4. The National Popular Vote stems from the winner-take-all approach that validates the presidential candidate interactions with only 4 out of 50 dates during their campaign. For the popular vote, however, Hillary Clinton received 65.8 million votes, while Donald Trump received 62.9 million votes. If there is a tie vote in a states delegation, the states vote would not count. Prevents disputed outcomes ensuring a peaceful transition of power. ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY: Copyright 2023 NewsHour Production LLC. It did not change the outcome. A faithless elector in the United States is someone who casts an electoral ballot for someone other than the individuals to whom they are pledged. National Popular Vote Fix the Broken Electoral College. Read the overview below to gain an understanding of the process and explore the previews of opinion articles that highlight diverging views on this voting system. Although the 20th Amendment to the Constitution provides clarity to this situation, that process is based on the electoral college. In a direct popular election, a candidate could theoretically win without having broad support throughout the country. Explain that each state and the District of Columbia are given a share of the electoral vote based on population. The electoral college is a group of electors, outlined and defined in the United States Constitution, established for the purpose of electing the president and vice-president. 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. Electoral College Pros and Cons. 9. The popular vote eliminates this issue too. These are the states that may go to either major party candidate in the election. The first advantage allows for electoral votes to be fairer than the Electoral College (Richards). Evidence as to how a nationwide presidential campaign would be run can be found by examining the way presidential candidates currently campaign inside battleground states. 7. If that was to take place, America could potentially face the same issues it is facing now. The decision on vice president goes to the newly elected Senate, with each senator casting a vote. More people live in urban regions, which means they would have a constant sway over the election. 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. States boyd, william j.d., "electoral college system challenged." national civic review 55.9 (1966): 519-23. Imagine a scenario where a presidential candidate focuses on Los Angeles, New York City, Portland, OR and Seattle. When you cast your ballot, you're not actually voting directly for your favored presidential candidate. Students share their findings. NCSL actively tracks more than 1,400 issue areas. During the 2012 elections, 38 states, also known as spectator states, were ignored and forgotten. Bring about direct popular election of pres and do within change. There would be fewer opportunities to illegally alter the results of an election. Donald Trump won the presidential election by securing 304 electoral votes, compared to Hillary Clintons 227 electoral votes. The framers enacted the provisions relating to the Electoral College to allow for state innovation. The 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 CU Boulder political scientist Ken Bickers. Some areas may bend the rules of an election by extending voting hours illegally. In 2016, Hillary Clinton had more than 10 million of these votes, while Donald Trump had more than 8.3 million, even though Trump won 30 states and Clinton won 20 and the District of Columbia. Its how many sets you win and not how many games or points you win. Each vote would affect each candidate instead of being overlooked due to which state those votes would be coming from. Should that happen, then the final decision of who gets to serve as President of the United States is taken away from individual voters. Because there is now an even number of electoral votes, a tie is feasible. 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). After the 2000 election, a majority of Americans favored . 8. Actually the NPV Compact doesnt change one word in he Constitution and in fact only changes state laws. It would require an Amendment in the U.S. for presidential elections. If the presidential election were switched to the popular vote, then it would only take about 35% of the vote for a candidate to win. This text is available online and is used for gudiance and inspiration, We use cookies to give you the best experience possible. A direct popular election would make it more possible for third-party candidates to succeed and would also encourage political parties to become more radical and extreme. These battleground or swing states receive 7% more federal grants, twice as many presidential disaster declarations, more Superfund enforcement exemptions, and more No Child Left Behind law exemptions (National Popular Vote). Before the 2016 election, the largest vote deficit in the popular vote was Al Gore securing over 500,000 votes more than George W. Bush. . A presidential candidate needs at least 26 votes to win. Longley, Robert. Less would get done, which would affect the needs of households at the local level. The electoral requires that an election which does not receive a majority of electoral votes be taken into the U.S. House of Representatives. The last amendment, the 27th Amendment to the Constitution, was ratified nearly 200 years after it was originally proposed. 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. President Trump had earned 232 electoral votes. Under the electoral college system, if a state consistently pulls as leaning to one party, someone who supports the other party may not vote because they feel like there isnt a need to do so. Advantage: Encourages Voter Turnout The one-vote approach does not align with the way the electoral votes operates. And in 1888, Benjamin Harrison defeated the incumbent president, Grover Cleveland, in the Electoral College, despite losing the popular vote. In U.S. history, there has been one vice-presidential candidate who died after being nominated and one that withdrew from their partys ticket. FEC:The Electoral College At that stage, anyone who received an electoral vote is eligible to become the next president. https://www.nytimes.com/article/the-electoral-college.html. Many Americans are confused about how a win is obtained under these conditions and are on a quest to change this traditional statute. Each states electoral votes are tallied by Congress in the House chamber by House and Senate representatives on the 6th day of January following the Presidential election. There are logistical issues that are managed at the local level in each election. On average, studies show that falls in line with historical averages showing around 60 percent of eligible voters casting a vote in presidential election years. Although moving to a popular vote election would balance the weight of each vote, it would also create more sway in larger population states. Definition and Examples. Using the NPV system means that every vote counts the same. Over the long run the countrys popular vote in presidential elections has roughly been equally split between Republican and Democratic.*. 4. Fifteen states and DC have already enacted it into law, for a total of 196 electoral votes. In addition, while the Founders considered the electors as being free from any sinister bias in 1788, electors today are selected by the political parties and are usually pledged to vote for the partys candidate regardless of their own beliefs. 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. (2021, February 17). Although this may limit the amount of diversity that occurs in office, and may generate extra financial costs, the argument could be made that these risks outweigh the results of an election where a majority of states, not a majority of people, put someone into office. 4. Explain that Donald Trump won 304 electoral votes to Hillary Clintons 227. NCSL Child Welfare Fellows program is designed to support legislators and legislative staff who are experienced or emerging leaders in child welfare policy. Certain penalties exist in other states. Instead, each state and Washington D.C. is assigned a certain number of electoral votes based on its population. But . The country could become less stable and divided if he or she did not have a vast amount of support (Richards). Without any sort of broad support, the politics of the country could become even more fractured than they already are. Breaking News: Biden Vetoes Congressional Resolution Blocking ESG Rule . 2023 by National Conference of State Legislatures, NCSL 50-State Searchable Bill Tracking Databases, Supreme Court to Reexamine Use of Civil Asset Forfeiture. Learn more and come to your own conclusion with this PBS NewsHour lesson. 3. The House of Representatives picked Adams over Andrew Jackson, who won the popular vote but only a plurality of the Electoral College. But if we set politics aside and focus on what is really best for democracy in our country in the long run I believe that the advantages of using the NPV compact to elect our president outweigh the disadvantages and the best way to elect our president in the 21st century is by direct popular vote using Ranked Choice Voting. 1. At a time of little national identity and competition among the states, there were concerns that people would favor their regional candidates and that big states with denser populations would dominate the vote. The National Popular Vote; States in the National Popular Vote Compact; Voter Trends in 2016; Public Opinion on the Electoral College; What Congress Is Doing on the Electoral College; Pros & Cons of Ending Surprise Medical Billing; Pros & Cons of Mail-In Voting; Pros & Cons of Ending Surprise Medical Billing; PROs. The National Popular Vote would go into effect when states controlling 270a simple majorityof the total 538 electoral votes. 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. In all states but Maine and Nebraska, the winner of each state will take all of that state's electoral votes. Hillary Clinton won the popular vote but Trump won the Electoral College. What Happens if There Is a Tie in the Electoral College? The senators in the U.S. Senate make up two votes in addition to the votes that represent the number of its members in the U.S. House of Representatives (Archives). Every state is allocated several votes according to the number of senators and representatives in its U.S. Congressional delegation. Due to some states being heavily populated in comparison to others, that may help a candidate quickly obtain a win. Maryland and New Jersey passed this bill in 2007, Hawaii and Illinois in 2008, Washington in 2009, Massachusetts and the District of Columbia in 2010, California and Vermont in 2011, Rhode Island in 2013, New York in 2014 and Connecticut in 2018. Its just like in tennis, he said. on Advantages and Disadvantages of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, Follow All U.S. Citizens Should Vote. It could encourage voter turnout. 5 terms. A close election would trigger the need for a full recount. 3. You can use essay samples to find ideas and inspiration for your paper. Another movement is attempting to convince states to split their electoral vote based on the percentage of the states popular vote for each candidate. While it has provided a stable and predictable framework for presidential elections, it has also produced several controversial outcomes. Learn more about how the National Popular Vote compact works and the ways it could make our elections better for everyone. 1. ThoughtCo. Bush and Al Gore (Black). Proposed Reforms to the Electoral College. Would you like to get a custom essay? [Add switching votes of losing party to the other partys voter totals in every state using the Electoral College/Winner-Take-All system (except for 5 EC votes in Maine and Nebraska that are awarded proportionally instead of by Winner-Take-All.]. After all, is said and done, the candidate who attains the largest number of votes can still lose. 211 Next However, that support diverges widely based on political parties, with support from 89 percent of Democrats and only 23 percent of Republicans. Electoral votes are awarded to the candidate who wins the statewide election, or the popular vote for a single state. With the polarization in global politics today, especially in the United States, a switch to the popular vote would likely increase costs even further. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact will guarantee the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. However, there are proposals to reform the Electoral College without abolishing it. Menu burger Close thin Facebook Twitter Google plus Linked in Reddit Email arrow-right-sm arrow-right Loading Home Buying Calculators 4. The National Popular Vote plan would eliminate what critics of the Electoral College system point to as the "winner-take-all" rule - the awarding all of a state's electoral votes to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in that state. Sets found in the same folder. 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.
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