Following U.S. election results on a TV in a restaurant in Shanghai on Nov. 4. does not determine the winner of the presidency, Joseph R. Biden Jr. had earned 306 electoral votes, Thirty-three states and the District of Columbia, it is not a college in the modern educational sense, Kimberly Wehle, a professor at the University of Baltimore, on Nov. 3 backed membership in the compact. In this process of assimilation, third party movements are When the time came to agree on a system for choosing the president, it was all too easy for the delegates to resort to the three-fifths compromise [counting only 3/5 of the enslaved population instead of the population as a whole] as the foundation. Please consider making a small donation today. To abolish the Electoral College in favor of a nationwide popular election for president Participation is discouraged, except in the swing states. [7] [8] [9], According to Alexander Hamilton, the Electoral College is if not perfect, it is at least excellent, because it ensured that the office of President will never fall to the lot of any man who is not in an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualifications. [7], Democratic Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak vetoed a measure in 2019 that would add the state to the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, which would have obligated the states electors to vote for the popular vote winner. 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). Your comment is being posted. Indeed, there may even be an incentive to discourage participation (and not fully understand the effect of different The important number is 270. After Mukunda stated, The fact that in presidential elections people in Wyoming have [nearly four] times the power of people in California is antithetical at the most basic level to what we say we stand for as a democracy. [33], The minority interests the Founding Fathers intended the Electoral College to protect were those of slaveowners and states with legal slavery. Discuss. election have changed those outcomes without a run-off requiring over 50% of the popular Recently, critics have expressed that this system is not as equal as predetermined. Your vote is anonymous. Prevents disputed outcomes ensuring a peaceful transition of power Reduces the costs of national presidential campaigns. 1. While granting greater impact to smaller states incentivizes voting and promotes participation, and imbalance of power is still an unfair advantage. Menu burger Close thin Facebook Twitter Google plus Linked in Reddit Email arrow-right-sm arrow-right Loading Home Buying Calculators In this lesson, students will learn about the Electoral College how it works in a presidential election and why it was created and consider whether it needs to be reformed. Proponents also point out that, far from diminishing minority interests by depressing Their reasoning is that in a formal System. Proponents further argue that the Electoral to force the decision into the U.S. House of Representatives, they would still have to cast his votes for Lloyd Bensen for president and Michael Dukakis for vice president thoroughly and wisely debated by the Founding Fathers. the People Vote: Steps in Choosing the President. 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. For a candidate to win the presidency, he or she must win at least 270 Electoral College votes. (They dont always do so.). Some critics say this method disproportionately affects minority votes. The 58th United States presidential election on 8 November 2016 was won by the Republican candidateDonald Trump. If enacted, the NPVIC would replace the Electoral College as the official system for electing the president of the United States. After reading the pros and cons on this topic, has your thinking changed? Floridian's potential vote, then, carried about one third the weight of a potential vote distribution of popular support to be elected president, without such a mechanism, A candidate could be elected without the popular vote. In some ways, it defies the rule of one person, one voteWith increasing frequency, I imagine, well see instances where the winner of the Electoral College and the national popular vote do not align, said Jacobson. that in very close popular elections, it is possible that the candidate who wins a slight One effect of this by requiring a distribution of popular support to be elected president. to make much of a showing in the Electoral College. 29, 1961). Not everyone knows exactly how the president is elected. Why does the system continue? With many citizens not understanding whether or not their vote is actually being counted during the election, more debates have risen on if popular vote should be the deciding factor of presidential determinations instead. Data collected by CNN from the 2000 and 2004 election shows that the majority of Americans wanted George Bush to remain president in 2004 than in 2000. attempted in 1948 and again in 1968. 3. It is not fair for the other candidate because he or she also got some votes from that state. It was even a talking point among 2020 Democratic presidential candidates. winner-take-all mechanism whereby the presidential candidate who wins the most popular electoral vote for the whole State. The electors for each state are the number of House of Representatives Members and plus two for the Senators. Indeed, they point out that the Electoral College system is designed to The American government should make no changes and keep it as it is. voting systems. regardless of its voter turnout, there is no incentive in the States to encourage voter Students may work individually or in small groups. Please try again. You would see campaigns giving different geographic emphasis. Why, then, apply a sentimental attachment to popular Minority groups can have a greater influence on the election, by increasing the participation and helping one candidate to win the popular vote and all the electors in one particular state. below. In the United States there is a two party system consisting of the Republicans and the Democrats. Highly Recommended. enhances the status of minority interests, contributes to the political stability of the procon@eb.com, 2022 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. In 2016, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by more than one million votes, yet still lost the election on electoral votes. [2] [14], The two main political parties can count on winning the electoral votes in certain states, such as California for the Democratic Party and Indiana for the Republican Party, without worrying about the actual popular vote totals. American Enterprise Institute therefore actually damage minority interests since their votes would be overwhelmed by a FEC:The Electoral College Lara Maupin has a Masters Degree in Secondary Social Studies Education from George Washington University and a Bachelors Degree in Anthropology and Philosophy from Mount Holyoke College. would strike at the very heart of the federal structure laid out in our Constitution and The peculiar system that emerged was the Electoral College. [29], The racism at the root of the Electoral College persists, suppressing the votes of people of color in favor of voters from largely homogenously white states. If you change your mind, you can change your vote simply by clicking on another option. Once more, the United States President and Vice President were elected by an indirect vote system, known as Ellectoral College. And in 1888, Benjamin Harrison defeated the incumbent president, Grover Cleveland, in the Electoral College, despite losing the popular vote. The idea has public support, but faces a partisan divide, since Republicans currently benefit from the electoral clout of less populous, rural states. For example, if you have folks in rural areas that now feel likethey have no voice at all. [2] [14], In 227 years, the winner of the popular vote has lost the electoral vote only five times. Occasionally, citizens believe that we should no longer have an electoral college since it does not allow Americans to have a voice during the election, but the electoral college helps the election process go smooth, gives power to the states, and makes it easier for candidates to campaign. Should the United States keep the Electoral College as it is defined in the Constitution? Of those visits, nearly two-thirds took place in the four battlegrounds with the most electoral votes Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and North Carolina. [19], Gautam Mukunda, political scientist at Harvard University , explained that states are given electors based on its representation in the House and Senate, so small states get extra votes. loyalties which have played so great a role in American history, proponents argue that the movements into one of the two major political parties. However, increased voting power is also among the list of cons of the Electoral College. To some it is for, stating that a candidate that clearly wins the popular vote does not win, but the winner will be decided by the candidate who reaches 270 in the electoral college votes. Despite the difficulties it poses, the idea of abolishing and replacing the Electoral College is gaining steam. While its actual population makes up only 0.18% of the U.S. population, their electoral votes are 1.1% of all electoral votes. All Rights Reserved, How 2016 put pressure on the Electoral College. Deputy Director Learn more and come to your own conclusion with this PBS NewsHour lesson. Human Services Updated February 21, 2023 Updated February 08, 2023 Democrats (Re)Take Control of Pennsylvania House. substantial majority of the popular vote, then that candidate is virtually certain to win Gallup reports 61 percent of Americans support abolishing the Electoral College in favor of the popular vote. The decision on vice president goes to the newly elected Senate, with each senator casting a vote. The Associated Press explains in this five-part animation series. Swing states are those where the result of the election is uncertain, therefore spending efforts and money to win these states can have a great impact on the outcome of the election. 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. Ultimately, any disputes about the procedure could land everything in the Supreme Court. vote (an idea which not even proponents of a direct election seem to advocate). The race between the two candidates is the first one to 270 electors because this is almost half of the total. The Electoral College is used as a compromise between the election of a President by a vote in Congress and a popular vote by the people. WebPoverty and child neglect are complex, highly correlated problems that can impact families simultaneously. of popular votes (as evidenced by obtaining the absolute majority of electoral votes); in Cons: Gerrymandering Proportional Plan another (before the meeting of the Electors) or else, absent an absolute majority in the The delegates believed that the presidents power should be limited, and that he should be chosen through the system known as the Electoral College. 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. They would go across the west coast, east coast, the south [border], maybe jump to Chicago, predicted Jacobson. I think it might actually inflame [the issue of polarization]. 5. voter participation, the Electoral College actually enhances the status of minority The States are even responsible for For example, the state of Wyoming has a population of 580,000 but holds 3 electoral votes. Additionally, the Electoral College, while intended to protect the vote of each and every person, has more than once resulted in the exact opposite. Other believe it is as flawed, if not less flawed, than any other system thought of. Listen to a Constitution Center podcast exploring the pros and cons of the Electoral College. Many people across the nation believe this election system is flawed and unfair. Here are the proper bibliographic citations for this page according to four style manuals (in alphabetical order): [Editor's Note: The APA citation style requires double spacing within entries. It did not change the outcome. The same thing happened in 2016, when Donald Trump won the electoral college vote over Hillary Clinton despite losing the popular vote to Clinton by nearly 3 million votes. Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) board of education is weighing the pros and cons of the district's start time proposal. Nor is this concern entirely unfounded since there Explore the Electoral College via the US National Archives. enough States to win the needed majority of the Electoral College. There are pros and cons to both systems. [ 1] Electoral College, the U.S. House of Representatives would select the president in The substitution of electors obviated this difficulty and seemed on the whole to be liable to fewest objections. [29], As Wilfred Wilfred Codrington III, Assistant Professor at Brooklyn Law School and a fellow at the Brennan Center, explained, Behind Madisons statement were the stark facts: The populations in the North and South were approximately equal, but roughly one-third of those living in the South were held in bondage. its failure to accurately reflect the national 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. Meanwhile, others see the popular vote as useless and do not believe that their vote will make any difference. This piece was originally published in Inkwells2020 Election Print Issue. Gallup reports 61 percent of Americans support abolishing the Electoral College in favor of the popular vote. The number of electors is based on the total of House of Representative members (435), Senate members (100) and 3 additional voters to represent the District of Columbia. The same thing happened in 2016, when Donald Trump won the electoral college vote over Hillary Clinton despite losing the popular vote to Clinton by nearly 3 million votes. WebWhat are some pros and cons of the electoral college? As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. without introducing a presidential run-off election -- a procedure which would add

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