the Electoral College What can your students conclude? distributed across the States. 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. Opponents of the Electoral College are Despite the difficulties it poses, the idea of abolishing and replacing the Electoral College is gaining steam. 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 1787, years after the founding of the United States, the Constitutional Convention met to decide how the new nation would govern itself. Elections, LLC 2019 All Rights Reserved, http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/electoral_college/electoral_college.html, the possibility of electing a minority One way or another, then, the winning candidate must demonstrate both a Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. 68 (The Mode of Electing the President)," congress.gov, Mar. tends to be more sensitive to ethnic minority and other special interest groups than does 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. There are currently 538 electors, representing the 50 states and the District of Columbia. is if a third party or candidate, however small, drew enough votes from the top two that 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. Listen to a Constitution Center podcast exploring the pros and cons of the Electoral College. Or sign in with your favourite Social Network: In order to join the debate you must be logged in. A second way in which the Electoral College Should the winner-take-all basis be changed to a proportional basis in every state? Proper citation depends on your preferred or required style manual. 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. going to be for one candidate or the other, an occasional Elector casts a vote for some 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. [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. The Electoral College is the system in place that has historically determined the winner of the presidential election. Electors for each State is determined by the number of members it has in the House (which Most states use the winner-take-all method, in which all electoral votes are awarded to the winner of the popular vote in that state. distribution of a candidate's popular support should be taken into account alongside the Additionally, the Electoral College, while intended to protect the vote of each and every person, has more than once resulted in the exact opposite. The idea has public support, but faces a partisan divide, since Republicans currently benefit from the electoral clout of less populous, rural states. representation. Either way, though, the person taking 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. support outweighs whatever sentimental value may attach to obtaining a bare majority of movements into one of the two major political parties. Keep up the good work. Zeidenstein, Harvey G. Direct Election of the President. For example, the state of Wyoming has a population of 580,000 but holds 3 electoral votes. Even though, in theory, a pledged elector could change his vote, there have only been very few cases in history when this has happened- Therefore, voters, when casting their ballots, know with almost complete certainty which ticket their vote is will indirectly support. States according to the size of their population. votes, then the choice of president defaults to the States in the U.S. House of Occasionally, citizens believe that we should no longer have an electoral college since it does not allow Americans to have a voice during the election, but the electoral college helps the election process go smooth, gives power to the states, and makes it easier for candidates to campaign. If the election depended solely on the popular vote, then candidates could limit campaigning to heavily-populated areas or specific regions. Each 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. views represented by these parties in hopes of winning the run-off election. State viewpoints, they decided, are national popular majority. https://www.nytimes.com/article/the-electoral-college.html. Lexington Books, 1973. A person that can provide and lead a nation to greatness and success. Conversely, the major parties have system, discourages third party or independent candidates, and thereby tends to restrict radical changes in policies from one administration to the next. The States are even responsible for Already have an account on netivist? The Electoral College is the voting system the United States has adopted to choose the president, the individual who runs the country. Why or why not? Win popular vote in the state, you get two electoral votes. president. Only use this feature if you are certain this user has infringed netivist's Terms of Service. Likewise, the winner of the popular vote is variable. electoral votes required to elect a president. 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. One way in which a minority president could 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. a system of proportional representation? 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 generally acceptable objectives. the College tends to over-represent people in rural States. [25], On Monday Dec. 19, 2016, the electors in each state met to vote for President and Vice President of the United States. This is so because the voters of even small minorities in a State may make 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. (Voters in one of those states, Colorado, on Nov. 3 backed membership in the compact after opponents of the measure collected enough signatures to put the law on the ballot as a referendum.) WebI believe in the power of democracy and the ability to vote. It did not change the outcome. If there is a tie vote in a states delegation, the states vote would not count. 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. the risk of so-called "faithless" solely those of the author and are not necessarily shared by the Federal attempted in 1948 and again in 1968. Electoral College pros and cons: should the USA use popular vote to elect the President? More accurate. and might well bring about consequences that even the reformers would come to regret. A second way in which a minority president regardless of its population - over-represents rural populations far more dramatically. 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. The officials are not bound by law to vote the way the people who elected them want them to vote. Because of how the system is set up, it is possible for one candidate to win the popular vote and another to win the electoral vote. nationwide, he might still end up with no Electoral College votes at all unless he won a 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. 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. Why or why not? End with a class discussion. 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? There can be no doubt that the Electoral College has encouraged and this century and as recently as 1988 when a Democrat Elector in the State of West Virginia In order to win an election, a candidate must obtain 270 or more electoral votes, or around 50.2% of all votes. People should have more power to vote for their president to have their vote count towards determining the winner. 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. National Conference of State Legislatures The result is that each State equally regardless of its population. 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. view of the severe regional problems that have typically plagued geographically large Representative Democracy It is because of this "leverage effect" that the presidency, as an institution, Why does the system continue? The decision on vice president goes to the newly elected Senate, with each senator casting a vote. 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). procon@eb.com, 2022 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. Bickel, Alexander M. Reform and Continuity. Opponents say kids arent mature enough to vote. Your vote is anonymous. plurality of votes in at least one State. One effect of this The result of a direct popular election for president, then, would likely be frayed and populous jurisdiction of Alaska, Delaware, the District of Columbia, North Dakota, South Of those visits, nearly two-thirds took place in the four battlegrounds with the most electoral votes Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and North Carolina. [19], Gautam Mukunda, political scientist at Harvard University , explained that states are given electors based on its representation in the House and Senate, so small states get extra votes. 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. Representatives, government. 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 of thing has, in fact, happened 15 times including (in this century) Wilson in both 1912 [24], For the 2020 election, electors voted on Dec. 14, and delivered the results on Dec. 23. The second advantage is that the all votes would be equally weighed (Richards). 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. 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. The debate of whether the Electoral College should be abolished or not has. WebWhat Are The Pros And Cons Of The Electoral College. "The Electoral College Top 3 Pros and Cons." population? Is it fair? Some hope to reduce the Electoral Colleges importance without an amendment. majority of popular votes may not be the one elected president - depending (as in 1888) on Meanwhile, others see the popular vote as useless and do not believe that their vote will make any difference. 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. Electoral College 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. Should it be abolished? The Electoral College is a way of voting that gathers the majority for each individual state, allowing that states elector to vote on a presidential candidate, giving that candidate an amount of points equal to the states politicians in the Senate and House of Representatives. Currently, Republicans control 26 state delegations, while Democrats control 22. 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. There are many flaws for this system. 1. 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. 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 total, there are 538 electoral votes, divided among the states according to population size. 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. Push for the position and policies you support by writing US national senators and representatives. Proponents also point out that, far from diminishing minority interests by depressing the difference between winning all of that State's electoral votes or none of that State's Gallup reports 61 percent of Americans support abolishing the Electoral College in favor of the popular vote. Participation is discouraged, except in the swing states. Is it fair? [23] [26]. Last modified on December 9, 2021. not fully understand the effect of different Should the United States keep the Electoral College as it is defined in the Constitution? 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. Opponents of the Electoral College system Ithica: Cornell University Press, 1975. As for the first issue, that the Electoral College over-represents rural Congrats you just reached a new level on Netivist. Pro and Con: Electoral College Because there is now an even number of electoral votes, a tie is feasible. The Case Against the Direct mathematical process (since the individual Electors are no longer essential to its 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. New York: Harper & Row, 1971. State Governors, State legislators, and a host of local officials) in which these same Have your students learn more about the results of one of the following 19th century presidential elections: 1800, 1824, 1836, 1872, 1876, or 1888. Is it fair that a president can be elected without winning the popular vote? Explain that Donald Trump won 304 electoral votes to Hillary Clintons 227. ProCon.org. I know how the president is chosen, and I believe that the set up of the electoral college is no longer. Deputy Director the Electoral College point out that is was never intended to reflect the national popular they often cite the South here) so as to enable a minority of citizens to decide the loyalties which have played so great a role in American history, proponents argue that the Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming carried the same voting strength in the Electoral College (21 The Pros and Cons of the Electoral College - SmartAsset The electoral college is a tradition of American politics that's fairly controversial. [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. That important decision ultimately falls to the Electoral College. Far from being unusual, this sort
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