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%. This National Popular Vote Compact wouldn't take effect until states with 270 electors a majority joined in. The itineraries of presidential candidates in battleground states (and their allocation of other campaign resources) demonstrate what every gubernatorial or senatorial candidate in every state already knows namely that when every vote matters, the campaign must be run in every part of the state. But NPV could force our electors to disregard the wishes of the . The National Popular Vote Plan. 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. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your devices and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. ThoughtCo. It would eliminate the Congressional provisions for a non-majority election. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Bush and Al Gore (Black). Then, election officials in all participating states would choose the electors sworn to support thepresidential candidate who received the largest number of popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. But sometime in the future the popular vote will change back and lean Republican. Here are the essential pros and cons of popular vote elections to examine. It would be a national mandate to put someone in office, even if that winning candidate received less than 50% of the vote. cons of the national popular vote plansuper lemon haze greenhouse. Feb 25, 2023. The cost of a presidential election in the United States is already several billion dollars. If you need to flag this entry as abusive. Battleground states would disappear in U.S. elections. In 2016, Florida had 29 electoral votes and 9.4 million voters, created a voter value of 0.72. Under the system of proportional representation, any party with a high enough percentage of the vote will receive a seat in the government. The Electoral College system, however imperfect, serves this broader view of democracy. Or the opposite could be true. It is not even a liberal or conservative bill. 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. 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. Under the current structure of the electoral college, the focus of a presidential campaign is on the so-called battleground states. In theory that could happen every four years. The National Popular Vote Bill is not a Democrat or Republican bill. Even the minority party wouldnt be encouraged to negotiate because they could simply stall until the next election. The election is held every four years on the first Tuesday in November and prior to election day, the two candidates endure state-level primaries, caucuses, debates, and conventions. In a direct popular election, a candidate could theoretically win without having broad support throughout the country. To date, the bill has passed at least one legislative chamber in 9 states possessing 82 combined electoral votes: AR, AZ, ME, MI, MN, NC, NV, OK, and OR. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) is an agreement among a group of U.S. states and the District of Columbia to award all their electoral votes to whichever presidential ticket wins the overall popular vote in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. 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. In the 2020 election California did not certify their votes until Friday, December 11, only 3 days before the Electoral College met on Monday, December, 14. In theory we could change how we elect our president every four years. The popular vote currently gives every citizenCalifornians and Texans, Hawaiians and Mainers, Alabamans and Oregoniansan equal say in choosing the president. 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. 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. NPV is more than a third of the way to its goal. Others may struggle to meet higher than expected voter turnout levels. She graduated magna cum laude from Brandeis University with bachelor's degrees in creative writing, English/American literature and international studies. 2. Instead of a direct popular election, the United States has the Electoral College, a group of electors who represent each state's votes. A popular vote election takes all ballots that are cast, counts them, and declares the winner based on who received the most votes. 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. 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. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. In U.S. history, the electoral college winner has failed to secure the popular vote 5 times. Longley, Robert. However, many people believe that a direct popular election is more democratic and fair than the Electoral College. 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. How the US Electoral College System Works, Biography of Donald Trump, 45th President of the United States, What Is Statutory Law? 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. Though the original, some would say highly undemocratic, purpose. By adding this new interstate compact to the Electoral College/Winner-Take-All system to elect our president we are in fact making this system even more complicated and even harder for the voters to understand. Today, many electors are bound to vote according to their states' popular vote results, and those who aren't almost always do. on Advantages and Disadvantages of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, Follow All U.S. Citizens Should Vote. PBS: What does voter turnout tell us about the 2016 election. . It would eliminate the threat of a faithless elector. 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. 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. 805 15th Street, NW, Suite 800 Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. evergreen funeral home live stream. However, this also means that regions with a quite low population density will almost have no influence on the election outcome at all since they only have far too few votes to make a real difference. But don't forget, Bush won the popular vote four years later by three million votes. The issue raised by the National Popular Vote campaign is fundamental: What kind of a democracy should America be? 8. 5. 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. Actually the NPV Compact doesnt change one word in he Constitution and in fact only changes state laws. It gives each vote an equal amount of power. According to the University of Missouri-Kansas City Law School, some proponents of the Electoral College argue that it isolates election problems, such as illegally extended voting hours or irregularly high voter turnout. 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. Unless the national popular vote was very close, or there were all lot of recounts outstanding, the Compact states in most cases would effectively know what the outcome would be and could be prepared to certify their state votes very quickly to make the Electoral College meeting date deadline. And finally, the Electoral College doesnt work today anywhere near how the Founding Fathers intended it to work when they created it back in 1787. The cost of a presidential election in the United States is already several billion dollars. Probably the NPV Compact would be enacted into law with as little as a simple majority of the states and possibly even less. Although it is sometimes conjectured that a national popular election would focus only on big cities, it is clear that this would not be the case. That created a voter value of 2.85. 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. It knows that a majoritarianism that produces a plurality is not the voice of a majority of the citizenry. In the 2000 presidential election, Al Gore won the popular vote by more than 500,000 ballots, but George Bush became president by winning the Electoral College 271 to 266. It fails to reach the ideal of one-person one-vote. 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. This brings us to 196 of the 270 (73%) electoral votes needed to activate the pact just 74 votes away. The NPV Interstate Compact does not eliminate the very complicated Electoral College system that most voters dont really understand. When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. As of December 2020, the bill has been fully adopted predominately by Democratic-majority blue states which delivered the 14 largest vote shares for Barack Obama in the 2012 Presidential Election. Currently, candidates focus more on swing and battleground states to help them gain those electoral votes. This has occurred in only four of the 58 presidential . Would it aid a fight to eliminate first past the post or would it further entrench the established party system voters American voters have expressed disdain for. The selection of presidential electors is specifically entrusted to the states by the Constitution. Steve Sisolak vetoed it. The Electoral College was established in the Constitution to protect minority interests and mitigate the possibility of a regional candidate. 8. 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. The popular vote eliminates this issue too. 3. Yes. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) is an agreement among states and the District of Columbia to award their respective electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote of the presidential election. In 2016, Gary Johnson received 4.48 million votes and 0 electoral votes, but the potential is always there for this to happen. Our experts will write for you an essay on any topic, with any deadline and requirements from scratch, Electoral College and National Popular Vote Pros and Cons. And thats not how it should be in a democracy. In the case of a tie, there are contingencies in place to determine which person will serve in the elected office. Under the plan, Michigan's 15 Electoral . Some areas may bend the rules of an election by extending voting hours illegally. At the moment, 98 more electoral votes are needed to pass this bill in all 50 states (National Conference of State Legislators). 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. 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. Lastly, the biggest problem that the Electoral College produces is the reality that a persons vote really doesnt matter (Black). This divide creates natural divisions between groups of people who both support their country, but in different ways. 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. There would be fewer opportunities to illegally alter the results of an election. Is the National Popular Vote Plan Constitutional? 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.. But we're closer to that than you might think 15 states and the District of Columbia have already signed on, providing 196 electoral votes of the needed 270. Richard F. Potthoff looks critically at a proposed alternative way of electing the US president, the National Popular Vote plan, where all states in an interstate compact which cover 270 or more electoral votes would cast their electoral votes for the candidate who won the nationwide vote, no matter who wins their state. 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. 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. 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. They have only won the popular vote once. This text is available online and is used for gudiance and inspiration, We use cookies to give you the best experience possible. It happened once, in 1876. (2020, December 16). The candidate who placed second in the popular vote was elected in 2016, 2000, 1888, 1876, and 1824. Using a popular vote system, candidates could campaign regionally, targeting major areas of support, to secure enough votes to win an election. The only election in the United States which is not governed by the popular vote is the presidential election. 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. One of the biggest reasons why voters dont vote is because they feel like their vote doesnt count. A popular vote election would bring the presidential election in line with the rest of the election structures. 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. 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. 1. It could encourage voter turnout. 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. Some critics argue that more people would vote in a direct popular election, according to the University of the Pacific. Post author: Post published: June 29, 2022 Post category: Uncategorized Post comments: paris apartment eiffel tower view for sale paris apartment eiffel tower view for sale (2021, Jun 14). 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. The National Popular Vote effort, explained The National Popular Vote effort is now halfway to its goal of electing future presidents via the popular vote, after Rhode Island Gov. 5. Watch out! Over the long run the countrys popular vote in presidential elections has roughly been equally split between Republican and Democratic.*. 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. Although the 20th Amendment to the Constitution provides clarity to this situation, that process is based on the electoral college. 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. According to the Constitution, the Electoral College is a compromise between election of the President by a vote in Congress and election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens (National Archives). Advantage: Encourages Voter Turnout 41 States (with 80% of U.S. population) will be Ignored in the 2024 Presidential Election. How the National Popular Vote Plan Would Work. Security would be improved across the country. Proponents of the National Popular Vote fail to understand the most basic facts about the American presidential electoral system. The Electoral College distorts presidential campaigns . 6. Get breaking news and updates from Common Cause. Using the NPV system means that every vote counts the same. Or states might explore what was recently proposed in Colorado -- that electors be allocated in proportion to each candidate's share of the popular vote above a certain threshold. It isnt impossible to pass a Constitutional amendment, though history shows that it is not an easy process to complete. cons of the national popular vote plan. 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. Analyzes how william c. kimberling, the deputy director of the federal election commission, is a credible author over the issue. Here are six reasons why legislators should reject this attempt to jettison our electoral system: 1. 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. It has also happened four times out of the 56 presidential elections. Cookie Notice 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. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/the-national-popular-vote-plan-3322047. Samploon is a database of free essay samples. Robert Longley is a U.S. government and history expert with over 30 years of experience in municipal government and urban planning. Where the National Popular Vote Plan Stands. It would eliminate superfluous votes. June 7, 2022 . With a popular vote in place, each election win would be decreed a mandate to follow the platform of the winning party. This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Home| Government| Elections| Electoral College| Electoral College Pros And Cons. The years-old effort is slowly making its way through state legislatures in hopes of changing the way That would give the Compact states only 3 days( and two of those days were weekend days) to certify their state votes. That offers the possibility that someone unwilling or unable to hold the office could be elected. Under the current structure of presidential elections in the U.S., the states become a battleground of red states vs. blue states. Either would likely produce an electoral vote count closer to the popular vote. Under the electoral college system of voting, the number of representatives a state has in Congress (Senators and Representatives) is the total number of electoral votes it is allowed. Definition and Examples. Imagine a scenario where a presidential candidate focuses on Los Angeles, New York City, Portland, OR and Seattle. cons of the national popular vote plan. Under the electoral college system (and other voting systems not based on popular voting), it only takes one extra vote more than the other candidate to create the needed results for the election. It understands that while the nation is one union, it is also an amalgam of varying experiences and perspectives arrived at via the settings and unique problems surrounding those who live in different places, and that these differences fall within the broad rubric of federalism. After the process, the President of the Senate reveals who has officially been voted in as President and Vice President of the United States. 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 . All in all, the Electoral College causes many problems that seem unfair to American voters during such an important election. Some states, such as California and Hawaii, both had their bills vetoed by their governors before it was overridden and enacted by state legislators. 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. It is perhaps the most simplistic form of an election. 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. As of July 2020, a National Popular Vote bill has been signed into law in 16 states controlling a total of 196 electoral votes, including 4 small states, 8 medium-sized states, 3 big states (California, Illinois, and New York), and the District of Columbia. 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. Do you have information you want to share with HuffPost. If this happens many people in the red states will not feel that the change is legitimate even if its legal and technically constitutional. Evidence as to how a nationwide presidential campaign would be run can be found by examining the way presidential candidates currently campaign inside battleground states. First it would be relatively easy to implement. 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." 9. 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. This blog post is a joint effort with Leslie Francis, former executive director of the Democratic National Committee and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. April 8, 2016 National popular vote far better than Electoral College system for choosing presidents, Stanford professors say. There are logistical issues that are managed at the local level in each election. Each vote would affect each candidate instead of being overlooked due to which state those votes would be coming from. Like most issues involving politics, the U.S. Constitution is largely silent on the political issues of presidential elections. (LogOut/ That effectively means that votes in the the 75% of the country that are in swing states effectively dont count at all. 6. 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. A popular vote system would significantly impact voters and turnout. The senators in the U.S. Senate make up two votes in addition to the votes that represent the number of its members in the U.S. House of Representatives (Archives). Under the electoral college system, if a state consistently pulls as leaning to one party, someone who supports the other party may not vote because they feel like there isnt a need to do so. Yet, by May 2021, 15 states and Washington, D.C., had signed onto the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. OKLAHOMA CITY Oklahomans will head to the polls March 7 to decide if the state will become the 22nd in the country to legalize recreational marijuana for use by anyone 21 and older. Join the thousands across the country who instantly rally when there is a threat to our democracy. 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 . 2. After all, is said and done, the candidate who attains the largest number of votes can still lose. 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. Maryland and New Jersey passed this bill in 2007, Hawaii and Illinois in 2008, Washington in 2009, Massachusetts and the District of Columbia in 2010, California and Vermont in 2011, Rhode Island in 2013, New York in 2014 and Connecticut in 2018. In each instance the republic has survived, and democracy has prospered despite the challenges presented. cons of the national popular vote planchicago religious demographics. N.p., n.d. It would reduce the influence of third parties on the U.S. presidential election. The danger of NPV is that it will undermine the complex and vital underpinnings of American democracy.

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