Change). ThoughtCo. 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. NCSL conducts policy research in areas ranging from agriculture and budget and tax issues to education and health care to immigration and transportation. We have seen this outcome in the 2016 Presidential election between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump and in the 2000 election between George H.W. 5. Surprisingly enough, the National Popular Vote bill could possibly bring forth some problems. 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. However that presumably rare exception happened in the 2000 election when Florida could not complete their statewide recount in time for the Electoral College deadline and the Supreme Court forced Florida to use their first vote count without a statewide recount. However, this also means that regions with a quite low population density will almost have no influence on the election outcome at all since they only have far too few votes to make a real difference. After all, is said and done, the candidate who attains the largest number of votes can still lose. But with the NPV Compact a change in party control of just one or two states could restore the old system of electing the president and then four years later it could be changed back. Or the opposite could be true. This brings us to 196 of the 270 (73%) electoral votes needed to activate the pact just 74 votes away. 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. On April 15, 2014 Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York State quietly signed into law the National Popular Vote, making New York the 10th state -- along with the District of Columbia -- to support this effort, while also boosting the total numbers to 165 of the 270 electoral votes needed to make a true national popular vote a reality. People are moving to live in like-minded communities more than ever before. The appeal of NPV is the simplicity of its message. I will explain that in another blog post. Maine and Nebraska are the only two states that are not affected by this approach. By adding this new interstate compact to the Electoral College/Winner-Take-All system to elect our president we are in fact making this system even more complicated and even harder for the voters to understand. a plan for a national popular vote could undermine the . If you need to flag this entry as abusive. More people live in urban regions, which means they would have a constant sway over the election. ashburnham school committee; its his baby now political cartoon meaning; softstar primal sawyer A popular vote system would significantly impact voters and turnout. With the polarization in global politics today, especially in the United States, a switch to the popular vote would likely increase costs even further. Lincoln Chafee (D) made his state the latest to sign on. Definition and Examples, How Political Party Convention Delegates are Chosen, What Is a Caucus? However, a popular vote system, although hard to implement, is a more purely democratic system than the Electoral College. It would require an Amendment in the U.S. for presidential elections. That would give the Compact states only 3 days( and two of those days were weekend days) to certify their state votes. (2021, Jun 14). The danger of NPV is that it will undermine the complex and vital underpinnings of American democracy. 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. A popular vote election would bring the presidential election in line with the rest of the election structures. 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. The National Popular Vote plan is a bill passed by participating state legislatures agreeing that they will cast all of their electoral votes for the presidential candidate winning the nationwide popular vote. 9. 5. The discussion around using the popular vote for elections has increased since the results of the 2016 election. All other votes cast for that candidate are therefore superfluous. 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. In summary, a popular vote is simply a vote in which the individual or issue with the most total votes from a population of voters is the winner. 4. Start and finish your paper with ease. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. A simple change in the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact could fix the flaw and still provide the benefits of a popular election. 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). However, some critics argue that the advantages of a direct popular election including reflecting democratic principals, outweigh the disadvantages. Currently, candidates focus more on swing and battleground states to help them gain those electoral votes. The Electoral College system, however imperfect, serves this broader view of democracy. It is also true that no president since 1824 has received the votes of a majority of the eligible voters and 18 presidents, including Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson, Harry S. Truman, John. 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). Robert Longley is a U.S. government and history expert with over 30 years of experience in municipal government and urban planning. The compact is designed to ensure that the candidate who receives the most votes nationwide is elected president, and it . And in all states but Maine and Nebraska, the candidate who receives the most votes in that state is awarded all of its electoral votes, whether the split is 51% to 49% or 99% to 1%. There are a number of pros for this method. Get breaking news and updates from Common Cause. tobin james the blend 2017 ; real estate marketing solutions; cons of the national popular vote plan; lassi kefalonia shops cons of the national popular vote plan Advantages and Disadvantages of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact 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. cons of the national popular vote plansuper lemon haze greenhouse. The Electoral College was established in the Constitution to protect minority interests and mitigate the possibility of a regional candidate. 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. Their vote only counts at the local level, not the national level, because of the electoral votes. The Electoral College is made up of 538 electors and a majority of 270 electoral votes is mandatory to nominate the President. America is known to have the costliest, prolonged, and complicated structure when electing a head of state. Because every vote is equal inside Ohio or Florida, presidential candidates avidly seek out voters in small, medium, and large towns. And thats not how it should be in a democracy. There are alternatives to winner-take-all that do not involve abandoning the positive aspects of the Electoral College. Instead, it modifies the winner-take-all rule in a way its supporters say would assure that every vote will matter in every state in every presidential election. Using the NPV system means that every vote counts the same. Home| Government| Elections| Electoral College| Electoral College Pros And Cons. Presidential candidates have no reason to poll, visit, advertise, organize, or campaign in states that they cannot possibly win or lose; in 2016, 68% of presidential campaign visits took place in just six states. The National Popular Vote effort, explained The National Popular Vote effort is now halfway to its goal of electing future presidents via the popular vote, after Rhode Island Gov. By continuing well assume youre on board with our, https://samploon.com/electoral-college-and-national-popular-vote-pros-and-cons/, Select a writer from a large pool of experts. Explains kimberling, william c., and dave leip's . It happened once, in 1876. (See: Electoral Votes by State). 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. That would increase the amount of polarization being experienced in politics today because there would be less of a need to compromise. Under the plan, Michigan's 15 Electoral . That is hardly a mandate for governing, though it would be taken as such. That view of democracy recognizes the existence and desirability of organized interests and enshrines that principle under the concept of pluralism. This would happen in the extremely unlikely situation where this candidate would win just for one vote in some . List of the Cons of Proportional Representation. This move would ensure that the Presidency would be given to the candidate that received the most popular votes all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Even if states impose fines on faithless electors for their actions, it is not a guarantee that the behavior will stop. The amendment requires that any change to the rate of compensation for members of Congress can only take effect after a subsequent election in the House of Representatives. She graduated magna cum laude from Brandeis University with bachelor's degrees in creative writing, English/American literature and international studies. cons of the national popular vote plan. Weve already seen this issue take place with the GOP primaries in 2016. Thats how politics works in America. 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. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. E pluribus unum -- out of many, one. Lastly, some Americans believe that there would be an increase in voter turn-out if people felt that their vote was viewed as a significant asset to their country. National Popular Vote Plan page 3 that non-member states that fail to hold such elections will not be included in the determination of 'the national popular vote winner.' This sidesteps the problem and provides an incentive for all states (non-members as well as members) to (continue to) hold such elections. "The National Popular Vote bill would guarantee the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in the entire U.S. An individuals vote doesnt make a difference when it is counted against the votes of the delegates in the House of Representatives and Senate. Many people may feel that any major change in how we elect the president should be in the Constitution and not in a legal loop hole even if its legal and technically constitutional. This is a situation that has caused controversy in the election years of of 1800, 1876, 1888, 2000 and 2016 when the elected president won the Electoral College and the presidency but did not win the popular vote. The bill has crossed paths with 36 legislative chambers and has been sponsored or voted for by 3,112 state legislators (National Popular Vote). 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. If this happens many people in the red states will not feel that the change is legitimate even if its legal and technically constitutional. Thats a bank of about 14 million potential voters that reliably vote as a majority for Democratic candidates. The pros and cons of the popular vote structure of an election allow for the majority to have their say in who they wish to serve. Unless the national popular vote was very close, or there were all lot of recounts outstanding, the Compact states in most cases would effectively know what the outcome would be and could be prepared to certify their state votes very quickly to make the Electoral College meeting date deadline. It is not even a liberal or conservative bill. As a result, the percentage of popular votes secured by Donald Trump was just 46.4% in comparison with Hilary Clinton, who secured 48.5% of the votes. The National Popular Vote (NPV) refers to the concept of allocating a state's presidential electors to the candidate who receives the most votes nationwide regardless of the state results in a presidential election. According to the Constitution, the Electoral College is a compromise between election of the President by a vote in Congress and election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens (National Archives). There would be a reduced need to build coalitions. A shift of a relative handful of votes in one or two states would have elected the second-place candidate in six of the last 12 presidential elections. 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. The winner would receive all of the compact states electoral votes, giving them at least the necessary 270 to win the White House. The winner would receive one vote per congressional district won with the winner of the state popular vote gaining a two electoral votes. 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. Privacy Policy. Wyoming had just 3 electoral votes, but only had 255,000 voters as well. 4. 10 Apr. It is our national motto and is so for a reason. https://www.thoughtco.com/the-national-popular-vote-plan-3322047 (accessed March 4, 2023). Candidates get one vote for every congressional district they win, and then two votes for winning the state-wide vote. Lawmakers discuss plan to enact National Popular Vote in Michigan. Their answer is simple: one in which every citizen's vote is equal to every other citizen's vote and one in which the winner of the presidential popular vote, no matter how small his or her percentage is of those who voted, would be elected. The popular vote currently gives every citizenCalifornians and Texans, Hawaiians and Mainers, Alabamans and Oregoniansan equal say in choosing the president. A close election would trigger the need for a full recount. A Critique of the National Popular Vote October 13, 2008 Policy Analysis No. It was a great idea in 1787 but the country has changed since 1787 and the people today want to elect the president by a simple, direct popular vote where whoever gets the most votes wins like we do in every other election in the country. 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.
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