views represented by these parties in hopes of winning the run-off election. Join with confidence, netivist is completely advertisement free. [2] [14], In 227 years, the winner of the popular vote has lost the electoral vote only five times. 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. 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). Floridian's potential vote, then, carried about one third the weight of a potential vote nation by encouraging a two-party system, and. 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. [3] [4] [5] [6], The Founding Fathers created the Electoral College as a compromise between electing the president via a vote in Congress only or via a popular vote only. States also conduct other elections (for U.S. Once more, the United States President and Vice President were elected by an indirect vote system, known as Ellectoral College. That important decision ultimately falls to the Electoral College. That could change on Nov. 3 of course, because all House seats are up for election. are three ways in which that could happen. a wide audience and to keep on introducing new debates and features to improve your experience. Indeed, there may even be an incentive to discourage participation (and While this argument has a certain surface Despite the difficulties it poses, the idea of abolishing and replacing the Electoral College is gaining steam. whether his popularity is concentrated in a few States or whether it is more evenly Their reasoning is that in a formal 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). This would accomplish "government by popular The system tends to represent more the diversity of the country. sufficient popular support to govern as well as a sufficient distribution of that support Would they like to see the system changed? concentrated in a few States while the other candidate maintained a slim popular lead in therefore actually damage minority interests since their votes would be overwhelmed by a It did not change the outcome. 3. 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. What surprised them? How and why? Thus, there is an incentive for 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. accordance with the 12th Amendment. For example, if a candidate was very popular in New York City, Los Angeles and other large cities, she might not need to earn votes from other areas of the country. 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. Another direct consequence of the winner-take-all system is that candidates focus more on populated swing states than on other states. Understand how the Electoral College system works. Voters from political parties usually nominate who will be their electors at state conventions. It gives each vote an equal amount of power. Elections problems can be isolated in one state, therefore limiting the effect on the whole election. Congress broke the tie, and Jefferson became president and Burr became vice president. [21] [22], A Sep. 2020 Gallup poll found 61% of Americans were in favor of abolishing the Electoral College, up 12 points from 2016. Fairness: This compact would rightfully ensure that the candidate who receives the most votes wins, just as in any other election in the country and unlike in 2000 and 2016. But what about the issues of the people living in the ignored states? No attention is paid to the smaller states because of the low electoral number, which doesnt really help the candidate win a lot. In a direct popular election, a candidate could theoretically win without having broad support throughout the country. popular will. The important number is 270. Longley, Lawrence D. The Politics of Electoral College Reform. 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. 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. the difference between winning all of that State's electoral votes or none of that State's For more on the Electoral College to form in an attempt to prevent whatever popular majority might be necessary to elect a Learn more and come to your own conclusion with this PBS NewsHour lesson. tends to be more sensitive to ethnic minority and other special interest groups than does Electoral College. 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. Swing states are those where the result of the election is uncertain, therefore spending efforts and money to win these states can have a great impact on the outcome of the election. WebThe Debate Today. They would go across the west coast, east coast, the south [border], maybe jump to Chicago, predicted Jacobson. While the system may seem fair, the Electoral College is at its core an outdated process that heavily favors small swing states, causing the election to not always align with popular vote of the American people. that in very close popular elections, it is possible that the candidate who wins a slight New York: Harper & Row, 1971. going to be for one candidate or the other, an occasional Elector casts a vote for some While Gore won the popular vote by about half a million in 2000, Hillary Clinton won it by nearly three million in 2016. Senators, U.S. attempted in 1948 and again in 1968. Electoral College system contributes to the cohesiveness of the country be requiring a Each state is authorized a specific amount of electoral votes, based solely on the number of members that state has in Congress. Majority of the time electors are people highly involved with the presidential candidates, such as party leaders, or state elected officials. New Haven: Yale University Only use this feature if you are certain this user has infringed netivist's Terms of Service. the Congress as an institution. by William C. Kimberling, On election day, voters choosing a presidential candidate are actually casting a vote for an elector. Their But since there have been no serious proposals to abolish the United States Senate on presidential candidates well out of proportion to their number. The states with the lowest number of votes are Alaska, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming, all holding 3 electoral votes. Cons It's not always reliable: The votes of elected officials in a representative democracy may not always reflect the will of the people. the risk of so-called "faithless" Its just like in tennis, he said. in American History and the Direct-Vote Alternative. 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. This type of system would give the individual voter a much more significant influence. 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. Not everyone knows exactly how the president is elected. Some states replace electors and cancel their votes if they break their pledge. It was even a talking point among 2020 Democratic presidential candidates. The same thing happened in 2000. People are rational actors; they are making a calculation if their vote is one of all the citizens in the United States, they may think that the possibility that their vote is going to matter is less. Congrats you just reached a new level on Netivist. This occurred, as noted above, in 1824 and was unsuccessfully obliged to compromise their more radical views if they hope to attain any of their more As of 2020, the state with the largest number of votes is California, with 55 electoral votes. Should the Electoral College be abolished? What are some pros and cons of electing a president based on the popular vote? consideration, should we not then abolish the Senate which represents States regardless of With this rule, that means the candidate who also got some votes from that state, ends up getting none. The electors for each state are the number of House of Representatives Members and plus two for the Senators. Graham discusses one potential benefit of the NPVIC: In states like California, where in almost every case all of the Electoral votes will go to the Democratic Party, what reason does a Republican candidate have to visit there (regardless of the large number of Republicans that reside there)? In 2016, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by more than one million votes, yet still lost the election on electoral votes. Voter ID laws? Have your students learn more about the results of one of the following 19th century presidential elections: 1800, 1824, 1836, 1872, 1876, or 1888. A third way of electing a minority president Indeed, it is principally because of the Electoral College that presidential [3] [4] [5] [6], In each state, a group of electors is chosen by each political party. Many citizens feel that the Electoral College goes against our nations principle of representative democracy, while others, Every great nation started with a great leader. Human Services Updated February 21, 2023 Please consider making a small donation today. This is so because the voters of even small minorities in a State may make The Electoral College is also the reflection of the federal character of the United States. election have changed those outcomes without a run-off requiring over 50% of the popular Some states on the political map might say that its the right thing to do, to agree to go with the popular vote. Is it fair? regardless of its voter turnout, there is no incentive in the States to encourage voter Indeed, they point out that the Electoral College system is designed to Ultimately, any disputes about the procedure could land everything in the Supreme Court. voter participation, the Electoral College actually enhances the status of minority to other special interest groups such as labor unions, farmers, environmentalists, and so WebElections are complex processes, and direct elections have both advantages and disadvantages. The idea has public support, but faces a partisan divide, since Republicans currently benefit from the electoral clout of less populous, rural states. It has its pros and cons though, many of which critics debate over. majorities in the States. In recent years, there have been two notable elections in which the ultimate victor did not win the popular vote: 2016 and 2000. Learn more with this video: After the 2000 election, a majority of Americans favored abolishing the system, and by 2020, that. Keep up the good work. 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. People should have more power to vote for their president to have their vote count towards determining the winner. In some ways, it defies the rule of one person, one voteWith increasing frequency, I imagine, well see instances where the winner of the Electoral College and the national popular vote do not align, said Jacobson. Advantages and Disadvantages of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. operation). You would imagine [candidates] paying attention to where most people are living, because now thats how theyll get the most votes. Elections (2nd ed). If your thoughts have not changed, list two to three ways your better understanding of the other side of the issue now helps you better argue your position. [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. Currently, Republicans control 26 state delegations, while Democrats control 22. Are you experiencing any technical problem with netivist? Al Gore had received more popular vote thanGeorge W. Bush (540,000 votes more) but the latter obtained a majority of the electors' votes. If that happens in the Electoral College, then the decision goes to the newly seated House of Representatives, with each state voting as a unit. majority" and guarantee the representation of minority parties, but it would also However, increased voting power is also among the list of cons of the Electoral College. Certain penalties exist in other states. representation in the Senate and House as they exist today, then surely these same reasons Should Election Day Be Made a National Holiday? they point out, president would be selected either through the domination of one populous Even if they won enough electoral votes Proponents say an election day holiday will increase voter turnout. This is often a misconception of the election process. The Electoral College is a process, and a system which we have adapted to over the years. sets of coherent alternatives. 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. 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. 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. have a majority of over half the State delegations in order to elect their candidate - and In total, there are 538 electoral votes, divided among the states according to population size. For a candidate to win the presidency, he or she must win at least 270 Electoral College votes. forth. As a result often presidentialcandidates usually spend less time and money campaigning in California (whichusually votes for the Democratic candidate) or Texas (usually votes for the Republican candidate).