All other votes cast for that candidate are therefore superfluous. April 8, 2016 National popular vote far better than Electoral College system for choosing presidents, Stanford professors say. Learn more about how the National Popular Vote compact works and the ways it could make our elections better for everyone. Every state is allocated several votes according to the number of senators and representatives in its U.S. Congressional delegation. To pass an amendment to change the Constitution the Founding Fathers wisely required approval by 2/3 of both houses of Congress and 3/4 of the state legislatures instead of a simple majority. 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 National Popular Vote Bill is not a Democrat or Republican bill. A plan to enact the National Popular Vote was introduced in the Michigan Legislature on Wednesday. 6. Menu burger Close thin Facebook Twitter Google plus Linked in Reddit Email arrow-right-sm arrow-right Loading Home Buying Calculators 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. On Dec. 22, 2016, the results were certified in all 50 states. However, many people believe that a direct popular election is more democratic and fair than the Electoral College. Under the current structure of the electoral college, the focus of a presidential campaign is on the so-called battleground states. Going to the popular vote would eliminate this issue altogether. 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. Under the current structure of presidential elections in the U.S., the states become a battleground of red states vs. blue states. That's almost 1.5 billion . 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. Once effective, states could withdraw from the compact at any time except during the six-month window between July 20 of an election year and Inauguration Day (January 20). The NPVIC is an agreement among states designed to guarantee election of the presidential candidate who wins the most popular votes in the 50 states and Washington, D.C. NPV is grounded in two powers delegated to states by the Constitution: the power to design rules for awarding their electoral votes and the power to enter into interstate 4. 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. Using a popular vote system, candidates could campaign regionally, targeting major areas of support, to secure enough votes to win an election. More attention is given to the swing states, such as Florida and Iowa, which causes the third problem the Electoral College can cause. Rural voters would almost always be in the minority. You can use essay samples to find ideas and inspiration for your paper. If the election is based off a popular vote, each of these areas would need to be closely examined in real-time, which would enhance the security of each vote that is cast. Actually the NPV Compact doesnt change one word in he Constitution and in fact only changes state laws. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. This type of system would give the individual voter a much more significant influence. Wyoming had just 3 electoral votes, but only had 255,000 voters as well. In Maine, both houses of the legislature passed the bill in 2019, but it failed at the final enactment step. 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. Is this a solution to first past the post or is it merely reinforcing our current two party system? List of the Cons of Proportional Representation. 2015. 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. 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. All in all, the Electoral College causes many problems that seem unfair to American voters during such an important election. http://www.nationalpopularvote.com/. This divide creates natural divisions between groups of people who both support their country, but in different ways. That effectively means that votes in the the 75% of the country that are in swing states effectively dont count at all. Under the system of proportional representation, any party with a high enough percentage of the vote will receive a seat in the government. Imperfect, because its modern-day blessings -- enhancing coalition building, pluralism, federalism and grass-roots participation -- are enjoyed only by a minority of states (in any given presidential election 18 or 20), where the battle for electoral votes is competitive for both major parties. There are alternatives to winner-take-all that do not involve abandoning the positive aspects of the Electoral College. It would limit the influence of local issues in the election. 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. With the polarization in global politics today, especially in the United States, a switch to the popular vote would likely increase costs even further. Ken Bickers. F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush were elected with less than a majority of the votes cast. Past Event: The League of Women Voters of Berrien and Cass Counties has announced plans to broadcast a webinar discussing the National Popular Vote (NPV) on Monday, Feb. 27 at 7:00 p.m. National Popular Vote has been leading the campaign to fix the electoral college and elect the president by national popular vote since its founding in 2006 . 1. 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.. Rebekah Richards is a professional writer with work published in the "Atlanta Journal-Constitution," "Brandeis University Law Journal" and online at tolerance.org. Moving to the popular vote structure would eliminate this potential issue. That would give the Compact states only 3 days( and two of those days were weekend days) to certify their state votes. Under the electoral college system, the candidates which receive the most votes in each state (or district) receive its assigned electoral votes. But don't forget, Bush won the popular vote four years later by three million votes. 8. To determine the National Popular Vote winner, state election officials simply would tally the nationwide vote for president based on each states official results. 2. Their vote only counts at the local level, not the national level, because of the electoral votes. The votes of those who do not live in closely divided battleground states effectively count less. In states with large population centers, individual voters have less power than voters in smaller states. ashburnham school committee; its his baby now political cartoon meaning; softstar primal sawyer 7. That, in turn, would likely diminish voter turnout. 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. Among the others: By its very size and scope, a national direct election will lead to nothing more than a national media campaign, which would propel the parties' media consultants to inflict upon the entire nation what has been heretofore limited to the so-called battleground states: an ever-escalating, distorted arms race of tit-for-tat unanswerable attack advertising polluting the airwaves, denigrating every candidate and eroding citizen faith in their leaders and the political process as a whole. But the national popular vote plan doesn't require a . Proponents of the National Popular Vote fail to understand the most basic facts about the American presidential electoral system. It has its pros and cons though, many of which critics debate over. 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 . Change). 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. ThoughtCo, Dec. 16, 2020, thoughtco.com/the-national-popular-vote-plan-3322047. Where the National Popular Vote Plan Stands. The states that join the NPV Compact will not be able to certify their Electoral College Votes until all 50 states and DC certify their state popular votes and any mandated/requested recounts since the Compact state ECVs are dependent on the winner of the national popular vote and not just their own state popular votes. Do you have information you want to share with HuffPost. She graduated magna cum laude from Brandeis University with bachelor's degrees in creative writing, English/American literature and international studies. 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.
