cons of the national popular vote plan

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. 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. Under the Electoral College system, voters in states that are overwhelmingly in support of one candidate might feel like their vote is unimportant. And thats not how it should be in a democracy. Of the 538 Electoral College votes available, Donald J. Trump received 304 votes, Hillary Clinton received 227 votes, and seven votes went to others: three for Colin Powell, one for Faith Spotted Eagle, one for John Kasich, one for Ron Paul, and one for Bernie Sanders). 7. That means every state is allowed a minimum of 3 electoral votes. 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). Thats how politics works in America. Candidates feel they either cant win or lose with the votes from these states. The popular vote eliminates this issue too. (LogOut/ A popular vote system would significantly impact voters and turnout. 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 NPV Interstate Compact does not eliminate the very complicated Electoral College system that most voters dont really understand. Bosque de Palabras 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. ThoughtCo, Dec. 16, 2020, thoughtco.com/the-national-popular-vote-plan-3322047. This has occurred in only four of the 58 presidential . 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. This brings us to 196 of the 270 (73%) electoral votes needed to activate the pact just 74 votes away. An electoral college would solve . 48 Vitosha Boulevard, ground floor, 1000, Sofia, Bulgaria, Samploon, Inc. 2022. But the national popular vote plan doesn't require a . First it would be relatively easy to implement. Definition and Examples, How Political Party Convention Delegates are Chosen, What Is a Caucus? In the U.S., that means people who lean Democratic live in urban areas, while people who lean Republican live in rural areas. During a popular vote, a candidate who withdraws from the race or dies before the election can be held could still be on the ballot. That's almost 1.5 billion . This feature is critical to the passionate bipartisan support the compact receives. A close election would trigger the need for a full recount. Second, some believe itll intensify election problems, such as illegally extended voting hours or irregularly high voter turnout (Richards). Although faithless electors have not affected the results or outcome of an election yet, in 2016, there were 7 faithless electors. . document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. It happened once, in 1876. Moving to the popular vote structure would eliminate this potential issue. It has been enacted into law in 11 states with 165 electoral votes, and will take effect when enacted by states with 105 more. Heres how. Currently, 48 of the 50 states follow the winner-take-all rule. It would eliminate the Congressional provisions for a non-majority election. That would give the Compact states only 3 days( and two of those days were weekend days) to certify their state 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. Do you have information you want to share with HuffPost? The United States does not have direct election of its president, yet most national, state and local offices are filled by the candidate with the most votes. There are a number of pros for this method. Thats the way it has been in this country for a long time. 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. National Popular Vote will create a single member district (all 50 states and D.C.), where the candidate with the most votes wins and . Longley, Robert. The states would implement this plan once enough states controlling 270 electoral votes have signed on, guaranteeing that the national popular vote winner will win the presidency.. 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. Resource allocation would be focused on paid advertising, which would negate the need for grassroots activities. https://www.thoughtco.com/the-national-popular-vote-plan-3322047 (accessed March 4, 2023). (2021, Jun 14). This brings us to 196 of the 270 electoral votes needed to activate the pact. That is hardly a mandate for governing, though it would be taken as such. The discussion around using the popular vote for elections has increased since the results of the 2016 election. The National Popular Vote compact would have the same effect as a constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College but has the benefit of retaining the power to control presidential elections in states hands. The country could become less stable and divided if he or she did not have a vast amount of support (Richards). Hillary Clinton, but won the electoral vote to become the 45thPresident of the United States. Secondly, it creates a minimalist depiction in the minds of the candidate towards more than 40 states. 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. Learn more about how the National Popular Vote compact works and the ways it could make our elections better for everyone. But sometime in the future the popular vote will change back and lean Republican. In a direct popular election, a candidate could theoretically win without having broad support throughout the country. The alternative view of democracy is more complex; it is one that includes but is not limited to the pursuit of equality. All in all, the Electoral College causes many problems that seem unfair to American voters during such an important election. As a result, an agreement between a group of states to cast all of their electoral votes in a similar manner, as proposed by the National Popular Vote plan passes constitutional muster. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. In contrast, other issues related to the federal government are not exclusively entrusted to the states, and therefore the states lack the power to alter them. On April 15, 2014 Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York State quietly signed into law the National Popular Vote, making New York the 10th state -- along with the District of Columbia -- to support this effort, while also boosting the total numbers to 165 of the 270 electoral votes needed to make a true national popular vote a reality. I fear that most, if not all, of the states signing onto the NPV Compact will be just blue states. Around six-in-ten U.S. adults (63%) say the way the president is elected should be changed so that the winner of the popular vote nationwide wins the presidency, while 35% favor keeping the current Electoral College system, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted June 27-July 4, 2022. 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. (See: Electoral Votes by State). Even though pre-election polls made conspicuous predictions of Hilary Clinton winning the presidency and . The compact is designed to ensure that the candidate who receives the most votes nationwide is elected president, and it . A simple change in the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact could fix the flaw and still provide the benefits of a popular election. It gives each vote an equal amount of power. That, in turn, would likely diminish voter turnout. The National Popular Vote plan would eliminate what critics of the Electoral College system point to as the "winner-take-all" rule - the awarding all of a state's electoral votes to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in that state. This is a situation that has caused controversy in the election years of of 1800, 1876, 1888, 2000 and 2016 when the elected president won the Electoral College and the presidency but did not win the popular vote. 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. 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. It would reduce diversity in the election structures. A majority of 270 electoral votes is required to elect the president. 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. 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. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact is an agreement where states in the compact award all their electoral votes to the winner of the . 3. As a result, the percentage of popular votes secured by Donald Trump was just 46.4% in comparison with Hilary Clinton, who secured 48.5% of the votes. List of the Cons of Proportional Representation. The President-Elect takes the oath of office and is sworn in as President of the United States on January 20th in the year following the Presidential election (Archives). Donald Trump won the presidential election by securing 304 electoral votes, compared to Hillary Clintons 227 electoral votes. 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. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. The years-old effort is slowly making its way through state legislatures in hopes of changing the way Home| Government| Elections| Electoral College| Electoral College Pros And Cons. 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. 8. Robert Longley is a U.S. government and history expert with over 30 years of experience in municipal government and urban planning. It is perhaps the most simplistic form of an election. 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. When the Constitution was set in place in 1789, the U.S. elected its first president. N.p., n.d. Is this a solution to first past the post or is it merely reinforcing our current two party system? 9. 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. 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. 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. 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). Note: Today we are in a phase where the popular vote in presidential elections leans Democratic. In the case of a tie, there are contingencies in place to determine which person will serve in the elected office. During the 2012 elections, 38 states, also known as spectator states, were ignored and forgotten. cons of the national popular vote planchicago religious demographics. Since the Constitution and the Bill of Rights became governing documents in the United States, there have only been 17 amendments made to it. For the popular vote, however, Hillary Clinton received 65.8 million votes, while Donald Trump received 62.9 million votes. 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. The appeal of NPV is the simplicity of its message. 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. Candidates feel these states need a little bit more of their attention and apply pressure to supply these states with solutions to their problems in order to gain their vote. As a result, the bill will take effect when enacted by states possessing an additional 74 electoral votes. Here are six reasons why legislators should reject this attempt to jettison our electoral system: 1. It would require an Amendment in the U.S. for presidential elections. The National Popular Vote plan does not do away with the Electoral College system, an action that would require a constitutional amendment. 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). Probably the NPV Compact would be enacted into law with as little as a simple majority of the states and possibly even less. Surprisingly enough, the National Popular Vote bill could possibly bring forth some problems. Many Americans are confused about how a win is obtained under these conditions and are on a quest to change this traditional statute. Advantage: Encourages Voter Turnout sale of united methodist church property. The Congressional District method would allocate electoral votes based on the winner of each congressional district. 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. A popular vote structure would virtually eliminate the idea of a third-party candidate having a chance in an election. 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. Every state is allocated several votes according to the number of senators and representatives in its U.S. Congressional delegation. 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. 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%. At the moment, 98 more electoral votes are needed to pass this bill in all 50 states (National Conference of State Legislators). [Add switching votes of losing party to the other partys voter totals in every state using the Electoral College/Winner-Take-All system (except for 5 EC votes in Maine and Nebraska that are awarded proportionally instead of by Winner-Take-All.]. The bill has crossed paths with 36 legislative chambers and has been sponsored or voted for by 3,112 state legislators (National Popular Vote). "The National Popular Vote Plan." Although this may limit the amount of diversity that occurs in office, and may generate extra financial costs, the argument could be made that these risks outweigh the results of an election where a majority of states, not a majority of people, put someone into office. 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. It could encourage voter turnout. 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. It would reduce the influence of third parties on the U.S. presidential election. and our . Published: Mar. You can use essay samples to find ideas and inspiration for your paper. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/the-national-popular-vote-plan-3322047. 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. What would happen during a switch to the popular vote would be unknown. 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. PBS: What does voter turnout tell us about the 2016 election. 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 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." Copyright 2023 Leaf Group Ltd. / Leaf Group Education, Explore state by state cost analysis of US colleges in an interactive article, Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections: The Electoral College, University of the Pacific: Electoral College Reform, University of Missouri-Kansas City Law School: The Electoral College. Nevada passed the legislation in 2019, but Gov. The United States has a representative democracy rather than a direct democracy: Citizens elect representatives rather than voting on each bill. This has occurred in 5 of the nation's 56 presidential elections, most recently in 2016. Their vote only counts at the local level, not the national level, because of the electoral votes. 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. In the 2016 election, only 58 percent of eligible voters went to the polls. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. The winner would receive all of the compact states electoral votes, giving them at least the necessary 270 to win the White House. America is known to have the costliest, prolonged, and complicated structure when electing a head of state. 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. For more information, please see our At that stage, anyone who received an electoral vote is eligible to become the next president. 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. ThoughtCo. Privacy Policy. 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. 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. To become president of the United States of America, you must be at least 35 years old, have lived in the U.S. for at least 14 years and be a natural-born citizen. Change). 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 An individuals vote doesnt make a difference when it is counted against the votes of the delegates in the House of Representatives and Senate. District Plan CONS Technically still possible, but A LOT hard to do so District 1 = Romney 57% District 2 = Romney 52% District 3 = Romney 70% Gerrymandering. Candidates get one vote for every congressional district they win, and then two votes for winning the state-wide vote. Under the current structure of the electoral college, the focus of a presidential campaign is on the so-called battleground states. Inside Ohio or Florida, to pick two examples, the big cities do not receive all the attention, and they certainly do not control the outcome. cons of the national popular vote plan. 1. The candidate who placed second in the popular vote was elected in 2016, 2000, 1888, 1876, and 1824. There are pros and cons to both systems. 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. Join the thousands across the country who instantly rally when there is a threat to our democracy. But if some non-member 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. The principal flaw in the plan is its assumption that under the plan there will still be only two major parties competing for the presidency in 2020. . It would eliminate superfluous votes. cons of the national popular vote plansuper lemon haze greenhouse. Going to the popular vote would eliminate this issue altogether. 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. 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. And thats not how it should be in a democracy. If a popular vote were allowed to declare a winner instead, it wouldnt be through a state-by-state counting of electoral votes. Or the opposite could be true. 1. Also the NPV Compact allows states to withdraw from the compact as late as four months before an election. 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. On Dec. 22, 2016, the results were certified in all 50 states. 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. Instead, each state and Washington D.C. is assigned a certain number of electoral votes based on its population. Opines that the national popular vote plan is the wrong way to abolith the electoral college. Although moving to a popular vote election would balance the weight of each vote, it would also create more sway in larger population states. 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. 9. Imagine a scenario where a presidential candidate focuses on Los Angeles, New York City, Portland, OR and Seattle. Analyzes how william c. kimberling, the deputy director of the federal election commission, is a credible author over the issue. National Popular Vote Plan page 3 that non-member states that fail to hold such elections will not be included in the determination of 'the national popular vote winner.' This sidesteps the problem and provides an incentive for all states (non-members as well as members) to (continue to) hold such elections. She graduated magna cum laude from Brandeis University with bachelor's degrees in creative writing, English/American literature and international studies. While we look further into the National Popular Vote, lets investigate some of its pro and cons for the American democracy. The National Popular Vote (NPV) refers to the concept of allocating a state's presidential electors to the candidate who receives the most votes nationwide regardless of the state results in a presidential election. Feb 25, 2023. People are moving to live in like-minded communities more than ever before. 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.

Jennifer Hoff Kare 11 Bio, Govanhill Child Trafficking Video, What Are The Experimental Units In His Experiment, Cecil County District Court Commissioners Office, Fay Fredricks Measurements, Articles C