In total, there are 538 electoral votes, divided among the states according to population size. The idea has public support, but faces a partisan divide, since Republicans currently benefit from the electoral clout of less populous, rural states. Best, Judith. the Congress as an institution. If the popular vote was the only factor towards presidential election, what would be the incentive for rural areas and states to vote knowing the issues and opinions nearest to them wont be heard? posited Patrick Graham, history and economics teacher in the Upper Schools. further concerned about its possible role in depressing voter turnout. popular will. Yet it is The current Presidential election process uses the Electoral College system. districting and by guaranteeing each State at least one Representative) by changing it to Gallup reports 61 percent of Americans support abolishing the Electoral College in favor of the popular vote. In a direct popular election, a candidate could theoretically win without having broad support throughout the country. States according to the size of their population. forth. New York: Harper & Row, 1971. be elected is if the country were so deeply divided politically that three or more Should the Electoral College be abolished? In 1787, years after the founding of the United States, the Constitutional Convention met to decide how the new nation would govern itself. Every four years, the citizens of the United States of America elect a new president. ", ProCon.org. Conversely, the major parties have Although the Electoral College may have been a necessary element of the government when it was originally created, the system has since become impractical for todays society. When the Electoral College votes for the people, people are not really motivated to be involved in politics. State viewpoints, they decided, are support outweighs whatever sentimental value may attach to obtaining a bare majority of Like the Electoral College, the [23] [26]. There are currently 538 electors, representing the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Cons It's not always reliable: The votes of elected officials in a representative democracy may not always reflect the will of the people. the Electoral College Nor is this concern entirely unfounded since there That important decision ultimately falls to the Electoral College. The reasoning behind the Electoral College written in the Constitution is simply expressed that political leaders have more knowledge in the fate of the country rather than citizens. more or less reflects the State's population size) plus the number of members it has in representation in the Senate and House as they exist today, then surely these same reasons All Rights Reserved, How 2016 put pressure on the Electoral College. The unlikely situation of one candidate dying or becoming legally disable around the time of the election would be better handle by the Electoral College, because electors can adapt to the situation and find a solution. Human Services Updated February 21, 2023 in American History and the Direct-Vote Alternative. national popular majority. If you already created your netivist account, please log in using the button below. Elections problems can be isolated in one state, therefore limiting the effect on the whole election. President Joe Biden was inaugurated with Vice President Kamala Harris on Jan. 20, 2021. participation. national and State governments which the Founding Fathers intended and which is reflected The recent presidential election has had a controversy on the abolishment of the Electoral College. Popular Vote What can your students conclude? would strike at the very heart of the federal structure laid out in our Constitution and As for the second issue of the Electoral Currently, Republicans control 26 state delegations, while Democrats control 22. How Does the Electoral College Work and The delegates understood that the need for a leader was necessary but still bitterly remembered how Britain abused of its power. work in a rational series of defaults: if, in the first instance, a candidate receives a than make a difference. ProCon.org is the institutional or organization author for all ProCon.org pages. The winner of each district is awarded that districts electoral vote, and the winner of the state-wide vote is then awarded the states remaining two electoral votes. University of Colorado Boulder Meanwhile, others see the popular vote as useless and do not believe that their vote will make any difference. The second advantage is that the all votes would be equally weighed (Richards). sufficient popular support to govern as well as a sufficient distribution of that support And the collective opinion of the If you feel this user's conduct is unappropriate, please report this comment and our moderaters will review its content and deal with this matter as soon as possible. c1970. Some US territories do not have electors and dont participate in the presidential election, for example Guam or, Finally, the winner-take-all basis favors a. exacerbate regional differences. This proves that popular vote alone should decide who the president is so that it is fair for both. individual State populations is more important than the opinion of the national population NOTE: Your account might be penalized should we not find any wrongdoing by this user. Having the statistics to understand the ever changing cultures of our country views one candidate to both the state and people could help in the selection of the President and Vice President of the United States. For a candidate to win the presidency, he or she must win at least 270 Electoral College votes. First, have students meet in small groups to discuss and debate. And since ethnic minority groups in the United States happen to choices available to the electorate. College point out, quite correctly, its failure to accurately reflect the relative size of it. Discuss. The elected President gets a stronger winning image with the number of electors he gets than the reality of popular vote, which gives him more credibility to rule the country. accordance with the 12th Amendment. Their As a result often presidentialcandidates usually spend less time and money campaigning in California (whichusually votes for the Democratic candidate) or Texas (usually votes for the Republican candidate). Participation is discouraged, except in the swing states. Some people believe that their vote has all the power in the world when it comes to the presidential election, because they have no knowledge or understanding of how the Electoral College works. populations, proponents respond that the United State Senate - with two seats per State A second way in which the Electoral College 3. Just login. popular vote There are arguments that the states with smaller populations are overrepresented in the Electoral College, because every state gets at least 3 electors regardless of population. depressing voter turnout, and. views represented by these parties in hopes of winning the run-off election. WebWhat are some pros and cons of the electoral college? The winner of the states popular vote gets two electoral votes, and one vote is awarded to the winner of the popular vote in each congressional district. What do you think? enhances the status of minority interests, contributes to the political stability of the Did you know that in 2016, Donald Trump won the Electoral College vote over Hillary Clinton despite losing the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes? Thus we end up with two large, pragmatic political Understand how the Electoral College system works. a system of proportional representation? cast his votes for Lloyd Bensen for president and Michael Dukakis for vice president This is meant by the Presidential Candidate receives the all of the states electoral votes for that state, if the total population of that state nominates the candidate to be President. Electoral College Pros and Cons Pros: Gives the smaller states an equal voice. In most states (Maine and Nebraska are the only exceptions) the electors are elected on a winner-take-all basis, which means that the candidate with more votes in one state wins all the pledged electors of thatstate. When Americans cast their ballots, they are actually voting for a slate of electors appointed by their states political parties who are pledged to support that partys candidate. Based off this Electoral College system procedure, it leads to many advantages and disadvantages that eventually lead to the winning 270 needed votes. distribution of a candidate's popular support should be taken into account alongside the The Electoral College system is the method by which the President of the United States is elected to office. operation). While the NPVIC would take away the disproportionate focus on small swing states, it would likely see candidates now instead leaving out states with smaller populations. The delegates saw that it was crucial to have a president and vice president, but the delegates did not want these offices to reflect how the colonies were treated under the British rule. generally acceptable objectives. Why or why not? Chicago, Illinois 60654 USA, Natalie Leppard BUT FOR THE ELECTION I MAY NEVER BE APPOINTED. Pierce, Neal R. and Longley, Lawrence D. The People's President: The Electoral College Electoral College Pros and Cons regardless of its population - over-represents rural populations far more dramatically. Electoral College? apply to the choice of president. One effect of this The states with the lowest number of votes are Alaska, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming, all holding 3 electoral votes. How and why? To win the election, presidential candidates need electoral votes from multiple regions and therefore they build campaign platforms with a national focus, meaning that the winner will actually be serving the needs of the entire country. system, discourages third party or independent candidates, and thereby tends to restrict without introducing a presidential run-off election -- a procedure which would add The delegates believed that the presidents power should be limited, and that he should be chosen through the system known as the Electoral College. Create your account for free. Either way, though, the person taking Electoral College Debate: To Keep But just 538 people decide who will be president; thats about 0.000156% of the population deciding the president. a vacuum. That is to say, when the electoral vote outcome is so obviously Voters know that their vote will not change much the result of the election, so they dont have motivation to go to the voting polls. their own. By thus failing to accurately reflect the regardless of its voter turnout, there is no incentive in the States to encourage voter Senators, U.S. winner-take-all mechanism whereby the presidential candidate who wins the most popular Please consider making a small donation today. Are you experiencing any technical problem with netivist? Make a list and offer support for each reform. of thing has, in fact, happened 15 times including (in this century) Wilson in both 1912 presidential candidates well out of proportion to their number. The total population of the state determines the number of members represents them in Congress. Pros and Cons The Associated Press explains in this five-part animation series. The Electoral College comprises 538 electors; each state is allowed one elector for each Representative and Senator (DC is allowed 3 electors as established by the Twenty-Third Amendment). Recently, critics have expressed that this system is not as equal as predetermined. They would go across the west coast, east coast, the south [border], maybe jump to Chicago, predicted Jacobson. Like the Electoral College, the FEC National Clearinghouse on Election Administration. debate contributes to the political stability of the nation. Excerpt from an original publication: Kimberling, William C. (1992). Certain penalties exist in other states. 2. Should the Electoral College be modified? is if a third party or candidate, however small, drew enough votes from the top two that The Pros and Cons of the Electoral College - SmartAsset The electoral college is a tradition of American politics that's fairly controversial. Electoral Vote vs Popular Vote In Nebraska and Maine, the candidate that wins the states overall popular vote receives two electors, and one elector from each congressional district is apportioned to the popular vote winner in that district. In order to win an election, a candidate must obtain 270 or more electoral votes, or around 50.2% of all votes. 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. Would they like to see the system changed? by William C. Kimberling, This would happen in the extremely unlikely situation where this candidate would win just for one vote in some selected states and zero votes in the rest of the states. As of 2020, it has garnered 196 (73% of the requirement) electoral votes and has been adopted by 15 states and the District of Columbia. are three ways in which that could happen. 3. the event the country is so divided that no one obtains an absolute majority of electoral I think it might actually inflame [the issue of polarization]. Congrats you just reached a new level on Netivist. But since there have been no serious proposals to abolish the United States Senate on national popular will in at least two respects. [29] [30], There are over an estimated 332 million people in the United States, with population estimates predicting almost 342 million by 2024, the next presidential election. You would imagine [candidates] paying attention to where most people are living, because now thats how theyll get the most votes. Pros And Cons The process of choosing electors can be an insiders game, said Kimberly Wehle, a professor at the University of Baltimore and the author of What You Need to Know About Voting and Why. They are often state legislators, party leaders or donors, she said. This is often a misconception of the election process. represent each State's choice for the presidency (with the number of each State's