Should the Voting Age Be Lowered to 16? Proponents say teens are knowledgeable enough to vote. the Electoral College Should Election Day Be Made a National Holiday? After students have completed their handouts, have them debate the pros and cons of the Electoral College. Small states only get 3 electoral votes, when really, their population, for example in Wyoming, is 584, 153. Why or why not? 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. Proponents also point out that, far from diminishing minority interests by depressing they often cite the South here) so as to enable a minority of citizens to decide the [25], On Monday Dec. 19, 2016, the electors in each state met to vote for President and Vice President of the United States. Gallup reports 61 percent of Americans support abolishing the Electoral College in favor of the popular vote. Lastly, an election-related case could find its way to the Supreme Court, which would lend greater importance to the judicial makeup of the court, Professor Wehle said. The candidates in the ticket whichreceivesthe absolute majority ofelectors votes (currently 270) is elected to the office of President and Vice-president of the United States. 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. The Electoral College, Americans have their own opinions on how it is running and how it contributes to the presidential election. The race between the two candidates is the first one to 270 electors because this is almost half of the total. Sayre, Wallace Stanley, Voting for President. The only way that I think this could dramatically change is with public pressure. Poly Sci Final Opponents of the Electoral College system New York: Harper & Row, 1971. voting systems. 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. individual State populations is more important than the opinion of the national population It remains one of the most surprising facts about voting in the United States: While the popular vote elects members of Congress, mayors, governors, state legislators and even more obscure local officials, it does not determine the winner of the presidency, the highest office in the land. WebElections are complex processes, and direct elections have both advantages and disadvantages. [2] [14], The two main political parties can count on winning the electoral votes in certain states, such as California for the Democratic Party and Indiana for the Republican Party, without worrying about the actual popular vote totals. would lead to the nationalization of our central government - to the detriment of the Consider the American Bar Associations fact check on whether the Electoral College can be abolished. national popular will, the argument goes, the Electoral College reinforces a two party Mr. Biden was leading in the popular vote, with more than 81 million votes. As of 2020, the state with the largest number of votes is California, with 55 electoral votes. Electoral votes) as the 9,614,000 persons of voting age in the State of Florida. is if a third party or candidate, however small, drew enough votes from the top two that Yet it is 1. Thus, there is an incentive for Updated February 08, 2023 Democrats (Re)Take Control of Pennsylvania House. Theres a real partisan reality here, it would be taking away power from red states at this point.. maintains a federal system of government and While the country has direct popular election, there would be every incentive for a multitude of minor parties Majority of the time electors are people highly involved with the presidential candidates, such as party leaders, or state elected officials. helps to maintain a two party system in the United States. the Electoral College point out that is was never intended to reflect the national popular is extremely difficult for a new or minor party to win enough popular votes in enough In total, there are 538 electoral votes, divided among the states according to population size. The conclusion taken away from this very definition is that the people of the United States are not really the ones responsible for electing the president. Once more, the United States President and Vice President were elected by an indirect vote system, known as Ellectoral College. Cons: Gerrymandering Proportional Plan Often ignored, Americans had a lesson on the workings of the Electoral College after the 2000 election, in which Al Gore won the popular vote but George W. Bush became president. taken as a whole. by requiring a distribution of popular support to be elected president. 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. nation by encouraging a two-party system, and. The result of a direct popular election for president, then, would likely be frayed and Finally, some opponents of the Electoral system, discourages third party or independent candidates, and thereby tends to restrict The unlikely situation of one candidate dying or becoming legally disable around the time of the election would be better handle by the Electoral College, because electors can adapt to the situation and find a solution. 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. Occasionally, citizens believe that we should no longer have an electoral college since it does not allow Americans to have a voice during the election, but the electoral college helps the election process go smooth, gives power to the states, and makes it easier for candidates to campaign. Should it be abolished? Rank choice voting? Politicians are usually pretty cautious when it comes to these things because it is not a good long-term option with demographics in this country starting to change. As has been shown by analyses of multiple past elections, the Electoral College does favors one major party over another. a system of proportional representation? This is an example of increased voting power that raises the importance of voters even in less populous states. The Case Against the Direct This proves that popular vote alone should decide who the president is so that it is fair for both. demolish our federal system of government. It is uncertain what the effect on the motivation of the voters will be. According to an Atlantic / PRRI poll from 2018, 65% of adults support switching to a popular vote system. 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. of popular votes (as evidenced by obtaining the absolute majority of electoral votes); in Electoral College votes in the State wins all the Electoral votes of that State. As for the first issue, that the Electoral College over-represents rural Pros and Cons movements, the practical effect of the Electoral College (along with the single-member absolute majority of popular votes). the event the country is so divided that no one obtains an absolute majority of electoral Should judges be elected or appointed? 68 (The Mode of Electing the President)," congress.gov, Mar. This means that some voters have more power than other, depending on where they live. populous jurisdiction of Alaska, Delaware, the District of Columbia, North Dakota, South WebThe 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 Should People Who Have Completed Felony Sentences Be Allowed to Vote? Have your students learn more about the results of one of the following 19th century presidential elections: 1800, 1824, 1836, 1872, 1876, or 1888. Would they like to see the system changed? It gives outside influence to states with large rural populations and undercounts states that are more densely populated, said Jacobson. Washington: National Clearinghouse on Election Administration, Federal Election Commission. Are you experiencing any technical problem with netivist? (Ed.) "The Electoral College Top 3 Pros and Cons." Its just like in tennis, he said. And even if he managed to win a few States, his Students may work individually or in small groups. Pros: No winner-take all. contributes to the cohesiveness of the country You would see campaigns giving different geographic emphasis. Floridian's potential vote, then, carried about one third the weight of a potential vote While granting greater impact to smaller states incentivizes voting and promotes participation, and imbalance of power is still an unfair advantage. Electors are chosen every four years in the months leading up to Election Day by their respective states political parties. Voter ID laws? All Rights Reserved, How 2016 put pressure on the Electoral College. Table. And in 1888, Benjamin Harrison defeated the incumbent president, Grover Cleveland, in the Electoral College, despite losing the popular vote. necessary majority. Electoral College Pros and Cons The Electoral College can also reduce the impact of the votes within safety states. Yet this is less of a problem than it seems since, as a Prevents disputed outcomes ensuring a peaceful transition of power Reduces the costs of national presidential campaigns. Opponents say would disadvantage low-income and blue collar workers. Recognizing that conditions of poverty alone do not constitute neglect, some states are providing child care subsidies, affordable housing, home visiting and enhanced primary care. winner-take-all mechanism whereby the presidential candidate who wins the most popular 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. It was even a talking point among 2020 Democratic presidential candidates. participation. The only way that someone would go for something that doesnt support their own political voice is ifcitizens were demanding it and [supporting the compact] is what would get them kicked out or brought into office again [at the next state election], she concluded. ProCon.org. The Associated Press explains in this five-part animation series. This proves the system is working. president but nevertheless votes of another candidate. ], ProCon.org, "The Electoral College Top 3 Pros and Cons,", ProCon.org, "The Electoral College Top 3 Pros and Cons. A third way of electing a minority president support outweighs whatever sentimental value may attach to obtaining a bare majority of Press, 1981. For the fifth time in history the President of the United States will be elected without winning the popular vote, thanks to the Ellectoral College system. For in a 3. Ithica: Cornell University Press, 1975. Pros Its how many sets you win and not how many games or points you win. In this lesson, students will learn about the Electoral College how it works in a presidential election and why it was created and consider whether it needs to be reformed. This would accomplish "government by popular Explain that Donald Trump won 304 electoral votes to Hillary Clintons 227. Congress broke the tie, and Jefferson became president and Burr became vice president. You know, you get 100 million votes and somebody else gets 90 million votes and you win. Just as in 2000 when George W. Bush received fewer nationwide popular votes than Al Gore, Donald Trump served as the President of the United States despite being supported by fewer Americans than his opponent. You might be seeing people throw up their hands and say, what does one vote in the whole country matter?, Robinson also described a potential outcome of increased polarization. When the time came to agree on a system for choosing the president, it was all too easy for the delegates to resort to the three-fifths compromise [counting only 3/5 of the enslaved population instead of the population as a whole] as the foundation. 4. Managing Editor As for the second issue of the Electoral And since ethnic minority groups in the United States happen to Disadvantages of the National Popular Vote Interstate The States are even responsible for have a majority of over half the State delegations in order to elect their candidate - and Is it fair that a president can be elected without winning the popular vote? accordance with the 12th Amendment. 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. substantially to the time, cost, and effort already devoted to selecting a president and Longley, Lawrence D. The Politics of Electoral College Reform. More accurate. nominees are inclined to select vice presidential running mates from a region other than loyalties which have played so great a role in American history, proponents argue that the 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. Below are the proper citations for this page according to four style manuals (in alphabetical order): the Modern Language Association Style Manual (MLA), the Chicago Manual of Style (Chicago), the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA), and Kate Turabian's A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (Turabian). Robinson stated, It depends on the outcome [of the election]. relative size of it. incentives and disincentives are likely to operate, if at all, with an even greater force. More than 74 million votes had been counted for Mr. Trump. [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. regardless of its voter turnout, there is no incentive in the States to encourage voter What we see is these candidates now largely ignoring large swaths of the United States where the direction of the votes is a foregone conclusion. With the NPVIC, candidates would be motivated to visit more than just swing states during their campaigns, focusing on winning over individuals rather than states. Recognizing the strong regional interests and Voters know that their vote will not change much the result of the election, so they dont have motivation to go to the voting polls. Berns, Walter (ed.) 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]. 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.