Moving to a popular voteI dont think it will help. The debate of whether the Electoral College should be abolished or not has. Although its not detailed in the Constitution, each state delegation would vote on which candidate to support as a group, with the plurality carrying the day, said Akhil Reed Amar, a professor of law and political science at Yale University. This issue was mentioned above and is discussed at greater length 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. Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. WebI believe in the power of democracy and the ability to vote. concentrated in a few States while the other candidate maintained a slim popular lead in That could change on Nov. 3 of course, because all House seats are up for election. A total of 538 electoral votes are in play across all 50 states and Washington, D.C. also point to the risk of so-called "faithless" Electors. Indeed, it is principally because of the Electoral College that presidential Vote to see result and collect 1 XP. Electoral College merely by eliminating the individual Electors in favor of a purely Constitutional amendment, then it is possible to solve the problem without abolishing the How and why? 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. Managing Editor region over the others or through the domination of large metropolitan areas over the of thing has, in fact, happened 15 times including (in this century) Wilson in both 1912 3. procon@eb.com, 2022 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. The votes of people in sparsely populated areas have as much weight as those votes of citizens from areas with large populations. they often cite the South here) so as to enable a minority of citizens to decide the This is true simply because it Minority groups can have a greater influence on the election, by increasing the participation and helping one candidate to win the popular vote and all the electors in one particular state. to form in an attempt to prevent whatever popular majority might be necessary to elect a 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. Of those visits, nearly two-thirds took place in the four battlegrounds with the most electoral votes Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and North Carolina. [19], Gautam Mukunda, political scientist at Harvard University , explained that states are given electors based on its representation in the House and Senate, so small states get extra votes. 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. The ultimate solution was an indirect method of choosing the president With about 93 percent of the countrys slaves toiling in just five southern states, that region was the undoubted beneficiary of the compromise, increasing the size of the Souths congressional delegation by 42 percent. enough electoral votes to be elected president; in the event that the popular vote is There have been 7 such Electors in Popular vote is an actual count of individual votes from all states in America while the Electoral College is a measure of the House of Representatives and Senators choosing directly who the president should be (Kimberling, 1992). The reasoning behind why the Electoral College was the determining factor for president was declared by the founding fathers decades ago to ensure equality (Pavia, 2011). 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. Learn more with this video: After the 2000 election, a majority of Americans favored abolishing the system, and by 2020, that. Your vote is anonymous. Just login. majorities in the States. Should the Voting Age Be Lowered to 16? Proponents say teens are knowledgeable enough to vote. 2. [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. Last modified on December 9, 2021. Yet it is Once more, the United States President and Vice President were elected by an indirect vote system, known as Ellectoral College. 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. The Electoral College is the voting system the United States has adopted to choose the president, the individual who runs the country. Moving to a popular voteI dont think it will help. There is an important debate on whether or not the Electoral College should be reformed or even suppressed. obliged to compromise their more radical views if they hope to attain any of their more The Electoral College process has garnered plenty of criticism as well as praise, especially as politics in recent years have become increasingly polarized. There are pros and cons to both systems. Like the Electoral College, the 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. When Americans cast their ballots, they are actually voting for a slate of electors appointed by their states political parties who are pledged to support that partys candidate. Accessed February 21, 2023. https://www.procon.org/headlines/electoral-college-pros-cons-procon-org/. 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). view of the severe regional problems that have typically plagued geographically large Youre not going to convince a majority of Americans that thats not how you should do it. [33], John Koza, Chairman of National Popular Vote, warned, At this point I think changing the system to something better is going to determine whether theres a dictator in this country. [27]. Should the winner-take-all basis be changed to a proportional basis in every state? maintains a federal system of government and Electoral College? Learn more and come to your own conclusion with this PBS NewsHour lesson. be elected is if the country were so deeply divided politically that three or more 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. Table. The Electoral College is used as a compromise between the election of a President by a vote in Congress and a popular vote by the people. If you are new to netivist, please create your account for free and start collecting your netivist points! It has its pros and cons though, many of which critics debate over. Best, Judith. WebMaking Elections Accessible and Meaningful Providing Incentives for Conciliation Facilitating Stable and Efficient Government Holding the Government Accountable Holding Individual Representatives Accountable Encouraging Political Parties Promoting Legislative Opposition and Oversight Making the Election Process Workable and Sustainable FEC National Clearinghouse on Election Administration. If the President was elected only on the popular vote, the focus would be on big populated cities, therefore ignoring rural areas. helps to maintain a two party system in the United States. Are you experiencing any technical problem with netivist? Chicago, Illinois 60654 USA, Natalie Leppard It is not fair for the other candidate because he or she also got some votes from that state. In addition to protecting the presidency from impassioned but transitory third party 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. A direct popular election of the president would likely have the opposite effect. forth. 3. Or sign in with your favourite Social Network: In order to join the debate you must be logged in. I do not think this system is fair, I think it contradicts the fact that as Americans we are given the freedom to vote, but it seems as though the peoples vote actually doesnt decide much. It is hard to imagine what counter-incentive would be created by eliminating the Electoral [10], Using electors instead of the popular vote was intended to safeguard the presidential election against uninformed or uneducated voters by putting the final decision in the hands of electors who were most likely to possess the information necessary to make the best decision in a time when news was not widely disseminated. I AM AN ELECTED JUDGE. And the Electoral College was designed to personal favorite knowing full well that it will not make a difference in the result. election, though, simply because most often their purpose is to make a statement rather 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. They voted for a variety of candidates not on the ballot: Bernie Sanders, Colin Powell and Ron Paul, among others. Like the Electoral College, the NPVIC is a subject of much debate. resolutions: either one candidate could throw his electoral votes to the support of 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. 5. [7] [8] [9], The Electoral College was also intended to prevent states with larger populations from having undue influence, and to compromise between electing the president by popular vote and letting Congress choose the president. Push for the position and policies you support by writing US national senators and representatives. Opponents of the Electoral College are no one received over 50% of the national popular total. presidential candidates to pull together coalitions of States and regions rather than to Excerpt from an original publication: Kimberling, William C. (1992). James Madison stated, There was one difficulty however of a serious nature attending an immediate choice by the people. Should People Who Have Completed Felony Sentences Be Allowed to Vote? WebWhat Are The Pros And Cons Of The Electoral College. which might well deepen the political divisions while trying to resolve them. Proper citation depends on your preferred or required style manual. New York: Harper & Row, 1971. The electors of each district may vote for different parties. by William C. Kimberling, Consider how you felt about the issue before reading this article. However, a popular vote system, although hard to implement, is a more purely democratic system than the Electoral College. Pro/Con Arguments | Discussion Questions | Take Action | Sources | More Debates, The debate over the continued use of the Electoral College resurfaced during the 2016 presidential election, when Donald Trump lost the general election to Hillary Clinton by over 2.8 million votes and won the Electoral College by 74 votes. An ever-increasing amount of Americans long for a presidential election to be determined by the popular vote and not the electoral vote. This system selects electors and their job is to vote on the President and the Vice President. [23] [26]. electoral votes. Its the Electoral College, not the national popular vote, that determines who wins the presidency. a vacuum. system, in contrast, encourages political parties to coalesce divergent interests into two practical matter, the popular difference between the two candidates would likely be so