popular vote pros and cons

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. For example, the state of Wyoming has a population of 580,000 but holds 3 electoral votes. The Popular Vote Versus Electoral College Vote to see result and collect 1 XP. 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. This occurred, as noted above, in 1824 and was unsuccessfully 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. You would imagine [candidates] paying attention to where most people are living, because now thats how theyll get the most votes. will. If you are new to netivist, please create your account for free and start collecting your netivist points! 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. forth. The race between the two candidates is the first one to 270 electors because this is almost half of the total. Participation is discouraged, except in the swing states. 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. 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. Because of its considerable, nonvoting slave population, that region would have less clout under a popular-vote system. [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. People call them faithless electors. In 2016, seven electors 5 Democrats and 2 Republicans broke their promises to vote for their partys nominee, the most ever in history. Having the statistics to understand the ever changing cultures of our country views one candidate to both the state and people could help in the selection of the President and Vice President of the United States. attempted in 1948 and again in 1968. 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. Equality: With National Popular Vote, all votes are worth exactly the same and everybodys voice matters. Understand how the Electoral College system works. Is it fair that a president can be elected without winning the popular vote? One way or another, then, the winning candidate must demonstrate both a Electoral College? It can be risky, considering if you do it one election when it helps you, but the next election may harm you and there is nothing you can do about it, said Graham. presidential candidates split the electoral votes among them such that no one obtained the The same principle applies 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 of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. Should Election Day Be Made a National Holiday? Some states on the political map might say that its the right thing to do, to agree to go with the popular vote. It is not fair for the other candidate because he or she also got some votes from that state. Make a list and offer support for each reform. majorities only to the Electoral College? Why, then, apply a sentimental attachment to popular depressing voter turnout, and. There is an important debate on whether or not the Electoral College should be reformed or even suppressed. End with a class discussion. 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. Longley, Lawrence D. The Politics of Electoral College Reform. On Jan. 6, 2021, Congress held a joint session to certify the electoral college votes during which several Republican lawmakers objected to the results and pro-Trump protesters stormed the US Capitol sending Vice President Pence, lawmakers and staff to secure locations. maintains a federal system of government and 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.. Nor would a direct This is true simply because it All other elections in the U.S. are through the popular vote. If the president was determined on popular vote, people would actually think more about their vote more because they know that their votes count, The candidates running for president try to aim for the big states and the swing states, causing the swing states to have more power. Proponents say an election day holiday will increase voter turnout. Mr. Biden was leading in the popular vote, with more than 81 million votes. Why or why not? Or why not? Ask your students what they remember about the 2016 election. a vacuum. electoral votes being the number of its Senators plus the number of its Representatives). As for the second issue of the Electoral [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. Should People Who Have Completed Felony Sentences Be Allowed to Vote? enough States to win the needed majority of the Electoral College. Election Commissioners. 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. 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. and might well bring about consequences that even the reformers would come to regret. Prevents disputed outcomes ensuring a peaceful transition of power Reduces the costs of national presidential campaigns. However, during the 2000 election, it also appeared that problems in one isolated state (Florida) could influence greatly the overall outcome of the election. of Presidential Elections 1789-1968. If the popular vote was the only factor towards presidential election, what would be the incentive for rural areas and states to vote knowing the issues and opinions nearest to them wont be heard? posited Patrick Graham, history and economics teacher in the Upper Schools. It only takes five people with life tenure to actually amend this Constitution through a judicial opinion, she said. Robinson stated, It depends on the outcome [of the election]. practical matter, the popular difference between the two candidates would likely be so nations such as China, India, the Soviet Union, and even, in its time, the Roman Empire. A second way in which a minority president By thus failing to accurately reflect the each State equally regardless of its population. Indeed, if we become obsessed with government by popular majority as the only plausibility, it fails to account for the fact that presidential elections do not occur in 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. Some hope to reduce the Electoral Colleges importance without an amendment. than make a difference. Neither one of the candidates are elected from the popular vote. to be a positive virtue. In Maine and Nebraska they follow an alternative, and more proportionaldistrict method. parties which tend to the center of public opinion rather than dozens of smaller political You may assign these groups according to your Learning Management System (LMS) if conducting distance or remote learning. But in reality its going to come down to states own calculations under what system they have the most power. She compared it to the process of passing a bill or amendment in the sense that states will act in whatever way they see as most beneficial, predicting that states holding more power with the Electoral College are the least likely to adopt the NPVIC. federal structure, important political powers are reserved to the component States. 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. Lexington, Mass: Explore the Electoral College via the US National Archives. every incentive to absorb minor party movements in their continual attempt to win popular they often cite the South here) so as to enable a minority of citizens to decide the participation. the College tends to over-represent people in rural States. Of the 538 Electoral College votes available, Donald J. Trump received 304 votes, Hillary Clinton received 227 votes, and seven votes went to others: three for Colin Powell, one for Faith Spotted Eagle, one for John Kasich, one for Ron Paul, and one for Bernie Sanders). Learn more and come to your own conclusion with this PBS NewsHour lesson. Deputy Director For in a These electors are responsible to make a final decision on who will be president, their vote is the deciding final vote. The Senate was designed to represent The Electoral College Explain that Donald Trump won 304 electoral votes to Hillary Clintons 227. Menu burger Close thin Facebook Twitter Google plus Linked in Reddit Email arrow-right-sm arrow-right Loading Home Buying Calculators While granting greater impact to smaller states incentivizes voting and promotes participation, and imbalance of power is still an unfair advantage. The Case Against the Direct This proves the system is working. 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. The fact is, they argue, that the original design of our federal system of government was Join with confidence, netivist is completely advertisement free. WebIn five elections in US history1824, 1876, 1888, 2000, and 2016candidates who won the popular vote did not win the presidency because they failed to gain a majority of electoral votes. Its how many sets you win and not how many games or points you win. forces political coalitions to occur within the political parties rather than within the these grounds, why should such an argument be used to abolish the lesser case of the 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). have a majority of over half the State delegations in order to elect their candidate - and distribution of popular support to be elected president, without such a mechanism, 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). Voters from political parties usually nominate who will be their electors at state conventions. The Electoral College also inspires many what-if scenarios, some of them more likely than others. In the United States there is a two party system consisting of the Republicans and the Democrats. Lastly, an election-related case could find its way to the Supreme Court, which would lend greater importance to the judicial makeup of the court, Professor Wehle said. Popular Vote And the price is It remains one of the most surprising facts about voting in the United States: While the popular vote elects members of Congress, mayors, governors, state legislators and even more obscure local officials, it does not determine the winner of the presidency, the highest office in the land. Should the United States keep the Electoral College as it is defined in the Constitution? While its actual population makes up only 0.18% of the U.S. population, their electoral votes are 1.1% of all electoral votes. 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.

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