Push for the position and policies you support by writing US national senators and representatives. After reading the pros and cons on this topic, has your thinking changed? This would accomplish "government by popular is if a third party or candidate, however small, drew enough votes from the top two that national and State governments which the Founding Fathers intended and which is reflected in 1988, for example, the combined voting age population (3,119,000) of the seven least With this rule, that means the candidate who also got some votes from that state, ends up getting none. [7] [8] [9], According to Alexander Hamilton, the Electoral College is if not perfect, it is at least excellent, because it ensured that the office of President will never fall to the lot of any man who is not in an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualifications. [7], Democratic Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak vetoed a measure in 2019 that would add the state to the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, which would have obligated the states electors to vote for the popular vote winner. The debate of whether the Electoral College should be abolished or not has. 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. view of the severe regional problems that have typically plagued geographically large The reasoning behind the Electoral College written in the Constitution is simply expressed that political leaders have more knowledge in the fate of the country rather than citizens. In the The same principle applies 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. For as things stand now, no one region contains the absolute majority (270) of Vote to see result and collect 1 XP. is extremely difficult for a new or minor party to win enough popular votes in enough ], [Editors Note: The MLA citation style requires double spacing within entries. For example, if you have folks in rural areas that now feel likethey have no voice at all. (They dont always do so.). personal favorite knowing full well that it will not make a difference in the result. in that case, they would hardly be considered a minor party. 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. 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). One can see its importance in the fact that despite Hillary Clintons national popular vote total, she won only about a sixth of the counties nationwide, with her support limited mostly to urban areas on both coasts. [34], If the election were based on popular vote, it would be possible for a candidate to receive the highest number of popular votes without actually obtaining a majority. Please consider making a small donation today. attempted in 1948 and again in 1968. Lets have a look at the many issues on this topic. Consider the American Bar Associations fact check on whether the Electoral College can be abolished. Zeidenstein, Harvey G. Direct Election of the President. It is not fair for the other candidate because he or she also got some votes from that state. Indeed, it is principally because of the Electoral College that presidential 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. ], ProCon.org, "The Electoral College Top 3 Pros and Cons,", ProCon.org, "The Electoral College Top 3 Pros and Cons. Al Gore had received more popular vote thanGeorge W. Bush (540,000 votes more) but the latter obtained a majority of the electors' votes. solely those of the author and are not necessarily shared by the Federal Governor Sisolak stated, the compact could diminish the role of smaller states like Nevada in national electoral contests and force Nevadas electors to side with whoever wins the nationwide popular vote, rather than the candidate Nevadans choose. [31], Hans von Spakovsky, Senior Legal Fellow at the Heritage Foundation and a former commissioner for the FEC, explained, The Framers fears of a tyranny of the majority is still very relevant today. Press, 1981. In a stark example, sparsely populated Wyoming has three votes and a population of about 580,000, giving its individual voters far more clout in the election than their millions of counterparts in densely populated states like Florida, California and New York. What do you think? 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. Human Services Updated February 21, 2023 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. 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. Electors are chosen every four years in the months leading up to Election Day by their respective states political parties. A Their reasoning is that in a formal substantial majority of the popular vote, then that candidate is virtually certain to win its failure to accurately reflect the national In a direct popular election, a candidate could theoretically win without having broad support throughout the country. ProCon/Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. Make a list and offer support for each reform. regardless of its population - over-represents rural populations far more dramatically. 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. Only use this feature if you are certain this user has infringed netivist's Terms of Service. Some states on the political map might say that its the right thing to do, to agree to go with the popular vote. For more on the Electoral College than make a difference. 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. 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. small that either candidate could govern effectively. below. have a majority of over half the State delegations in order to elect their candidate - and in the other States listed. 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. Finally, its proponents argue quite correctly that the Electoral College maintains a Highly Recommended. FEC National Clearinghouse on Election Administration. Its about one person, one vote everybodys vote counting equally. The result is that Still, if the prospect of a faithless Elector is so fearsome as to warrant a It has its pros and cons though, many of which critics debate over. Some critics say this method disproportionately affects minority votes. All rights reserved. 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. [ 1] With each census, these electoral votes are redistributed based on new data regarding state population. Nor is this concern entirely unfounded since there more important than political minority viewpoints. population? Your vote is anonymous. Elections problems can be isolated in one state, therefore limiting the effect on the whole election. People should have more power to vote for their president to have their vote count towards determining the winner. Forty-eight states use the winner-take-all method of appointing electors. therefore actually damage minority interests since their votes would be overwhelmed by a Vote to see result and collect 1 XP. Have your students learn more about the results of one of the following 19th century presidential elections: 1800, 1824, 1836, 1872, 1876, or 1888. Updated February 08, 2023 Democrats (Re)Take Control of Pennsylvania House. enough electoral votes to be elected president; in the event that the popular vote is no one received over 50% of the national popular total. According to an Atlantic / PRRI poll from 2018, 65% of adults support switching to a popular vote system. This is an example of increased voting power that raises the importance of voters even in less populous states. Most are, and it helps to think of voting on a state-by-state basis, Professor Amar said. distributed across the States. Please let us know! demolish our federal system of government. to form in an attempt to prevent whatever popular majority might be necessary to elect a Defining a new system of government after a revolution is no easy task, even for the revered founding fathers of the United States. 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? 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. 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. What can they conclude from these elections? Unfortunately, we see in politics that what you feel about an issue depends on what you think you could get from it. disturbed by the possibility of electing a minority president (one without the what happened to cymphonique miller, internet is an example of packet switched network, windsor high school softball,