Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. NCSL helps draft bills, organize workshops and convene legislative-executive teams. Under the current structure of the electoral college, the focus of a presidential campaign is on the so-called battleground states. The states that join the NPV Compact will not be able to certify their Electoral College Votes until all 50 states and DC certify their state popular votes and any mandated/requested recounts since the Compact state ECVs are dependent on the winner of the national popular vote and not just their own state popular votes. Over the long run the countrys popular vote in presidential elections has roughly been equally split between Republican and Democratic.*. 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. All samples were added by students. What would happen during a switch to the popular vote would be unknown. In U.S. history, the electoral college winner has failed to secure the popular vote 5 times. However, many people believe that a direct popular election is more democratic and fair than the Electoral College. 48 Vitosha Boulevard, ground floor, 1000, Sofia, Bulgaria, Samploon, Inc. 2023. Pros and Cons of The U.S. Electoral College - National Popular Vote A switch to the popular vote would eliminate the concept of a battleground state because the issue would be more on issues than states. 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. https://www.nytimes.com/article/the-electoral-college.html. The aim of the National Popular Vote is to ensure the popular vote dictates the Electoral College results, making "every vote in every state" count. Great Smoky Mountains National Park crews battle rough terrain in This divide creates natural divisions between groups of people who both support their country, but in different ways. Security would be improved across the country. The Founders believed that most common citizens of the day were poorly educated and uninformed on political issues. Gordon Kaye, 68, of Tampa, Florida was reported missing on April 26. Because of the Winner-Take-All state laws candidates for president only campaign and spend their money in 12-13 swing states because voters in those few swing states determine who wins the election and presidential candidates totally ignore voters in the rest of the country(except to raise money). 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. 5. Even though we will be able to elect the president by national popular vote using the The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, eventually the rules for how we elect the president should be an official part of the Constitution. 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 country thinks we are going to elect the president using the Electoral College/Winner-Take-All system tans and then four months before the election we change to the National Popular Vote Compact system and elect the president by whoever gets the most popular votes. Gives too few states too much electoral power. The electoral requires that an election which does not receive a majority of electoral votes be taken into the U.S. House of Representatives. 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 compact would have the same effect as a constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College but has the benefit of retaining the power to control presidential elections in states hands. 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. In the case of a tie, there are contingencies in place to determine which person will serve in the elected office. In contrast, other issues related to the federal government are not exclusively entrusted to the states, and therefore the states lack the power to alter them. Inkwell | Everything You Need to Know About the National Popular 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. The local laws would take effect only once the compact has enough states to total 270 electoral votes. Dont know what Ranked Choice Voting is? National Archives:U.S. "Electoral College Pros and Cons." 15 states and Washington, D.C. have joined the National Popular Vote compact. In a direct popular election, a candidate could theoretically win without having broad support throughout the country. In a closely contested direct popular election, every precinct across the country might require close examination, rather than a handful of states or precincts. But the biggest problem with changing how we elect our president using the NPV Compact is that its too easy to change it back. For the popular vote, however, Hillary Clinton received 65.8 million votes, while Donald Trump received 62.9 million votes. Understand how the Electoral College system works. Or the opposite could be true. After all, the Electoral College makes it possible that a candidate who wins the majority of the votes could still lose the election. There would be a reduced need to build coalitions. 4. 3. [ 1] To determine the National Popular Vote winner, state election officials simply would tally the nationwide vote for president based on each states official results. NCSL conducts policy research in areas ranging from agriculture and budget and tax issues to education and health care to immigration and transportation. Under the electoral college system of voting, the number of representatives a state has in Congress (Senators and Representatives) is the total number of electoral votes it is allowed. You have to win the set, and in our system, you have to win the state.. If a popular vote were allowed to declare a winner instead, it wouldnt be through a state-by-state counting of electoral votes. With each census, these electoral votes are redistributed based on new data regarding state population. Since the Constitution and the Bill of Rights became governing documents in the United States, there have only been 17 amendments made to it. Today the Democrats want to replace the Electoral College/Winner-Take-All system with a direct popular vote and the Republicans adamantly want to keep it. Currently, the National Popular Vote bill has 172 electoral votes. University of Colorado Boulder 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). During the 2012 elections, 38 states, also known as spectator states, were ignored and forgotten. 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. A candidate could be elected without the popular vote. Some areas may bend the rules of an election by extending voting hours illegally. Ultimately, any disputes about the procedure could land everything in the Supreme Court. 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. Congressional Digest The National Popular Vote 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. That effectively means that votes in the the 75% of the country that are in swing states effectively dont count at all. After students have completed their handouts, have them debate the pros and cons of the Electoral College. As an alternative to the long and unlikely method amending the Constitution, critics of the Electoral College are now perusing the National Popular Vote plan designed to ensure that the candidate who wins the overall popular vote in inaugurated president. Instead of a direct popular election, the United States has the Electoral College, a group of electors who represent each state's votes. The Pros and Cons of Pooled Employer Plans: Debate. Moving to the popular vote structure would eliminate this potential issue. A popular vote election would bring the presidential election in line with the rest of the election structures. Weve already seen this issue take place with the GOP primaries in 2016. 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. . Thats how the framers of the Constitution set it up. The same thing happened in 2000. "Electoral College Pros and Cons." 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. The National Popular Vote, Explained | Brennan Center for Justice (2021, February 17). The Pros and Cons of the Electoral College - SmartAsset The electoral college is a tradition of American politics that's fairly controversial. In theory we could change how we elect our president every four years. 2. 211 Next 18 Pros and Cons of Popular Vote - Vittana.org She graduated magna cum laude from Brandeis University with bachelor's degrees in creative writing, English/American literature and international studies. In 2016, for instance, Democrat Hillary Clinton received nearly 2.9 million more votes than Trump in the presidential election, after racking up more lopsided wins in big states like New York and California. 1. Donald Trump won the presidential election by securing 304 electoral votes, compared to Hillary Clinton's 227 electoral votes. Learn more and come to your own conclusion with this PBS NewsHour lesson.
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