Due to some states being heavily populated in comparison to others, that may help a candidate quickly obtain a win. The Electoral College was established in the Constitution to protect minority interests and mitigate the possibility of a regional candidate. It is our national motto and is so for a reason. The issue raised by the National Popular Vote campaign is fundamental: What kind of a democracy should America be? The danger of NPV is that it will undermine the complex and vital underpinnings of American democracy. 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. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/the-national-popular-vote-plan-3322047. 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. After all, the Electoral College makes it possible that a candidate who wins the majority of the votes could still lose the election. 1. Some critics argue that more people would vote in a direct popular election, according to the University of the Pacific. The cost of a presidential election in the United States is already several billion dollars. What Is The District Plan? This Electoral College Reform - Bustle Longley, Robert. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) is an agreement among a group of U.S. states and the District of Columbia to award all their electoral votes to whichever presidential ticket wins the overall popular vote in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Although faithless electors have not affected the results or outcome of an election yet, in 2016, there were 7 faithless electors. I will explain that in another blog post. And thats not how it should be in a democracy. Pros & Cons of a National Popular Vote Buy Complete Issue $19.95 Login or Subscribe The National Popular Vote How would the interstate compact work? Change). Image the country thinks it is going to elect the president by National Popular Vote and then changing back to using the old Electoral College/Winner-Take-All system just four months before an election. However, many people believe that a direct popular election is more democratic and fair than the Electoral College. In 6 Elections, 2 Near-Misses (2020, 2004) and 2 Second-Place Presidents (2016, 2000) National Popular Vote Has Been Enacted into Law in 16 Jurisdictions with 195 Electoral Votes. The President-Elect takes the oath of office and is sworn in as President of the United States on January 20th in the year following the Presidential election (Archives). That would increase the amount of polarization being experienced in politics today because there would be less of a need to compromise. 8. A Critique of the National Popular Vote October 13, 2008 Policy Analysis No. OKLAHOMA CITY Oklahomans will head to the polls March 7 to decide if the state will become the 22nd in the country to legalize recreational marijuana for use by anyone 21 and older. Why National Popular Vote Would Be a Disaster for America (and NPV https://www.thoughtco.com/the-national-popular-vote-plan-3322047 (accessed March 4, 2023). 3. These are the states that may go to either major party candidate in the election. cons of the national popular vote plansuper lemon haze greenhouse. Popular Vote History & Overview | What Does Popular Vote Mean But the much greater danger to American democracy is that direct elections may make it possible for a president to be elected by no more than 30 percent of the vote, regardless of his or her suitability for office, so long as there is sufficient money and a clever media advisor behind the effort. The winner would receive one vote per congressional district won with the winner of the state popular vote gaining a two electoral votes. A popular vote system would significantly impact voters and turnout. Weve already seen this issue take place with the GOP primaries in 2016. 15 states and Washington, D.C. have joined the National Popular Vote compact. 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. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. Battleground states would disappear in U.S. elections. Congressional District Method by Riley Dimmock - Prezi The NPV movement seeks to create an unfair and unconstitutional system that diminishes the voting rights of citizens throughout the country and raises the prospect of increased voter fraud and. April 8, 2016 National popular vote far better than Electoral College system for choosing presidents, Stanford professors say. National popular vote - frequently asked questions - Common Cause According to the University of Missouri-Kansas City Law School, some proponents of the Electoral College argue that it isolates election problems, such as illegally extended voting hours or irregularly high voter turnout. It would eliminate the Congressional provisions for a non-majority election. The winner would receive all of the compact states electoral votes, giving them at least the necessary 270 to win the White House. Ken Bickers. A Critique of the National Popular Vote | Cato Institute Wyoming had just 3 electoral votes, but only had 255,000 voters as well. The National Bonus Plan maintains the Electoral College voting system but adds 102 bonus electoral votes to the existing 538 votes. The appeal of NPV is the simplicity of its message. And thats not how it should be in a democracy. Cons: Smaller states don't get as much of a say and people would demand a national recount National Bonus Plan Winner of popular vote gets extra 102 electoral votes Pros: No winner of popular vote losing overall Cons: Basically exactly like the Direct plan District Plan Win popular vote in each district, you get one electoral vote. If a party knows either that it can't win a single elector in a state or has an easy road to winning all of them, it sends its resources to where it has a competitive chance.. PDF Problems With the National Popular Vote Plan Their vote only counts at the local level, not the national level, because of the electoral votes. cons of the national popular vote plan Here is the entire text of the proposed "Agreement Among the States to Elect the President by National Popular Vote." Tweet Email this More on The Electoral College: Honorable Steve Cohen With a popular vote in place, each election win would be decreed a mandate to follow the platform of the winning party. In addition, the bill has been unanimously approved at the committee level in the states of Georgia and Missouri, controlling a combined 27 electoral votes. Disadvantages of the NPV Interstate Compact. Instead of a direct popular election, the United States has the Electoral College, a group of electors who represent each state's votes. To date, the bill has passed at least one legislative chamber in 9 states possessing 82 combined electoral votes: AR, AZ, ME, MI, MN, NC, NV, OK, and OR. If the election is based off a popular vote, each of these areas would need to be closely examined in real-time, which would enhance the security of each vote that is cast. Electoral college reform proposals include (1) the district plan, awarding each state's two at-large electoral votes to the statewide popular vote winners, and one electoral vote to the winning candidates in each congressional district; (2) the proportional plan, awarding electoral votes in states in direct proportion to the popular vote gained A popular vote structure would virtually eliminate the idea of a third-party candidate having a chance in an election. The method works by electing one elector within each congressional district by popular vote and selecting the remaining two electors by a statewide popular vote. 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. 41 States (with 80% of U.S. population) will be Ignored in the 2024 Presidential Election. and our In the case of a tie, there are contingencies in place to determine which person will serve in the elected office. Actually the NPV Compact doesnt change one word in he Constitution and in fact only changes state laws. A switch to the popular vote would eliminate the concept of a battleground state because the issue would be more on issues than states. Currently, candidates focus more on swing and battleground states to help them gain those electoral votes. Resource allocation would be focused on paid advertising, which would negate the need for grassroots activities. Because every vote is equal inside Ohio or Florida, presidential candidates avidly seek out voters in small, medium, and large towns. It would reduce the influence of third parties on the U.S. presidential election. a plan for a national popular vote could undermine the . 2. A candidate can win the popular vote in enough states to win a majority of electoral votes but still lose the popular vote nationally. To determine the National Popular Vote winner, state election officials simply would tally the nationwide vote for president based on each states official results. Opines that the national popular vote plan is the wrong way to abolith the electoral college. cons of the national popular vote plan As of now, 15 states and Washington, D.C. have joined the National Popular Vote compact: Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maryland, Washington, New Jersey, Illinois, New York, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Delaware and Oregon. Many cities and school districts, under threat of a lawsuit by a Malibu attorney, have already adopted or are in the process of changing to district elections rather than remaining citywide or . 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. 12th Amendment: Fixing the Electoral College, What Is Majoritarianism? It is perhaps the most simplistic form of an election. It sees a healthy and vibrant democracy needing the underpinnings of civil society that rests on the sustained and active engagement of the citizenry and promotes approaches that seek to maximize that involvement. The plan would not get rid of the Electoral College. National popular vote - Ballotpedia The lack of competition and campaigning in a majority of states owes itself not to the existence of the Electoral College's indirect method of choosing presidents but rather to the winner-take-all method of choosing electors in all but two states. Copyright 2023 Leaf Group Ltd. / Leaf Group Education, Explore state by state cost analysis of US colleges in an interactive article, Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections: The Electoral College, University of the Pacific: Electoral College Reform, University of Missouri-Kansas City Law School: The Electoral College. Without change, a plan for a national popular vote could undermine the Over the long run the countrys popular vote in presidential elections has roughly been equally split between Republican and Democratic.*. Richard F. Potthoff looks critically at a proposed alternative way of electing the US president, the National Popular Vote plan, where all states in an interstate compact which cover 270 or more electoral votes would cast their electoral votes for the candidate who won the nationwide vote, no matter who wins their state. Washington, DC 20005, Common Cause pays tribute to our leader, our friend, and a lifelong advocate for our democracy, Constitution, Courts & Other Democracy Issues, Ensure Fair Districts & Reflective Democracy, Expand Voting Rights & Election Integrity, Promote Free Speech & Accountability in Media, Protect the Constitution, Courts & Other Democracy Reforms. Many of these states dont participate in campaign visits or get televised ads. 48 Vitosha Boulevard, ground floor, 1000, Sofia, Bulgaria, Samploon, Inc. 2022. The electoral requires that an election which does not receive a majority of electoral votes be taken into the U.S. House of Representatives. Once effective, states could withdraw from the compact at any time except during the six-month window between July 20 of an election year and Inauguration Day (January 20). In the 2020 election California did not certify their votes until Friday, December 11, only 3 days before the Electoral College met on Monday, December, 14. Past Event: The League of Women Voters of Berrien and Cass Counties has announced plans to broadcast a webinar discussing the National Popular Vote (NPV) on Monday, Feb. 27 at 7:00 p.m. National Popular Vote has been leading the campaign to fix the electoral college and elect the president by national popular vote since its founding in 2006 . As the National Popular Vote (NPV) movement steps up its effort to impose a direct election for president, attempting to enlist states with a sufficient number of electors to constitute a majority (268) and to bind them to the winner of the national popular vote, those states considering the proposal might first reflect on the nightmare aftermath of the 2000 presidential election. That means the cost of counting all the votes would be duplicated. However, in the popular vote, Trump only received 62,984,825 votes against Hillary Clinton's 65,853,516 popular votes. Lawmakers discuss plan to enact National Popular Vote in Michigan. National Popular Vote: A Status Update - FairVote Advantages and Disadvantages of the National Popular Vote Interstate 4. However, in the popular vote, Trump only received 62,984,825 votes against Hillary Clinton's 65,853,516 popular votes. In each instance the republic has survived, and democracy has prospered despite the challenges presented. That created a voter value of 2.85. More attention is given to the swing states, such as Florida and Iowa, which causes the third problem the Electoral College can cause. 4. Or states might explore what was recently proposed in Colorado -- that electors be allocated in proportion to each candidate's share of the popular vote above a certain threshold. There would be a reduced need to build coalitions. Removing this system could encourage more people to come out to support their candidate. Nevada passed the legislation in 2019, but Gov. Every state is allocated several votes according to the number of senators and representatives in its U.S. Congressional delegation. By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz often split about 60% of the GOP vote, which allowed Donald Trump to win early primaries with 35% of the vote. The Electoral College system, however imperfect, serves this broader view of democracy. In fact, let's tally up all the votes cast for president between 1932 and 2008. The compact is designed to ensure that the candidate who receives the most votes nationwide is elected president, and it . Since the Constitution and the Bill of Rights became governing documents in the United States, there have only been 17 amendments made to it. Without the popular vote bill, swing states would continue to get more leverage and attention from candidates to ensure that they would be able to capture their votes. (2021, Jun 14). Secondly, it creates a minimalist depiction in the minds of the candidate towards more than 40 states. Popular vote better than Electoral College, Stanford scholars say If a popular vote were allowed to declare a winner instead, it wouldnt be through a state-by-state counting of electoral votes. Learn more about how the National Popular Vote compact works and the ways it could make our elections better for everyone. Common Cause Bosque de Palabras Then, election officials in all participating states would choose the electors sworn to support thepresidential candidate who received the largest number of popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. 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). Dont know what Ranked Choice Voting is? A majority of 270 electoral votes is required to elect the president. How the US Electoral College System Works, Biography of Donald Trump, 45th President of the United States, What Is Statutory Law? 805 15th Street, NW, Suite 800 Instead, each state and Washington D.C. is assigned a certain number of electoral votes based on its population. All samples were added by students. This text is available online and is used for gudiance and inspiration, We use cookies to give you the best experience possible. (LogOut/ PDF The Direct Election Plan - tesd.net It is not even a liberal or conservative bill. Imperfect, because its modern-day blessings -- enhancing coalition building, pluralism, federalism and grass-roots participation -- are enjoyed only by a minority of states (in any given presidential election 18 or 20), where the battle for electoral votes is competitive for both major parties. Thats a bank of about 14 million potential voters that reliably vote as a majority for Democratic candidates. And finally, the Electoral College doesnt work today anywhere near how the Founding Fathers intended it to work when they created it back in 1787. ashburnham school committee; its his baby now political cartoon meaning; softstar primal sawyer To take effect, the National Popular Vote bill must be enacted by the state legislatures of states controlling a total of 270 electoral votes - a majority of the overall 538 electoral votes and the number currently required to elect a president. Under the electoral college system (and other voting systems not based on popular voting), it only takes one extra vote more than the other candidate to create the needed results for the election. For example: States already have the power to award their electors to the winner of the national popular vote, although this would be disadvantageous to the state that did so unless it was joined simultaneously by other states that represent a majority of electoral votes. 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. The Constitution specifically leaves details like how the electoral votes are cast up to the states. The Electoral College - Top 3 Pros and Cons - ProCon.org 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. As of December 2020, the bill has been fully adopted predominately by Democratic-majority blue states which delivered the 14 largest vote shares for Barack Obama in the 2012 Presidential Election. 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. That offers the possibility that someone unwilling or unable to hold the office could be elected. Destroying the Electoral College: The Anti-Federalist National Popular 9. Electing a president who did not have broad regional support could lead to a fractured and less cohesive country, according to the Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. The electoral college encourages a two-party system and rewards candidates who have broad appeal. cons of the national popular vote plan. Our experts will write for you an essay on any topic, with any deadline and requirements from scratch, Electoral College and National Popular Vote Pros and Cons. It would reduce the threshold necessary to win the office. That means every state is allowed a minimum of 3 electoral votes. That nightmare may seem like a pleasant dream if NPV has its way. But the biggest problem with changing how we elect our president using the NPV Compact is that its too easy to change it back. Electoral College and National Popular Vote Pros and Cons national popular vote plan pros and cons - shipoom.com National Popular Vote: Circumventing the United States Constitution 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. On a close popular vote, often defined as a difference of 0.5% or less in the tabulated results, an automatic recount would likely be triggered. Lincoln Chafee (D) made his state the latest to sign on. The National Bonus Plan was proposed by historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. Surprisingly enough, the National Popular Vote bill could possibly bring forth some problems. But we're closer to that than you might think 15 states and the District of Columbia have already signed on, providing 196 electoral votes of the needed 270. Advantages of the NPV Interstate Compact 1. 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. This was the intent of the Founding Fathers. District Plan by Hannah Patzer - Prezi Watch out! And unlike direct elections, either would provide an incentive for grass-roots activity, coalition building and enhanced citizen participation. After the process, the President of the Senate reveals who has officially been voted in as President and Vice President of the United States. 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. National Popular Vote (NPV) was founded in 2006 by lottery scratch-card inventor John Koza and election lawyer Barry Fadem to lobby for an "interstate compact" for states to deliver their electoral votes for President to the "winner" of the national popular vote. The framers enacted the provisions relating to the Electoral College to allow for state innovation. Either would likely produce an electoral vote count closer to the popular vote. It seeks to be a bulwark against mass hysteria and the hysteria created by mass media. A candidate could be elected without the popular vote. The NPVIC is an agreement among states designed to guarantee election of the presidential candidate who wins the most popular votes in the 50 states and Washington, D.C. NPV is grounded in two powers delegated to states by the Constitution: the power to design rules for awarding their electoral votes and the power to enter into interstate Because of the winner-take-all rule, a candidate can be elected president without winning the most popular votes nationwide. Pros and cons of district elections | Columnists | smdailyjournal.com Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. On Dec. 22, 2016, the results were certified in all 50 states. [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.]. This has occurred in 5 of the nation's 56 presidential elections, most recently in 2016. Con:not Eliminate possibility that loser of the popular vote can still win the electoral vote The Proportional Plan A proposed reform where each presidential candidate would receive the percent of electoral votes that they win from each state Proportional Plan Pro:Possible for loser of popular vote to win presidency. cons of the national popular vote planchicago religious demographics. Moving to the popular vote structure would eliminate this potential issue. . More people live in urban regions, which means they would have a constant sway over the election. This divide creates natural divisions between groups of people who both support their country, but in different ways. All in all, the Electoral College causes many problems that seem unfair to American voters during such an important election. You can find out more about our use, change your default settings, and withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future by visiting Cookies Settings, which can also be found in the footer of the site. Retrieved from https://samploon.com/electoral-college-and-national-popular-vote-pros-and-cons/, Should the Electoral College Be Abolished, Pros for The Electoral College in the United States, Electoral College is Undemocratic but We Have no Better System, The Electoral College Should Be Terminated, The Electoral College Annotated Bibliography.