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. 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. Rebekah Richards is a professional writer with work published in the "Atlanta Journal-Constitution," "Brandeis University Law Journal" and online at tolerance.org. After the 2016 presidential election, political science expert Nate Silver wrote that, since the swing states are not likely to support any plan that might reduce their influence over control of the White House, the National Popular Vote bill will not succeed unless the predominately Republican red states adopt it. Rural voters would almost always be in the minority. Voters in spectator states, including five of the nations 10 most populous states (California, Texas, New York, Illinois, and New Jersey), and 12 of the 13 least populous states (all but New Hampshire) have no real incentive to go to the polls as their votes do not affect the outcome of the election. It gives more voting power to individual voters in smaller states. In theory that could happen every four years. 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). It would require an Amendment in the U.S. for presidential elections. 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 first advantage allows for electoral votes to be fairer than the Electoral College (Richards). 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. In states with large population centers, individual voters have less power than voters in smaller states. The framers enacted the provisions relating to the Electoral College to allow for state innovation. 1. Although many supporters of the electoral college argue that a two-party political system is more stable, some critics counter that having more than two parties would give Americans more choice. 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. 2023 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved. The Electoral College distorts presidential campaigns . Here are the Cons of the Electoral College 1. It knows that a majoritarianism that produces a plurality is not the voice of a majority of the citizenry. In theory we could change how we elect our president every four years. 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. But if some non-member Battleground states would disappear in U.S. elections. If the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact becomes law it would be an excellent first step to help get a future amendment to the Constitution to replace the Electoral College/Winner-Take-All system to elect the president with a national popular vote using Ranked Choice Voting. The cost of a presidential election in the United States is already several billion dollars. cons of the national popular vote plan - alshamifortrading.com The popular vote currently gives every citizenCalifornians and Texans, Hawaiians and Mainers, Alabamans and Oregoniansan equal say in choosing the president. cons of the national popular vote plan For more information, please see our It is not even a liberal or conservative bill. 2. 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. 1. Just another site cons of the national popular vote plan . A popular vote structure would virtually eliminate the idea of a third-party candidate having a chance in an election. 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? That effectively means that votes in the the 75% of the country that are in swing states effectively dont count at all. PDF Problems With the National Popular Vote Plan Proportional Plan 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 In a closely contested direct popular election, every precinct across the country might require close examination, rather than a handful of states or precincts. Disadvantages of the NPV Interstate Compact. Second, some believe itll intensify election problems, such as illegally extended voting hours or irregularly high voter turnout (Richards). 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. 6. Right now, the President of the United States is not elected by a popular vote. Instead of a direct popular election, the United States has the Electoral College, a group of electors who represent each state's votes. A simple change in the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact could fix the flaw and still provide the benefits of a popular election. 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. 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. A candidate could be elected without the popular vote. With a popular vote in place, each election win would be decreed a mandate to follow the platform of the winning party. It would eliminate the threat of a faithless elector. 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. But sometime in the future the popular vote will change back and lean Republican. Congressional District Method - Electoral College Reform - Weebly Cons of Electoral College. During the 2012 elections, 38 states, also known as spectator states, were ignored and forgotten. Some areas may bend the rules of an election by extending voting hours illegally. There are a number of pros for this method. Oklahoma voters weigh pros, cons of legalizing recreational marijuana 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. Robert Longley is a U.S. government and history expert with over 30 years of experience in municipal government and urban planning. 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. Make a contribution to support Common Cause today. 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. And that would undermine the legitimacy of the NPV among those people. 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. 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. Every state is allocated several votes according to the number of senators and representatives in its U.S. Congressional delegation. That could lead to a very bad situation where, instead of the people voting in November to determine who the next president is, one or two states could effectively decide who becomes the next president simply by joining or withdrawing from the NPV Compact and changing the rules on how the votes for president are counted in the next election. Because a direct election would be, by definition, national and resource allocation would be overwhelmingly dominated by paid television advertising, there would be little impetus for grass-roots activity. Start and finish your paper with ease. (LogOut/ A direct popular election also ensures that citizens' votes have equal weight. 48 Vitosha Boulevard, ground floor, 1000, Sofia, Bulgaria, Samploon, Inc. 2022. 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%. But the national popular vote plan doesn't require a . and our List of the Cons of Using the Popular Vote 1. Should that happen, then the final decision of who gets to serve as President of the United States is taken away from individual voters. Facts support national popular vote | The Hill Popular Vote History & Overview | What Does Popular Vote Mean 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 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. https://www.thoughtco.com/the-national-popular-vote-plan-3322047 (accessed March 4, 2023). ThoughtCo. 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. Gov Flashcards | Quizlet National Popular Vote will create a single member district (all 50 states and D.C.), where the candidate with the most votes wins and . There are logistical issues that are managed at the local level in each election. Candidates feel they either cant win or lose with the votes from these states. This has occurred in 5 of the nation's 56 presidential elections, most recently in 2016. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact is an agreement where states in the compact award all their electoral votes to the winner of the . 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. Menu burger Close thin Facebook Twitter Google plus Linked in Reddit Email arrow-right-sm arrow-right Loading Home Buying Calculators Only Nebraska and Maine do not. The years-old effort is slowly making its way through state legislatures in hopes of changing the way This blog post is a joint effort with Leslie Francis, former executive director of the Democratic National Committee and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. What Is the National Bonus Plan? - Reference.com - What's Your Question? Wyoming had just 3 electoral votes, but only had 255,000 voters as well. Thats a bank of about 14 million potential voters that reliably vote as a majority for Democratic candidates. The only election in the United States which is not governed by the popular vote is the presidential election. Electoral College Pros and Cons - ThoughtCo In each instance the republic has survived, and democracy has prospered despite the challenges presented. Others may struggle to meet higher than expected voter turnout levels. In 2016, Florida had 29 electoral votes and 9.4 million voters, created a voter value of 0.72. At that stage, anyone who received an electoral vote is eligible to become the next president. sale of united methodist church property. It has been enacted into law in 11 states with 165 electoral votes, and will take effect when enacted by states with 105 more. http://www.nationalpopularvote.com/. There are alternatives to winner-take-all that do not involve abandoning the positive aspects of the Electoral College. It has its pros and cons though, many of which critics debate over. It happened once, in 1876. In contrast, in a direct popular election, each vote matters equally. 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. Politicians would focus on fewer swing states (Bigger states more potential votes) 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. Under the Electoral College/Winner-Take-All system votes in small states, like Wyoming or Delaware count double what votes in large states like California or Texas. 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. Our state will likely vote overwhelmingly for the Republican challenger to Barack Obama in November. 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. District Plan by Hannah Patzer - Prezi Even if states impose fines on faithless electors for their actions, it is not a guarantee that the behavior will stop. 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. It would be a national mandate to put someone in office, even if that winning candidate received less than 50% of the vote. The Electoral College was established in the Constitution to protect minority interests and mitigate the possibility of a regional candidate. Their vote only counts at the local level, not the national level, because of the electoral votes. As of December 2020, the National Popular Vote bill has been adopted by 15 states and the District of Columbia, controlling 196 electoral votes: CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, HI, IL, MA, MD, NJ, NM, NY, OR, RI, VT, and WA. cons of the national popular vote planchicago religious demographics. (2020, December 16). PBS: What does voter turnout tell us about the 2016 election. And thats not how it should be in a democracy. 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. 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. 1, 2023 at 1:16 PM PST. If some of the 50 states and DC cannot certify their popular votes by the December deadline that could create a constitutional crisis where we would not have all of the state Electoral College votes certified by the time the Electoral College is required to vote according to the Constitution. 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. 2015. It awards all the bonus votes to the winner of the popular vote. The Electoral College Vs. Popular Vote - 1203 Words | 123 Help Me 5. That means the cost of counting all the votes would be duplicated. 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. Pros and cons of district elections | Columnists | smdailyjournal.com 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. This National Popular Vote Compact wouldn't take effect until states with 270 electors a majority joined in. Analyzes how william c. kimberling, the deputy director of the federal election commission, is a credible author over the issue. 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 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. That view of democracy recognizes the existence and desirability of organized interests and enshrines that principle under the concept of pluralism. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. 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. Electoral College and National Popular Vote Pros and Cons National Popular Vote proponents argue that the United States has had four presidential elections in which the plurality winner of the popular vote was not chosen as president. More attention is given to the swing states, such as Florida and Iowa, which causes the third problem the Electoral College can cause. E pluribus unum -- out of many, one. Explains kimberling, william c., and dave leip's . "The National Popular Vote bill would guarantee the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in the entire U.S. Without change, a plan for a national popular vote could undermine the mike matarazzo last photo. When you cast your ballot, you're not actually voting directly for your favored presidential candidate. The second advantage is that the all votes would be equally weighed (Richards). Longley, Robert. 9. 2. 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 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. 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. 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. But don't forget, Bush won the popular vote four years later by three million votes. 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. Not only it already happened five times, but in theory, a candidate could win the presidency with only 22% of the popular vote in a two-candidates race. It isnt impossible to pass a Constitutional amendment, though history shows that it is not an easy process to complete. It would reduce the influence of third parties on the U.S. presidential election. Why National Popular Vote Is a Bad Idea | HuffPost Latest News Here are six reasons why legislators should reject this attempt to jettison our electoral system: 1. (See: Electoral Votes by State). The National Popular Vote Bill is not a Democrat or Republican bill. In the 2020 general election, a ballot proposition attempted to overturn Colorado's membership to the pact, but the measure failed, 52.3% to 47.7% in the referendum. Advantages and Disadvantages of the National Popular Vote Interstate Currently, candidates focus more on swing and battleground states to help them gain those electoral votes. A Critique of the National Popular Vote | Cato Institute Under the current structure of the electoral college, the focus of a presidential campaign is on the so-called battleground states. In Maine, both houses of the legislature passed the bill in 2019, but it failed at the final enactment step. Longley, Robert. Six Reasons to Reject National Popular Vote - Pelican Policy The states' approval of the compact is a victory for democracy and the principle of "one person, one vote." State Question 820 lays out a statutory framework for a recreational industry that would begin about 90 days after election results are certified. 18 Pros and Cons of Popular Vote - Vittana.org That's almost 1.5 billion . [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.]. An individuals vote doesnt make a difference when it is counted against the votes of the delegates in the House of Representatives and Senate. That would likely reduce the number of voters who cast a ballot in each election as most people are more concerned about local impacts than national policies. It is perhaps the most simplistic form of an election. The bill has passed one chamber in 12 additional states with 96 electoral votes. Under the current structure of presidential elections in the U.S., the states become a battleground of red states vs. blue states. 3. The appeal of NPV is the simplicity of its message. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/the-national-popular-vote-plan-3322047. . 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. The plan would not get rid of the Electoral College. The National Popular Vote initiative transpired in 2006. Inkwell | Everything You Need to Know About the National Popular Vote Join the thousands across the country who instantly rally when there is a threat to our democracy. Regional candidates could secure enough votes to win a national election. When a popular vote is held for a national office, the election becomes more about platform issues than local issues. If enacted by enough states, the National Popular Vote bill would guarantee the presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. cons of the national popular vote plan 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. It could encourage voter turnout. Pros & Cons of Selecting Government Officials by Direct Election As a result, an agreement between a group of states to cast all of their electoral votes in a similar manner, as proposed by the National Popular Vote plan passes constitutional muster.