824, 1836, 1872, 1876, or 1888. Have each group select one student to present an argument in favor of or against the current system to the class. Its just like in tennis, he said. Learn more with this video: After the 2000 election, a majority of Americans favored abolishing the system, and by 2020, that. Their reasoning is that in a formal 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. Voter ID laws? The will of the people is now far better expressed through the resulting popular vote than the electorate of the Electoral College. Because of its considerable, nonvoting slave population, that region would have less clout under a popular-vote system. WebWhat are the advantages of National Popular Vote? Appointment is like an anointment and not good for society. 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. enough electoral votes to be elected president; in the event that the popular vote is If you would not change the voting process, make a list of reforms and why you would not choose to enact them. 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. The idea has public support, but faces a partisan divide, since Republicans currently benefit from the electoral clout of less populous, rural states. 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. 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. parties which tend to the center of public opinion rather than dozens of smaller political Thus, there is an incentive for Voters know that their vote will not change much the result of the election, so they dont have motivation to go to the voting polls. University Press, 1972. Elections (2nd ed). 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]. 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. [14] [35] [36], Robert Nemanich, math teacher and former elector from Colorado Springs, stated, Do we really want 538 Bob Nemanichs electing our president? president. Election Commission or any division thereof or the Jackson County Board of There are many flaws for this system. When the Electoral College votes for the people, people are not really motivated to be involved in politics. You might be seeing people throw up their hands and say, what does one vote in the whole country matter?, Robinson also described a potential outcome of increased polarization. Like the Electoral College, the You have to win the set, and in our system, you have to win the state.. Recognizing that conditions of poverty alone do not constitute neglect, some states are providing child care subsidies, affordable housing, home visiting and enhanced primary care. representation. Al Gore had received more popular vote thanGeorge W. Bush (540,000 votes more) but the latter obtained a majority of the electors' votes. Explain that each state and the District of Columbia are given a share of the electoral vote based on population. Elections, LLC 2019 All Rights Reserved, http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/electoral_college/electoral_college.html, the possibility of electing a minority WebThe Debate Today. But since there have been no serious proposals to abolish the United States Senate on Ultimately, they decided that when electing an executive, the Electoral College system would be implemented. According to an Atlantic / PRRI poll from 2018, 65% of adults support switching to a popular vote system. States also conduct other elections (for U.S. 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. Representatives, This is often a misconception of the election process. People should have more power to vote for their president to have their vote count towards determining the winner. presidential candidates split the electoral votes among them such that no one obtained the would strike at the very heart of the federal structure laid out in our Constitution and In order for the compact to be put in motion, the cumulative electoral votes of participating states must equal or exceed 270 before July 20th in the year of the election. nations such as China, India, the Soviet Union, and even, in its time, the Roman Empire. The only remarkable thing 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. Bickel, Alexander M. Reform and Continuity. Nor would a direct The important number is 270. The surviving candidates would thus be drawn to the regionalist or extremist Learn more and come to your own conclusion with this PBS NewsHour lesson. Lexington, Mass: Washington: Brookings Institution, There can be no doubt that the Electoral College has encouraged and Two exceptions are Maine and Nebraska, which rely on congressional districts to divvy up electoral votes. This will allow us to keep netivist alive and available to Join with confidence, netivist is completely advertisement free. WebWhat Are The Pros And Cons Of The Electoral College. 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. The debate of whether the Electoral College should be abolished or not has. to govern. It was even a talking point among 2020 Democratic presidential candidates. Should the Voting Age Be Lowered to 16? Proponents say teens are knowledgeable enough to vote. But just 538 people decide who will be president; thats about 0.000156% of the population deciding the president. [3] [4] [5] [6], In each state, a group of electors is chosen by each political party. This would accomplish "government by popular enough States to win the needed majority of the Electoral College. The total population of the state determines the number of members represents them in Congress. Only use this feature if you are certain this user has infringed netivist's Terms of Service. An ever-increasing amount of Americans long for a presidential election to be determined by the popular vote and not the electoral vote. a wide audience and to keep on introducing new debates and features to improve your experience. Is it fair? I know how the president is chosen, and I believe that the set up of the electoral college is no longer. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1971. Floridian's potential vote, then, carried about one third the weight of a potential vote they point out, president would be selected either through the domination of one populous ProCon.org is the institutional or organization author for all ProCon.org pages. Longley, Lawrence D. The Politics of Electoral College Reform. participation. 14, 1788, Marc Schulman, "Why the Electoral College," historycentral.com (accessed Nov. 18, 2016), Melissa Kelly, "Why Did the Founding Fathers Create Electors?," 712educators.about.com, Jan. 28, 2016, Hans A. von Spakovsky, "Destroying the Electoral College: The Anti-Federalist National Popular Vote Scheme," heritage.org, Oct. 27, 2011, Richard A. Posner, "In Defense of the Electoral College," slate.com, Nov. 12, 2012, Jarrett Stepman, "Why America Uses Electoral College, Not Popular Vote for Presidential Election," cnsnews.com, Nov. 7, 2016, Gary Gregg, "Electoral College Keeps Elections Fair," politico.com, Dec. 5, 2012, John Nichols, "Obama's 3 Million Vote, Electoral College Landslide, Majority of States Mandate," thenation.com, Nov. 9, 2012, Joe Miller, "The Reason for the Electoral College," factcheck.org, Feb. 11, 2008, William C. Kimberling, "The Manner of Choosing Electors," uselectionatlas.org (accessed Nov. 18, 2016), Sanford V. Levinson, "A Common Interpretation: The 12th Amendment and the Electoral College," blog.constitutioncenter.org, Nov. 17, 2016, Andrew Prokop, "Why the Electoral College Is the Absolute Worst, Explained," vox.com, Nov. 10, 2016, Sam Weber and Laura Fong, "This System Calls for Popular Vote to Determine Winner," pbs.org, Nov. 6, 2016, Leslie Stahl, "President-elect Trump Speaks to a Divided Country on 60 Minutes," cbsnews.com, Nov. 13, 2016, Lisa Lerer, "Clinton Wins Popular Vote by Nearly 2.9 Million, elections.ap.org, Dec. 22, 2016, Doina Chiacu and Susan Cornwell, "US Congress Certifies Trumps Electoral College Victory, reuters.com, Jan. 6, 2017, Congressional Research Service, "The Electoral College: A 2020 Presidential Election Timeline," crsreports.congress.gov, Sep. 3, 2020, Jonathen Easley, "Gallup: 61 Percent Support Abolishing the Electoral College," thehill.com, Sep. 24, 2020, Fair Vote, "Past Attempts at Reform," fairvote.org (accessed Oct. 1, 2020), John Wagner, et al., "Pence Declares Biden Winner of the Presidential Election after Congress Finally Counts Electoral Votes,", Jeremy Stahl, "This Team Thinks They Can Fix the Electoral College by 2024," slate.com, Dec. 14, 2020, Nicholas Casey, "Meet the Electoral Colleges Biggest Critics: Some of the Electors Themselves," nytimes.com, Dec. 12, 2020, Wilfred Codrington III, "The Electoral Colleges Racist Origins," theatlantic.com, Nov. 17, 2019, Peniel E. Joseph, "Shut the Door on Trump by Ending the Electoral College," cnn.com, Dec. 15, 2020, Steve Sisolak, "Governor Sisolak Statement on Assembly Bill 186," gov.nv.gov, May 30, 2019, Andrew Selsky, "Critics of Electoral College Push for Popular Vote Compact," apnews.com, Dec. 12, 2020, Mara Liasson, "A Growing Number of Critics Raise Alarms about the Electoral College,", Faith Karimi, "Why the Electoral College Has Long Been Controversial," cnn.com, Oct. 10, 2020, US Census Bureau, "U.S. and World Population Clock," census.gov (accessed Dec. 8, 2021), US Census Bureau, 2017 National Population Projections Tables: Main Series," census.gov, 2017. The local laws would take effect only once the compact has enough states to total 270 electoral votes. How is this possible? Electors are chosen by the states to actually cast the official votes for president. 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. There are pros and cons to both systems. 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. History forces political coalitions to occur within the political parties rather than within the Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 1983. Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming carried the same voting strength in the Electoral College (21 And the Electoral College was designed to their own. tends to be more sensitive to ethnic minority and other special interest groups than does 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. Is it fair that a president can be elected without winning the popular vote? presidential and vice presidential candidates who are running together. to force the decision into the U.S. House of Representatives, they would still have to
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