National popular vote - frequently asked questions - Common Cause 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. 15 states and Washington, D.C. have joined the National Popular Vote compact. Because there was a difference of less than 1,000 tabulated votes between George W. Bush and Al Gore in one state, Florida, the nation watched as 6 million votes were recounted by machine, several hundred thousand were recounted by hand in counties with differing recount standards, partisan litigators fought each other in state and federal courts, the secretary of state backed by the majority of state legislators (all Republicans) warred with the state's majority Democratic judiciary -- until 37 days after the election the U.S. Supreme Court, in a bitterly controversial 5-4 decision effectively declared Bush the winner. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. 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. That could lead to a very bad situation where, instead of the people voting in November to determine who the next president is, one or two states could effectively decide who becomes the next president simply by joining or withdrawing from the NPV Compact and changing the rules on how the votes for president are counted in the next election. Activating the National Popular Vote compact would reshape our . June 7, 2022 . Imagine a scenario where a presidential candidate focuses on Los Angeles, New York City, Portland, OR and Seattle. Using a popular vote system, candidates could campaign regionally, targeting major areas of support, to secure enough votes to win an election. 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. Today the Democrats want to replace the Electoral College/Winner-Take-All system with a direct popular vote and the Republicans adamantly want to keep it. Con:not Eliminate possibility that loser of the popular vote can still win the electoral vote The Proportional Plan A proposed reform where each presidential candidate would receive the percent of electoral votes that they win from each state Proportional Plan Pro:Possible for loser of popular vote to win presidency. ThoughtCo. . The danger of NPV is that it will undermine the complex and vital underpinnings of American democracy. This text is available online and is used for gudiance and inspiration, We use cookies to give you the best experience possible. Electoral votes are designated among the states based on Census. That effectively means that votes in the the 75% of the country that are in swing states effectively dont count at all. Congressional Digest The National Popular Vote It gives each vote an equal amount of power. 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. National Popular Vote (NPV) - InfluenceWatch Where the National Popular Vote Plan Stands. It would be a national mandate to put someone in office, even if that winning candidate received less than 50% of the vote. If the National Popular Vote bill was secured within the American government, it would protect every vote and would allow those votes to equally matter in the presidential election. 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. The time to stop its momentum is now. Make a contribution to support Common Cause today. This was the intent of the Founding Fathers. 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. Privacy Policy. It has its pros and cons though, many of which critics debate over. Richards earned a master's degree at Carnegie Mellon University. cons of the national popular vote planchicago religious demographics. Just 12 Closely Divided Battleground States Got 96% of 2020 Campaign Events. The cost of a presidential election in the United States is already several billion dollars. Published: Mar. The candidate who placed second in the popular vote was elected in 2016, 2000, 1888, 1876, and 1824. national popular vote plan pros and cons - shipoom.com It is not at all clear that it would similarly prosper under the direct election regime being pushed by NPV. 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. For more information, please see our The National Bonus Plan maintains the Electoral College voting system but adds 102 bonus electoral votes to the existing 538 votes. After all, is said and done, the candidate who attains the largest number of votes can still lose. There are a number of pros for this method. Either would provide a reason for both parties to compete in most states because there would be electors to win. However, Hilary Clinton won 2.6 million more popular votes nationwide than Donald Trump. Every state is allocated several votes according to the number of senators and representatives in its U.S. Congressional delegation. Some areas may bend the rules of an election by extending voting hours illegally. Due to some states being heavily populated in comparison to others, that may help a candidate quickly obtain a win. Advantage: Encourages Voter Turnout Under the electoral college system, the candidates which receive the most votes in each state (or district) receive its assigned electoral votes. 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 With the polarization in global politics today, especially in the United States, a switch to the popular vote would likely increase costs even further. If this happens many people in the red states will not feel that the change is legitimate even if its legal and technically constitutional. 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. Electing a president who did not have broad regional support could lead to a fractured and less cohesive country, according to the Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. 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. 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. cons of the national popular vote plan. 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. They have only won the popular vote once. Disadvantages of the NPV Interstate Compact. Rural voters would almost always be in the minority. 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. 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 a direct popular election, a candidate could theoretically win without having broad support throughout the country. 6. 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. . Facts support national popular vote | The Hill 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. This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. This would happen in the extremely unlikely situation where this candidate would win just for one vote in some . cons of the national popular vote plan That means a candidate who receives a majority of their votes in a high-delegate state, such as California, could make a dramatic impact on the rest of the election. Lawmakers discuss plan to enact National Popular Vote in Michigan Currently, the National Popular Vote bill has 172 electoral votes. Maine and Nebraska are the only two states that are not affected by this approach. 2. We have seen this outcome in the 2016 Presidential election between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump and in the 2000 election between George H.W. 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. 5. The second advantage is that the all votes would be equally weighed (Richards). However, in the popular vote, Trump only received 62,984,825 votes against Hillary Clinton's 65,853,516 popular votes. PDF Problems With the National Popular Vote Plan This divide creates natural divisions between groups of people who both support their country, but in different ways. Pros and cons of district elections | Columnists | smdailyjournal.com Since 2008, 15 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws to adopt the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC), which is an multi-state agreement to commit electors to. The Electoral College - Top 3 Pros and Cons - ProCon.org cons of the national popular vote plan. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. It's time to abolish the Electoral College - Brookings 18 Pros and Cons of Popular Vote - Vittana.org Rebekah Richards is a professional writer with work published in the "Atlanta Journal-Constitution," "Brandeis University Law Journal" and online at tolerance.org. mike matarazzo last photo. For example, if a state used NPV and voted for candidate A, but candidate B received the most votes nationwide, the state would allocate its presidential electors to candidate B. Proportional Plan Join the thousands across the country who instantly rally when there is a threat to our democracy. It happened once, in 1876. Under the current structure of the electoral college, the focus of a presidential campaign is on the so-called battleground states. Is It Time to Implement a National Popular Vote in Presidential This brings us to 196 of the 270 (73%) electoral votes needed to activate the pact just 74 votes away. 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. However, many people believe that a direct popular election is more democratic and fair than the Electoral College. (2020, December 16). The horror of a potential national recount is only one of the dangers direct presidential elections poses. Though the original, some would say highly undemocratic, purpose. National Popular Vote Movement - Common Cause | Get Involved The first advantage allows for electoral votes to be fairer than the Electoral College (Richards). Even though pre-election polls made conspicuous predictions of Hilary Clinton winning the presidency and . 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. 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. University of Colorado Boulder A candidate can win the popular vote in enough states to win a majority of electoral votes but still lose the popular vote nationally. http://www.nationalpopularvote.com/. Advantages & Disadvantages of a Direct Popular Election what connection type is known as "always on"? 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. An electoral college would solve . 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. A popular vote election takes all ballots that are cast, counts them, and declares the winner based on who received the most votes. The National Popular Vote proposal is doomed if even only - LSE Blogs Hillary Clinton, but won the electoral vote to become the 45thPresident of the United States. National Popular Vote: Circumventing the United States Constitution 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. Under the current structure of presidential elections in the U.S., the states become a battleground of red states vs. blue states. In fact, let's tally up all the votes cast for president between 1932 and 2008. The Electoral College Vs. Popular Vote - 1203 Words | 123 Help Me That means the cost of counting all the votes would be duplicated. Under the electoral college, the majority votes of states assign electoral votes to a candidate, which then creates a majority total required for a victory. "The National Popular Vote Plan." 2. A switch to the popular vote would eliminate the concept of a battleground state because the issue would be more on issues than states. In 2004, for example, candidates George W. Bush and John Kerry campaigned heavily in states such as Nevada while ignoring political issues in New York, a state that Kerry was sure to win, according to the University of the Pacific. 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. Electoral College pros and cons: is popular vote better? - netivist Research & Policy - National Conference of State Legislatures And that would undermine the legitimacy of the NPV among those people. Battleground states would disappear in U.S. elections. The electoral college leads to a heavy emphasis on swing states and also typically over-represents citizens in rural states. 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. Definition and Examples, Learn How Many Total Electoral Votes There Are.