Candidates get one vote for every congressional district they win, and then two votes for winning the state-wide vote. Get breaking news and updates from Common Cause. 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 As with other powers entrusted to the states, it is an application, not a circumvention, of the Constitution when the states utilize those powers as they see fit. 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. 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. If the National Popular Vote bill was secured within the American government, it would protect every vote and would allow those votes to equally matter in the presidential election. It isnt impossible to pass a Constitutional amendment, though history shows that it is not an easy process to complete. Robert Longley is a U.S. government and history expert with over 30 years of experience in municipal government and urban planning. 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. Web. Although moving to a popular vote election would balance the weight of each vote, it would also create more sway in larger population states. The appeal of NPV is the simplicity of its message. The danger of NPV is that it will undermine the complex and vital underpinnings of American democracy. Join the thousands across the country who instantly rally when there is a threat to our democracy. In states with large population centers, individual voters have less power than voters in smaller states. Only Nebraska and Maine do not. cons of the national popular vote plan. Currently, candidates focus more on swing and battleground states to help them gain those electoral votes. It happened once, in 1876. Removing this system could encourage more people to come out to support their candidate. The electoral requires that an election which does not receive a majority of electoral votes be taken into the U.S. House of Representatives. It would reduce the threshold necessary to win the office. The votes of those who do not live in closely divided battleground states effectively count less. However, a popular vote system, although hard to implement, is a more purely democratic system than the Electoral College. 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. All other votes cast for that candidate are therefore superfluous. In 2016, Florida had 29 electoral votes and 9.4 million voters, created a voter value of 0.72. The National Bonus Plan maintains the Electoral College voting system but adds 102 bonus electoral votes to the existing 538 votes. 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. 18 Pros and Cons of Popular Vote - Vittana.org Under the system of proportional representation, any party with a high enough percentage of the vote will receive a seat in the government. Congressional District Method by Riley Dimmock - Prezi Is this a solution to first past the post or is it merely reinforcing our current two party system? Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. 12th Amendment: Fixing the Electoral College, What Is Majoritarianism? 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. And unlike direct elections, either would provide an incentive for grass-roots activity, coalition building and enhanced citizen participation. It gives each vote an equal amount of power. Under the current structure of the electoral college, the focus of a presidential campaign is on the so-called battleground states. 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. In the U.S., that means people who lean Democratic live in urban areas, while people who lean Republican live in rural areas. Under the electoral college system, the candidates which receive the most votes in each state (or district) receive its assigned electoral votes. Without change, a plan for a national popular vote could undermine the Constitutional Amendment to Guarantee the Right to Vote for All U.S. Citizens. The United States does not have direct election of its president, yet most national, state and local offices are filled by the candidate with the most votes. To determine the National Popular Vote winner, state election officials simply would tally the nationwide vote for president based on each states official results. National Popular Vote Interstate Compact - Wikipedia I am confident that when we enter the next phase where the popular vote leans Republican that Republicans will change and be adamant that we should elect the president by direct popular vote and Democrats will be arguing why we should keep the Electoral College/Winner-Take-All system. cons of the national popular vote plan 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. 4. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact is an agreement where states in the compact award all their electoral votes to the winner of the . Because of the winner-take-all rule, a candidate can be elected president without winning the most popular votes nationwide. This National Popular Vote Compact wouldn't take effect until states with 270 electors a majority joined in. It would eliminate the Congressional provisions for a non-majority election. 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. . 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. Going to the popular vote would eliminate this issue altogether. cons of the national popular vote plan. The horror of a potential national recount is only one of the dangers direct presidential elections poses. (LogOut/ 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. In fact, let's tally up all the votes cast for president between 1932 and 2008. The National Popular Vote proposal is doomed if even only - LSE Blogs 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. Two-thirds of the campaign events were in four states, Florida, Iowa, Virginia, and Ohio, that year. Gov Flashcards | Quizlet 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. Advantages of the NPV Interstate Compact 1. 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). For the popular vote, however, Hillary Clinton received 65.8 million votes, while Donald Trump received 62.9 million votes. Make a contribution to support Common Cause today. 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. For more information, please see our Lawmakers discuss plan to enact National Popular Vote in Michigan. The discussion around using the popular vote for elections has increased since the results of the 2016 election. Longley, Robert. In 2016, Gary Johnson received 4.48 million votes and 0 electoral votes, but the potential is always there for this to happen. Common Cause 5. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. District Plan by Hannah Patzer - Prezi After the process, the President of the Senate reveals who has officially been voted in as President and Vice President of the United States. every decade states are redistricted could be redrawn to capture house seats and corrupt the Presidential election A candidate could be elected without the popular vote. For under its plan, the next time the U.S. has very close national vote, a recount would not be of six million votes in one state but of more than 130 million votes in all states and the District of Columbia, all with their own rules for conducting a recount. Since the Constitution and the Bill of Rights became governing documents in the United States, there have only been 17 amendments made to it. All other elections in the U.S. are through the popular vote. But NPV could force our electors to disregard the wishes of the . But in practice it could happen every 10 or 20 years when the Electoral College votes change because the congressional boundaries change with the new population census. Currently, 48 of the 50 states follow the winner-take-all rule. Under the plan, Michigan's 15 Electoral . 6. 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. The winner-take-all rule is not required by the Constitution and was actually used by only three states in the nation's first presidential election in 1789. 7. In theory that could happen every four years. That means every state is allowed a minimum of 3 electoral votes. Is the National Popular Vote Plan Constitutional? http://www.nationalpopularvote.com/. on WordPress.com. Change). Start and finish your paper with ease. It is our national motto and is so for a reason. When a popular vote is held for a national office, the election becomes more about platform issues than local issues. How Many Electoral Votes Does a Candidate Need to Win? The bill has passed one chamber in 12 additional states with 96 electoral votes. Many of these states dont participate in campaign visits or get televised ads. N.p., n.d. 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. It would limit the influence of local issues in the election. Lastly, it may cause a third-party candidate to prevail and win, which would allow Americans to be given more choices besides the two primary parties (Richards). 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). It would eliminate the threat of a faithless elector. and our A popular vote election would bring the presidential election in line with the rest of the election structures. Many Americans are confused about how a win is obtained under these conditions and are on a quest to change this traditional statute. 3. But for those people who feel that changing how we elect the president should only be done by constitutional amendment they will feel that using the NPV Compact will undermine the legitimacy of the process even though its perfectly legal and constitutional. sale of united methodist church property. 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. A plan to enact the National Popular Vote was introduced in the Michigan Legislature on Wednesday. PBS: What does voter turnout tell us about the 2016 election. A popular vote system would significantly impact voters and turnout. Inside Ohio or Florida, to pick two examples, the big cities do not receive all the attention, and they certainly do not control the outcome. what connection type is known as "always on"? 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. 5. 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. 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. Where the National Popular Vote Plan Stands. The danger of NPV is that it will undermine the complex and vital underpinnings of American democracy. Since 2008, 15 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws to adopt the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC), which is an multi-state agreement to commit electors to. It awards all the bonus votes to the winner of the popular vote. 10 Apr. National Popular Vote Movement - Common Cause | Get Involved The electoral college leads to a heavy emphasis on swing states and also typically over-represents citizens in rural states. 9. Over the years, the National Popular Vote bill has been introduced in the legislatures of all 50 states. What would happen during a switch to the popular vote would be unknown. These are the states that may go to either major party candidate in the election. Electoral votes are designated among the states based on Census. The National Bonus Plan was proposed by historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. The states' approval of the compact is a victory for democracy and the principle of "one person, one vote." It gives more voting power to individual voters in smaller states. Probably the NPV Compact would be enacted into law with as little as a simple majority of the states and possibly even less. 27 Major Pros & Cons Of The Electoral College - E&C 9 Pros and Cons of Electoral College | APECSEC.org In Maine, both houses of the legislature passed the bill in 2019, but it failed at the final enactment step. There would be fewer opportunities to illegally alter the results of an election. Watch out! The NPV is a multi-state agreement that, when active, would ensure that the presidential candidate who wins the popular vote nationally also wins in the Electoral College. A candidate may not have to concentrate anymore, but they may have to move their attention to states such as Texas, New York, California, and Alaska. Mayors, governors, and senators are all elected by a simple majority. 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. 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. HuffPost's top politics stories, straight to your inbox. However, Hilary Clinton won 2.6 million more popular votes nationwide than Donald Trump. It knows that a majoritarianism that produces a plurality is not the voice of a majority of the citizenry. 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. Our state will likely vote overwhelmingly for the Republican challenger to Barack Obama in November. Do you have information you want to share with HuffPost? 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. 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. But don't forget, Bush won the popular vote four years later by three million votes. Or the opposite could be true. 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 Michigan Legislature considers plan to enact national popular vote 4. Due to some states being heavily populated in comparison to others, that may help a candidate quickly obtain a win. Advantages & Disadvantages of a Direct Popular Election Definition and Examples, Learn How Many Total Electoral Votes There Are. It is not at all clear that it would similarly prosper under the direct election regime being pushed by NPV. That means some voters, like Republicans in California or Democrats in Mississippi, are voting without power and without attention from their preferred candidates each year. If you need to flag this entry as abusive. In U.S. history, the electoral college winner has failed to secure the popular vote 5 times. Electoral College Alternatives: What Are the Other Options? - The Daily Dot It's time to abolish the Electoral College - Brookings Popular vote better than Electoral College, Stanford scholars say Published: Mar. 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. In the 2016 election, only 58 percent of eligible voters went to the polls. The bill has crossed paths with 36 legislative chambers and has been sponsored or voted for by 3,112 state legislators (National Popular Vote). 4. 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. Without any sort of broad support, the politics of the country could become even more fractured than they already are. The Electoral College distorts presidential campaigns . It makes things easier for extreme parties to gain representation. That view of democracy recognizes the existence and desirability of organized interests and enshrines that principle under the concept of pluralism. Politicians would focus on fewer swing states (Bigger states more potential votes) 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. Regional candidates could secure enough votes to win a national election. Less would get done, which would affect the needs of households at the local level. Here are the essential pros and cons of popular vote elections to examine. Would it aid a fight to eliminate first past the post or would it further entrench the established party system voters American voters have expressed disdain for. Inicio; Nota Biografica; Obra; Blogs. There are a number of pros for this method. This has occurred in 5 of the nation's 56 presidential elections, most recently in 2016. The popular vote currently gives every citizenCalifornians and Texans, Hawaiians and Mainers, Alabamans and Oregoniansan equal say in choosing the president. There would be a reduced need to build coalitions. Over the long run the countrys popular vote in presidential elections has roughly been equally split between Republican and Democratic.*. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. The National Popular Vote Plan. It would reduce diversity in the election structures. The Danger of the National Popular Vote Compact - Harvard Law Review 4. People are moving to live in like-minded communities more than ever before. 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). The second advantage is that the all votes would be equally weighed (Richards). 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..