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. List of the Cons of Using the Popular Vote 1. 8. Politicians would focus on fewer swing states (Bigger states more potential votes) Electoral College pros and cons: is popular vote better? - netivist After the process, the President of the Senate reveals who has officially been voted in as President and Vice President of the United States. An electoral college would solve . Over the long run the countrys popular vote in presidential elections has roughly been equally split between Republican and Democratic.*. During the 2012 elections, 38 states, also known as spectator states, were ignored and forgotten. 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. Activating the National Popular Vote compact would reshape our . 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. In U.S. history, there has been one vice-presidential candidate who died after being nominated and one that withdrew from their partys ticket. NCSL's experts are here to answer your questions and give you unbiased, comprehensive information as soon as you need it on issues facing state legislatures. Facts support national popular vote | The Hill It seeks to be a bulwark against mass hysteria and the hysteria created by mass media. 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. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. In a direct popular election, a candidate could theoretically win without having broad support throughout the country. In fact, the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, which has now been adopted by 15 states and the District of Columbia, totaling 196 electoral votes, is an actionable and realistic . The National Bonus Plan maintains the Electoral College voting system but adds 102 bonus electoral votes to the existing 538 votes. Some areas may bend the rules of an election by extending voting hours illegally. April 8, 2016 National popular vote far better than Electoral College system for choosing presidents, Stanford professors say. This would happen in the extremely unlikely situation where this candidate would win just for one vote in some . Over the years, the National Popular Vote bill has been introduced in the legislatures of all 50 states. Lawmakers discuss plan to enact National Popular Vote in Michigan. Constitutional Amendment to Guarantee the Right to Vote for All U.S. Citizens. cons of the national popular vote plan. It would reduce the influence of third parties on the U.S. presidential election. The itineraries of presidential candidates in battleground states (and their allocation of other campaign resources) demonstrate what every gubernatorial or senatorial candidate in every state already knows namely that when every vote matters, the campaign must be run in every part of the state. Secondly, it creates a minimalist depiction in the minds of the candidate towards more than 40 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. Bosque de Palabras Rural voters would almost always be in the minority. Regional candidates could secure enough votes to win a national election. The National Bonus Plan was proposed by historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. For example, if a candidate was very popular in New York City, Los Angeles and other large cities, she might not need to earn votes from other areas of the country. HuffPost's top politics stories, straight to your inbox. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact is an agreement where states in the compact award all their electoral votes to the winner of the . Currently, the National Popular Vote bill has 172 electoral votes. And that would undermine the legitimacy of the NPV among those people. The discussion around using the popular vote for elections has increased since the results of the 2016 election. 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. This advance is referred to as the winner-take-all approach. Although faithless electors have not affected the results or outcome of an election yet, in 2016, there were 7 faithless electors. It has also happened four times out of the 56 presidential elections. And thats not how it should be in a democracy. That effectively means that votes in the the 75% of the country that are in swing states effectively dont count at all. Longley, Robert. There are logistical issues that are managed at the local level in each election. NCSL conducts policy research in areas ranging from agriculture and budget and tax issues to education and health care to immigration and transportation. Opines that the national popular vote plan is the wrong way to abolith the electoral college. 1. It awards all the bonus votes to the winner of the popular vote. It would eliminate the Congressional provisions for a non-majority election. During a popular vote, a candidate who withdraws from the race or dies before the election can be held could still be on the ballot. In the early 19th century, many states ratified an approach that would allow the candidate with the most votes in that state to be the winner. 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. 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. Currently, candidates focus more on swing and battleground states to help them gain those electoral votes. All in all, the Electoral College causes many problems that seem unfair to American voters during such an important election. Here are the Cons of the Electoral College 1. If this happens many people in the red states will not feel that the change is legitimate even if its legal and technically constitutional. Watch out! The Congressional District method would allocate electoral votes based on the winner of each congressional district. Because its so hard to get an amendment to the Constitution passed that means that once it becomes law it will probably remain so for a long time because the bar to change it back is so high. Electoral College Pros and Cons - ThoughtCo The framers enacted the provisions relating to the Electoral College to allow for state innovation. 9. 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. 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. The principal flaw in the plan is its assumption that under the plan there will still be only two major parties competing for the presidency in 2020. . After all, the Electoral College makes it possible that a candidate who wins the majority of the votes could still lose the election. 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. Because there was a difference of less than 1,000 tabulated votes between George W. Bush and Al Gore in one state, Florida, the nation watched as 6 million votes were recounted by machine, several hundred thousand were recounted by hand in counties with differing recount standards, partisan litigators fought each other in state and federal courts, the secretary of state backed by the majority of state legislators (all Republicans) warred with the state's majority Democratic judiciary -- until 37 days after the election the U.S. Supreme Court, in a bitterly controversial 5-4 decision effectively declared Bush the winner. 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. 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. National Popular Vote: A Status Update - FairVote pros and cons." dave leip's atlas of u.s. presidential elections. According to Article II, Section 1, "Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress." Majority supports changing Electoral College system for U.S A simple change in the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact could fix the flaw and still provide the benefits of a popular election. National Popular Vote It has been enacted by twelve states, which include Rhode Island, Vermont, Hawaii, the District of Columbia, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Washington, New Jersey, Illinois, New York, and California. In 2016, Gary Johnson received 4.48 million votes and 0 electoral votes, but the potential is always there for this to happen. 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. 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. For the popular vote, however, Hillary Clinton received 65.8 million votes, while Donald Trump received 62.9 million votes. Today, many electors are bound to vote according to their states' popular vote results, and those who aren't almost always do. 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. NPV supporters claim, accurately, that a direct election for president would reduce or eliminate the possibility that a fringe candidate (like a Ralph Nader or Ron Paul) winning five percent or less of the vote in a single state could serve to defeat a major party candidate from the same side of the political spectrum. Moving to the popular vote structure would eliminate this potential issue. The United States has a representative democracy rather than a direct democracy: Citizens elect representatives rather than voting on each bill. 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. 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. Ten reasons I support the National Popular Vote | MinnPost On average, studies show that falls in line with historical averages showing around 60 percent of eligible voters casting a vote in presidential election years. 622 By John Samples The National Popular Vote plan (NPV), introduced in more than 40 states, and adopted. 9 Pros and Cons of Electoral College | APECSEC.org 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. Robert Longley is a U.S. government and history expert with over 30 years of experience in municipal government and urban planning. 3. To determine the National Popular Vote winner, state election officials simply would tally the nationwide vote for president based on each states official results. 3. cons of the national popular vote plan - alshamifortrading.com When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. Going to the popular vote would eliminate this issue altogether. Weve already seen this issue take place with the GOP primaries in 2016. 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. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your devices and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. That nightmare may seem like a pleasant dream if NPV has its way. It would eliminate superfluous votes. 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. It could help to reduce partisanship. This feature is critical to the passionate bipartisan support the compact receives. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. One of the biggest reasons why voters dont vote is because they feel like their vote doesnt count. 5. Nevada passed the legislation in 2019, but Gov. Around six-in-ten U.S. adults (63%) say the way the president is elected should be changed so that the winner of the popular vote nationwide wins the presidency, while 35% favor keeping the current Electoral College system, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted June 27-July 4, 2022. In 2004, for example, candidates George W. Bush and John Kerry campaigned heavily in states such as Nevada while ignoring political issues in New York, a state that Kerry was sure to win, according to the University of the Pacific. All samples were added by students. Just another site cons of the national popular vote plan . 18 Pros and Cons of Popular Vote - Vittana.org Donald Trump won the presidential election by securing 304 electoral votes, compared to Hillary Clintons 227 electoral votes. National Popular Vote will create a single member district (all 50 states and D.C.), where the candidate with the most votes wins and . Some states, such as California and Hawaii, both had their bills vetoed by their governors before it was overridden and enacted by state legislators. In the 2000 presidential election, Al Gore won the popular vote by more than 500,000 ballots, but George Bush became president by winning the Electoral College 271 to 266. For example, if a state used NPV and voted for candidate A, but candidate B received the most votes nationwide, the state would allocate its presidential electors to candidate B. 27 Major Pros & Cons Of The Electoral College - E&C Destroying the Electoral College: The Anti-Federalist National Popular Longley, Robert. More people live in urban regions, which means they would have a constant sway over the election. Even the minority party wouldnt be encouraged to negotiate because they could simply stall until the next election. On Dec. 22, 2016, the results were certified in all 50 states. Although the 20th Amendment to the Constitution provides clarity to this situation, that process is based on the electoral college. This divide creates natural divisions between groups of people who both support their country, but in different ways. 3. It's time to abolish the Electoral College - Brookings There are alternatives to winner-take-all that do not involve abandoning the positive aspects of the Electoral College. The years-old effort is slowly making its way through state legislatures in hopes of changing the way The National Popular Vote Plan to Bypass the Electoral College - ThoughtCo In countries where the concept of popular votes is in place, every vote has an equal weight regarding the election outcome. Rebekah Richards is a professional writer with work published in the "Atlanta Journal-Constitution," "Brandeis University Law Journal" and online at tolerance.org. That means a candidate who receives a majority of their votes in a high-delegate state, such as California, could make a dramatic impact on the rest of the election. This was the intent of the Founding Fathers. 9. Candidates get one vote for every congressional district they win, and then two votes for winning the state-wide vote. Hence, the National Popular Vote plan is an interstate compact a type of state law authorized by the U.S. Constitution that enables states to enter into a legally enforceable, contractual obligation to undertake agreed joint actions, which may be delayed in implementation until a requisite number of states join in. At the moment, 98 more electoral votes are needed to pass this bill in all 50 states (National Conference of State Legislators). Congressional District Method by Riley Dimmock - Prezi Proportional Plan Two-thirds of the campaign events were in four states, Florida, Iowa, Virginia, and Ohio, that year. ThoughtCo. It isnt impossible to pass a Constitutional amendment, though history shows that it is not an easy process to complete. To become president of the United States of America, you must be at least 35 years old, have lived in the U.S. for at least 14 years and be a natural-born citizen. Similarly, because a national campaign mandates a national message, there would also be a smaller incentive for coalition-building or taking into account the characteristics, needs and desires of citizens in differing states and regions. The National Popular Vote Bill is a bill for Americans interested in both preserving our Electoral College and reforming the shortcomings of our current "winner-take-all" system that awards all the electors of one state to the candidate who wins in that particular state and . 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. It fails to reach the ideal of one-person one-vote. on WordPress.com. 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. Advantages & Disadvantages of a Direct Popular Election But if we set politics aside and focus on what is really best for democracy in our country in the long run I believe that the advantages of using the NPV compact to elect our president outweigh the disadvantages and the best way to elect our president in the 21st century is by direct popular vote using Ranked Choice Voting. That would increase the amount of polarization being experienced in politics today because there would be less of a need to compromise. That would give the Compact states only 3 days( and two of those days were weekend days) to certify their state votes. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. I will explain that in another blog post. Cookie Notice cons of the national popular vote plan Their vote only counts at the local level, not the national level, because of the electoral votes. PDF Problems With the National Popular Vote Plan There are pros and cons to both systems. Published: Mar. All other votes cast for that candidate are therefore superfluous. Others may struggle to meet higher than expected voter turnout levels. However, Hilary Clinton won 2.6 million more popular votes nationwide than Donald Trump. cons of the national popular vote plan If that was to take place, America could potentially face the same issues it is facing now. National Popular Vote: Circumventing the United States Constitution 8. 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. The compact is designed to ensure that the candidate who receives the most votes nationwide is elected president, and it . 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 popular vote currently gives every citizenCalifornians and Texans, Hawaiians and Mainers, Alabamans and Oregoniansan equal say in choosing the president. The Electoral College system - the way we really elect our president - has always had its detractors and lost even more public support after the 2016 election, when it became apparent that President-ElectDonald Trump might have lost the nationwide popular vote to Sec. The NPV Interstate Compact does not eliminate the very complicated Electoral College system that most voters dont really understand. 7. But the biggest problem with changing how we elect our president using the NPV Compact is that its too easy to change it back. "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. Our state will likely vote overwhelmingly for the Republican challenger to Barack Obama in November. National popular vote - frequently asked questions - Common Cause Michigan Legislature considers plan to enact national popular vote 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. Popular Vote History & Overview | What Does Popular Vote Mean Each states electoral votes are tallied by Congress in the House chamber by House and Senate representatives on the 6th day of January following the Presidential election. That principle should be expanded to presidential elections. Many of these states dont participate in campaign visits or get televised ads. 7. 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. Where the National Popular Vote Plan Stands. The National Popular Vote plan does not do away with the Electoral College system, an action that would require a constitutional amendment. Instead, each state and Washington D.C. is assigned a certain number of electoral votes based on its population. https://www.thoughtco.com/the-national-popular-vote-plan-3322047 (accessed March 4, 2023). 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 Pros and Cons of the Electoral College - SmartAsset The electoral college is a tradition of American politics that's fairly controversial. 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. Is there a conservative case for National Popular Vote? The electoral college leads to a heavy emphasis on swing states and also typically over-represents citizens in rural states. 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. But if some non-member 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. It would limit the influence of local issues in the election. 2. (2020, December 16). It has its pros and cons though, many of which critics debate over. Under the electoral college, the majority votes of states assign electoral votes to a candidate, which then creates a majority total required for a victory. That is hardly a mandate for governing, though it would be taken as such. mike matarazzo last photo. The bill has passed one chamber in 12 additional states with 96 electoral votes. As of July 2020, a National Popular Vote bill has been signed into law in 16 states controlling a total of 196 electoral votes, including 4 small states, 8 medium-sized states, 3 big states (California, Illinois, and New York), and the District of Columbia. State Question 820 lays out a statutory framework for a recreational industry that would begin about 90 days after election results are certified. However, in the popular vote, Trump only received 62,984,825 votes against Hillary Clinton's 65,853,516 popular votes. National Popular Vote - Pros and Cons : r/NeutralPolitics - reddit 1. Yet, by May 2021, 15 states and Washington, D.C., had signed onto the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact.
Cheap Houses For Rent In Springfield, Missouri,
Swertres Hearing Ozamis Today 9pm,
Wedding Venues In Arizona,
Lakes Of Liberia,
Why Does Ted Lasso Have A Southern Accent,
Articles C