NCSL conducts policy research in areas ranging from agriculture and budget and tax issues to education and health care to immigration and transportation. Some states replace electors and cancel their votes if they break their pledge. popular vote pros and cons-shootings in south dallasshootings in south dallas Find the most comprehensive and complete 50-state information in NCSL's searchable bill tracking databases. Advantage: Encourages Voter Turnout Although many supporters of the electoral college argue that a two-party political system is more stable, some critics counter that having more than two parties would give Americans more choice. Richards earned a master's degree at Carnegie Mellon University. And thats not how it should be in a democracy. The proportional plan retains electoral votes, but awards the votes in each state based on the percentage of votes received in each state (regardless of the districts from which the voters come) by the competing . Although faithless electors have not affected the results or outcome of an election yet, in 2016, there were 7 faithless electors. 3. 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. 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. A direct popular election also ensures that citizens' votes have equal weight. So you run a campaign designed to maximize your votes in those few largest states. Constitutional Amendment to Guarantee the Right to Vote for All U.S. Citizens. Proposed Reforms to the Electoral College. As of 2020, the state with the largest number of votes is California, with 55 electoral votes. Change). Some critics argue that more people would vote in a direct popular election, according to the University of the Pacific. However, in the popular vote, Trump only received 62,984,825 votes against Hillary Clinton's 65,853,516 popular votes. To be elected president, the winner must get at least half plus one or 270 electoral votes. But . Prevents disputed outcomes ensuring a peaceful transition of power Reduces the costs of national presidential campaigns. Mayors, governors, and senators are all elected by a simple majority. Hillary Clinton won the popular vote but Trump won the Electoral College. Get breaking news and updates from Common Cause. For the popular vote, however, Hillary Clinton received 65.8 million votes, while Donald Trump received 62.9 million votes. NCSL's experts are here to answer your questions and give you unbiased, comprehensive information as soon as you need it on issues facing state legislatures. In the 2016 election, only 58 percent of eligible voters went to the polls. 27 Major Pros & Cons Of The Electoral College " The Electoral College needs to go, because it's made our society less and less democratic." Pete Buttigieg, Politician Advantages & Disadvantages of the Electoral College The Electoral College is an organ that elects the president of the United States. Longley, Robert. Donald Trump won the presidential election by securing 304 electoral votes, compared to Hillary Clinton's 227 electoral votes. To pass an amendment to change the Constitution the Founding Fathers wisely required approval by 2/3 of both houses of Congress and 3/4 of the state legislatures instead of a simple majority. Watch out! 805 15th Street, NW, Suite 800 A presidential candidate needs at least 26 votes to win. Maine and Nebraska are the only two states that are not affected by this approach. When you vote for a presidential candidate, you are actually voting for a group of electors from your state who have all pledged to vote for your candidate. After students have completed their handouts, have them debate the pros and cons of the Electoral College. 4. How the US Electoral College System Works, Biography of Donald Trump, 45th President of the United States, The Most Lopsided Presidential Elections in US History, Presidential Election of 1800 Ended in a Tie, The Election of 1824 Was Decided in the House of Representatives, How Presidents and Vice Presidents Are Elected, Election of 1800: Thomas Jefferson versus John Adams, Biography of Mike Pence, Vice President of the United States, What Is Dealignment? . Battleground states would disappear in U.S. elections. Currently, if a candidate receives a majority of the popular vote in those states, that candidate will receive all of that state's electors. Over the long run the countrys popular vote in presidential elections has roughly been equally split between Republican and Democratic.*. 3. First, have students meet in small groups to discuss and debate. Unless the national popular vote was very close, or there were all lot of recounts outstanding, the Compact states in most cases would effectively know what the outcome would be and could be prepared to certify their state votes very quickly to make the Electoral College meeting date deadline. The Pros and Cons of Pooled Employer Plans: Debate. What did they learn about the American system of electing the president from these elections? Since the Constitution and the Bill of Rights became governing documents in the United States, there have only been 17 amendments made to it. 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. Idea to keep electoral college but add 102bvotes. Some areas may bend the rules of an election by extending voting hours illegally. The National Popular Vote Plan is an alternative system that would still use electors to cast their votes but instead it would give each state's votes to whichever candidate wins the national popular vote. A popular vote structure would virtually eliminate the idea of a third-party candidate having a chance in an election. (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.) Thats the way it has been in this country for a long time. We answer more than 20,000 requests for information a year. Critics, however, argue that Founders reasoning is no longer relevant as todays voters are better-educated and have virtually unlimited access to information and to the candidates stances on the issues. While it has provided a stable and predictable framework for presidential elections, it has also produced several controversial outcomes. If the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact becomes law it would be an excellent first step to help get a future amendment to the Constitution to replace the Electoral College/Winner-Take-All system to elect the president with a national popular vote using Ranked Choice Voting. That would likely reduce the number of voters who cast a ballot in each election as most people are more concerned about local impacts than national policies. 4. Lastly, it may cause a third-party candidate to prevail and win, which would allow Americans to be given more choices besides the two primary parties (Richards). Analysis of the Congressional-District Method of Awarding Electoral Votes Summary Under the congressional-district method of awarding electoral votes, one electoral vote is awarded to the presidential candidate who receives the most popular votes in each of a state's congressional districts. Each vote would affect each candidate instead of being overlooked due to which state those votes would be coming from. In U.S. history, there has been one vice-presidential candidate who died after being nominated and one that withdrew from their partys ticket. 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. The allotment of the extra votes would almost always ensure that the person who wins the popular vote would also win the Electoral College. But in practice it could happen every 10 or 20 years when the Electoral College votes change because the congressional boundaries change with the new population census. Gives too few states too much electoral power. The popular vote eliminates this issue too. The Electoral College system has been a topic of debate for many years. New York Times columnist David Brooks and Washington Post associate editor Jonathan Capehart join Amna Nawaz to discuss the week in politics, Hear from two columnists with different political ideologies discuss the week in politics, Hear New York Times columnist David Brooks and Washington Post associate editor Jonathan Capehart join Geoff Bennett to discuss the week in politics. Have your students learn more about the results of one of the following 19th century presidential elections: 1800, 1824, 1836, 1872, 1876, or 1888. The official 2016 election results from the Electoral College gave Donald J. Trump the victory with 306 electoral votes v. Hillary Clinton's 232 votes. Adam_Strukowski. It would reduce the influence of third parties on the U.S. presidential election. There are logistical issues that are managed at the local level in each election. Graphic shows scenario in which a presidential candidate can win the popular vote but lose the election. That means the cost of counting all the votes would be duplicated. Additionally, the Founders reasoned that the system would prevent states with larger populations from having an unequal influence on the election. This hybrid system means that more weight is given to a single vote in a small state than the vote of someone in a large state, leading to outcomes at times that have been at odds with the popular vote. Start and finish your paper with ease. [ 1] According to the Constitution, the Electoral College is a compromise between election of the President by a vote in Congress and election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens (National Archives). But the biggest problem with changing how we elect our president using the NPV Compact is that its too easy to change it back. On Dec. 14, as electors gathered across the country to cast their ballots, Joseph R. Biden Jr. had earned 306 electoral votes, 36 more than needed to win. The Electoral College system was established by Article II of the U.S. Constitution in 1788. Abolishing the Electoral College would require a constitutional amendment, a lengthy and often unsuccessful process. Thus, the National Popular Vote plan will take effect when enacted by states controlling an additional 74 electoral votes. Because of the state Winner-Take-All rules, which arent even part of the Constitution, they can lead to presidential elections where the winner of the election doesnt have the most popular votes. Under the electoral college system of voting, the number of representatives a state has in Congress (Senators and Representatives) is the total number of electoral votes it is allowed. That could change on Nov. 3 of course, because all House seats are up for election. Eliminating the winner-take-all requirement of the Electoral College at the state level would lessen the tendency for the swing states to dominate the electoral process.
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