cons of the national popular vote plan. All other votes cast for that candidate are therefore superfluous. National Popular Vote - Pros and Cons "The National Popular Vote bill would guarantee the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in the entire U.S. Now, the states are considering the National Popular Vote plan, a system that, while not doing away with the Electoral College system, would modify it to ensure that the candidate winning the national popular vote is ultimately elected president. 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. As a result, the bill will take effect when enacted by states possessing an additional 74 electoral votes. The bill has passed one chamber in 12 additional states with 96 electoral votes. 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. It would reduce the threshold necessary to win the office. The horror of a potential national recount is only one of the dangers direct presidential elections poses. Heres how. First it would be relatively easy to implement. Bush and Al Gore (Black). 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. Rebekah Richards is a professional writer with work published in the "Atlanta Journal-Constitution," "Brandeis University Law Journal" and online at tolerance.org. Under the Electoral College system, voters in states that are overwhelmingly in support of one candidate might feel like their vote is unimportant. Proponents of the National Popular Vote fail to understand the most basic facts about the American presidential electoral system. "The National Popular Vote Plan." 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. pros and cons." dave leip's atlas of u.s. presidential elections. 2. It seeks to be a bulwark against mass hysteria and the hysteria created by mass media. 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. 2. An electoral college would solve . 6. It knows that a majoritarianism that produces a plurality is not the voice of a majority of the citizenry. Using a popular vote system, candidates could campaign regionally, targeting major areas of support, to secure enough votes to win an election. Maine and Nebraska are the only two states that are not affected by this approach. Lastly, the biggest problem that the Electoral College produces is the reality that a persons vote really doesnt matter (Black). During the 2012 elections, 38 states, also known as spectator states, were ignored and forgotten. However, some critics argue that the advantages of a direct popular election including reflecting democratic principals, outweigh the disadvantages. 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. NCSL conducts policy research in areas ranging from agriculture and budget and tax issues to education and health care to immigration and transportation. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. 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. 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%. 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. 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. The votes of those who do not live in closely divided battleground states effectively count less. That means the cost of counting all the votes would be duplicated. Many cities and school districts, under threat of a lawsuit by a Malibu attorney, have already adopted or are in the process of changing to district elections rather than remaining citywide or . 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. National Popular Vote values rural and urban voters equally. Thats the way it has been in this country for a long time. Explains kimberling, william c., and dave leip's . Colorado is on the verge of joining a nationwide movement that could eventually change how we choose the next president of the United States. The one-vote approach does not align with the way the electoral votes operates. There are pros and cons to both systems. There would be a reduced need to build coalitions. Learn more about how the National Popular Vote compact works and the ways it could make our elections better for everyone. There are alternatives to winner-take-all that do not involve abandoning the positive aspects of the Electoral College. All samples were added by students. 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. In contrast, in a direct popular election, each vote matters equally. 5. Weve already seen this issue take place with the GOP primaries in 2016. You can use essay samples to find ideas and inspiration for your paper. It would eliminate superfluous votes. Today, many electors are bound to vote according to their states' popular vote results, and those who aren't almost always do. The years-old effort is slowly making its way through state legislatures in hopes of changing the way Second, some believe itll intensify election problems, such as illegally extended voting hours or irregularly high voter turnout (Richards). Less would get done, which would affect the needs of households at the local level. ThoughtCo, Dec. 16, 2020, thoughtco.com/the-national-popular-vote-plan-3322047. 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. "The National Popular Vote Plan." This type of system would give the individual voter a much more significant influence. It is perhaps the most simplistic form of an election. If that was to take place, America could potentially face the same issues it is facing now. 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). But the national popular vote plan doesn't require a . 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. Opines that the national popular vote plan is the wrong way to abolith the electoral college. Politicians would focus on fewer swing states (Bigger states more potential votes) Since the Constitution and the Bill of Rights became governing documents in the United States, there have only been 17 amendments made to it. cons of the national popular vote planchicago religious demographics. And thats not how it should be in a democracy. HuffPost's top politics stories, straight to your inbox. How about receiving a customized one? Under the National Popular Vote plan,the compact would take effect only when enabling legislation has been enacted by states collectively possessing a majority of the electoral votes:270 of 538 total. 6. 4. Going to the popular vote would eliminate this issue altogether. cons of the national popular vote plansuper lemon haze greenhouse. 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. But NPV could force our electors to disregard the wishes of the . The advantage of this system is that it preserves the preferences of. Analyzes how william c. kimberling, the deputy director of the federal election commission, is a credible author over the issue. During the 2012 elections, 38 states, also known as spectator states, were ignored and forgotten. The use of the Electoral College has been the only approach the U.S. has used to gain a President, but this way has generated numerous issues. evergreen funeral home live stream. Also the NPV Compact allows states to withdraw from the compact as late as four months before an election. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Feb 25, 2023. Instead of a direct popular election, the United States has the Electoral College, a group of electors who represent each state's 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. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. The National Popular Vote stems from the winner-take-all approach that validates the presidential candidate interactions with only 4 out of 50 dates during their campaign. The candidate who placed second in the popular vote was elected in 2016, 2000, 1888, 1876, and 1824. And that would lead to chaos in how political parties campaign for president and could also undermine the legitimacy of the process. 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. Here are the essential pros and cons of popular vote elections to examine. The Constitution specifically leaves details like how the electoral votes are cast up to the states. 9. 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 Because every vote is equal inside Ohio or Florida, presidential candidates avidly seek out voters in small, medium, and large towns. 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. In fact, let's tally up all the votes cast for president between 1932 and 2008. 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. In states with large population centers, individual voters have less power than voters in smaller states. Here are the Cons of the Electoral College 1. 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. Home| Government| Elections| Electoral College| Electoral College Pros And Cons. 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. After the process, the President of the Senate reveals who has officially been voted in as President and Vice President of the United States. One of the biggest reasons why voters dont vote is because they feel like their vote doesnt count. It is not even a liberal or conservative bill. 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. Using the NPV system means that every vote counts the same. 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. 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. 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 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 plan would not get rid of the Electoral College. Due to some states being heavily populated in comparison to others, that may help a candidate quickly obtain a win. every decade states are redistricted could be redrawn to capture house seats and corrupt the Presidential election Donald Trump won the presidential election by securing 304 electoral votes, compared to Hillary Clintons 227 electoral votes. 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. All states could adopt the system that now exists in Maine and Nebraska, where all but two electors are chosen by congressional district, and the other two go to the statewide winner. Most recently, the bill was passed by a bipartisan 4016 vote in the Republican-controlled Arizona House, 2818 in Republican-controlled Oklahoma Senate, 574 in Republican-controlled New York Senate, and 3721 in Democratic-controlled Oregon House." A plan to enact the National Popular Vote was introduced in the Michigan Legislature on Wednesday. That offers the possibility that someone unwilling or unable to hold the office could be elected. 8. 805 15th Street, NW, Suite 800 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. With a popular vote in place, each election win would be decreed a mandate to follow the platform of the winning party. Thats how politics works in America. It would reduce the influence of third parties on the U.S. presidential election. If a popular vote were allowed to declare a winner instead, it wouldnt be through a state-by-state counting of electoral votes. She graduated magna cum laude from Brandeis University with bachelor's degrees in creative writing, English/American literature and international studies. 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. The National Popular Vote Plan. That structure makes it easier for extremist views to find official representation. It is not at all clear that it would similarly prosper under the direct election regime being pushed by NPV. 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. 8. Washington, DC 20005, Common Cause pays tribute to our leader, our friend, and a lifelong advocate for our democracy, Constitution, Courts & Other Democracy Issues, Ensure Fair Districts & Reflective Democracy, Expand Voting Rights & Election Integrity, Promote Free Speech & Accountability in Media, Protect the Constitution, Courts & Other Democracy Reforms. This text is available online and is used for gudiance and inspiration, We use cookies to give you the best experience possible. Steve Sisolak vetoed it. Do you have information you want to share with HuffPost? 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. The winner would receive one vote per congressional district won with the winner of the state popular vote gaining a two electoral votes. 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. That's almost 1.5 billion . 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. This has occurred in 5 of the nation's 56 presidential elections, most recently in 2016. Currently, candidates focus more on swing and battleground states to help them gain those electoral votes. 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.
