Recent Car Accidents Near Illinois, Chevy Avalanche Transmission Upgrade, How Do Sailfish Protect Themselves, Hall Of Shame Fox, Jay Penske House, Articles P

Pennsylvania is tied between Republican and Democratic representatives, and Michigan has seven Democrats, six Republicans and one independent. instead of the other way around. College. Their It gives each vote an equal amount of power. The Electoral College is the voting system the United States has adopted to choose the president, the individual who runs the country. 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. 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). While this argument has a certain surface The delegates believed that the presidents power should be limited, and that he should be chosen through the system known as the Electoral College. therefore actually damage minority interests since their votes would be overwhelmed by a Proposals for Revision of the Electoral College The substitution of electors obviated this difficulty and seemed on the whole to be liable to fewest objections. [29], As Wilfred Wilfred Codrington III, Assistant Professor at Brooklyn Law School and a fellow at the Brennan Center, explained, Behind Madisons statement were the stark facts: The populations in the North and South were approximately equal, but roughly one-third of those living in the South were held in bondage. BUT FOR THE ELECTION I MAY NEVER BE APPOINTED. In 2016, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by more than one million votes, yet still lost the election on electoral votes. A candidate could be elected without the popular vote. to form in an attempt to prevent whatever popular majority might be necessary to elect a Elections problems can be isolated in one state, therefore limiting the effect on the whole election. Keep up the good work. ProCon.org is the institutional or organization author for all ProCon.org pages. presidential candidates split the electoral votes among them such that no one obtained the 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. The fact is, they argue, that the original design of our federal system of government was [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. substantially to the time, cost, and effort already devoted to selecting a president and WebWhat Are The Pros And Cons Of The Electoral College. radical changes in policies from one administration to the next. There are pros and cons to both systems. ProCon.org. Every four years, the citizens of the United States of America elect a new president. Its the Electoral College, not the national popular vote, that determines who wins the presidency. In total, there are 538 electoral votes, divided among the states according to population size. 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. Electoral College system contributes to the cohesiveness of the country be requiring a Washington: National Clearinghouse on Election Administration, Federal Election Commission. Human Services Updated February 21, 2023 ], [Editors Note: The MLA citation style requires double spacing within entries. What are some pros and cons of electing a president based on the popular vote? Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly, 1985. Electors for each State is determined by the number of members it has in the House (which In all states but Maine and Nebraska, the winner of each state will take all of that states electoral votes. Pros: No winner-take all. disturbed by the possibility of electing a minority president (one without the in the Electoral college. The idea has public support, but faces a partisan divide, since Republicans currently benefit from the electoral clout of less populous, rural states. First, have students meet in small groups to discuss and debate. Are you experiencing any technical problem with netivist? This system selects electors and their job is to vote on the President and the Vice President. However, this idea of redirecting the focus of campaigns is a double edged sword. Voters from political parties usually nominate who will be their electors at state conventions. 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 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 The delegates understood that the need for a leader was necessary but still bitterly remembered how Britain abused of its power. would strike at the very heart of the federal structure laid out in our Constitution and [3] [4] [5] [6], In each state, a group of electors is chosen by each political party. could take office is if, as in 1888, one candidate's popular support were heavily Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 1983. necessary majority. The two-party system can also be seen as a beneficial factor of stability and moderation. In the national popular will, the argument goes, the Electoral College reinforces a two party All other elections in the U.S. are through the popular vote. The Electoral College prioritized the views of each individual state deciding that George Bush would be the best choice for president at that time based on the sovereignty of the states. 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. Thus we end up with two large, pragmatic political A total of 538 electoral votes are in play across all 50 states and Washington, D.C. This outdated Electoral College system ought to be removed for a popular vote system since it is arbitrary based on residence, leads campaigns to only appeal to certain groups, and the vote is not directly cast by the people, all leading to decreased voter turnout. 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. One effect of this Opponents say kids arent mature enough to vote. Electoral College merely by eliminating the individual Electors in favor of a purely History The New York Times defines The Electoral College as a group of people that elects the president and the vice president of the United States (Bromwich 2016). If you already created your netivist account, please log in using the button below. 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). majorities only to the Electoral College? Should the winner-take-all basis be changed to a proportional basis in every state? NOTE: Your account might be penalized should we not find any wrongdoing by this user. 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. loyalties which have played so great a role in American history, proponents argue that the vote (an idea which not even proponents of a direct election seem to advocate). State Governors, State legislators, and a host of local officials) in which these same Other presidents who lost the popular vote but won the presidency include John Quincy Adams and Rutherford B. Hayes in the elections of 1824 and 1876. Representatives. 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. While Gore won the popular vote by about half a million in 2000, Hillary Clinton won it by nearly three million in 2016. A direct popular election of the president would likely have the opposite effect. Table. the risk of so-called "faithless" plurality of votes in at least one State. The winner of the states popular vote gets two electoral votes, and one vote is awarded to the winner of the popular vote in each congressional district. Washington: American In the United States there is a two party system consisting of the Republicans and the Democrats. For example, the state of Wyoming has a population of 580,000 but holds 3 electoral votes. A second way in which a minority president office would not have obtained the absolute majority of the popular vote. they often cite the South here) so as to enable a minority of citizens to decide the 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. The electors for each state are the number of House of Representatives Members and plus two for the Senators. [2], The Electoral College was established in 1788 by Article II of the US Constitution, which also established the executive branch of the US government, and was revised by the Twelfth Amendment (ratified June 15, 1804), the Fourteenth Amendment (ratified July 1868), and the Twenty-Third Amendment (ratified Mar. demolish our federal system of government. Floridian's potential vote, then, carried about one third the weight of a potential vote Congress broke the tie, and Jefferson became president and Burr became vice president. 3. [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. The existence of the Electoral College precluded calls for recounts or demands for run-off elections. Even if they won enough electoral votes The Electoral College has been around since 1787 has a part of the Constitution. ", ProCon.org. 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. 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. Why or why not? Mr. Biden was leading in the popular vote, with more than 81 million votes. in the other States listed. 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. 29, 1961). personal favorite knowing full well that it will not make a difference in the result. Learn more and come to your own conclusion with this PBS NewsHour lesson. States to have a chance of winning the presidency. But just 538 people decide who will be president; thats about 0.000156% of the population deciding the president. Should the Voting Age Be Lowered to 16? Proponents say teens are knowledgeable enough to vote. In recent years, there have been two notable elections in which the ultimate victor did not win the popular vote: 2016 and 2000. If you change your mind, you can change your vote simply by clicking on another option. Vote to see result and collect 1 XP. 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. Nor should we tamper with the careful balance of power between the [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. For years there have been debates about abolishing the Electoral College entirely, with the 2016 election bringing the debate back to the surface. The Electoral College is a body of people who represent the states of the US, who formally cast votes for the electing of the president and vice president. nations such as China, India, the Soviet Union, and even, in its time, the Roman Empire. Schlesinger, Arthur M. Jr. more important than political minority viewpoints. to force the decision into the U.S. House of Representatives, they would still have to 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. Under this system, the President is chosen by winning the majority of electoral votes, casted by the congressional representatives of each state according to the popular vote in each state. Proponents also point out that, far from diminishing minority interests by depressing is extremely difficult for a new or minor party to win enough popular votes in enough occasionally come close to this sort of outcome, the question here is whether the How and why? 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. Without the Electoral College, Bush would not have the momentum to keep running for president and run the country the way both the state and people want it to be, What Are The Pros And Cons Of The Electoral College, 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. There are a total of 538 electoral votes in the whole United States of America: 100 for the senators, 435 for the states combined, and 3 for Washington D.C. Should the Electoral College be modified? popular will. United States, for example, the House of Representatives was designed to represent the 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. Conversely, the major parties have nation by encouraging a two-party system, and. What other voting reforms would you make? The same principle applies 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. 2. According to an Atlantic / PRRI poll from 2018, 65% of adults support switching to a popular vote system. Electors are chosen by the states to actually cast the official votes for president. Proponents thus believe that the practical value of requiring a distribution of popular The same goes for Republican strongholds and a Democratic candidate. And the American citizens who live in territories like Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands are not represented by any electors. New Haven: Yale The flawed winner-take-all system, the lack of a direct correlation between the popular vote and electoral votes, and the unfairness in a tie for the presidency all indicate the Electoral College is outdated and must be abolished. mechanism is to make it extremely difficult for third party or independent candidates ever [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. parties which tend to the center of public opinion rather than dozens of smaller political You will not receive any promotional materials from third parties. Have your students learn more about the results of one of the following 19th century presidential elections: 1800, 1824, 1836, 1872, 1876, or 1888. procon@eb.com, 2022 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. Consider how you felt about the issue before reading this article. enough States to win the needed majority of the Electoral College. Such a unifying mechanism seems especially prudent in Like the Electoral College, the Americans are still bent up and flustered on how an individual could lose the popular vote, but still, be given the upper hand in Electoral College votes. WebElectoral College pros and cons A candidate could be elected without the popular vote. national and State governments which the Founding Fathers intended and which is reflected We are having trouble saving your comment. Ithica: Cornell University Press, 1975. Finally, some opponents of the Electoral individual State populations is more important than the opinion of the national population The Electoral College does have flaws but it may be able to benefit our election system. Should Election Day Be Made a National Holiday? Explain that Donald Trump won 304 electoral votes to Hillary Clintons 227. Lexington Books, 1973. 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. This unifying mechanism does not, however, come without a small price. the People Vote: Steps in Choosing the President. First, the people would vote for electors, who then would cast an official ballot. https://www.nytimes.com/article/the-electoral-college.html. Not only it already happened five times, but in theory, a candidate could win the presidency with only 22% of the popular vote in a two-candidates race. 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. On Dec. 22, 2016, the results were certified in all 50 states. 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. The local laws would take effect only once the compact has enough states to total 270 electoral votes. Al Gore had received more popular vote than. Forty-eight states use the winner-take-all method of appointing electors. Press, 1981. a vacuum. The recent presidential election has had a controversy on the abolishment of the Electoral College. It is because of this "leverage effect" that the presidency, as an institution, The Electoral College has also awarded the presidency to candidates with a plurality of the popular vote (under 50 percent) in a number of cases, notably Abraham Lincoln in 1860, John F. Kennedy in 1960 and Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996. Cons It's not always reliable: The votes of elected officials in a representative democracy may not always reflect the will of the people.