cons of the national popular vote plan

It has been enacted by twelve states, which include Rhode Island, Vermont, Hawaii, the District of Columbia, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Washington, New Jersey, Illinois, New York, and California. Under the current structure of presidential elections in the U.S., the states become a battleground of red states vs. blue states. 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. An electoral college would solve . 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. That would increase the amount of polarization being experienced in politics today because there would be less of a need to compromise. This brings us to 196 of the 270 (73%) electoral votes needed to activate the pact just 74 votes away. At the moment, 98 more electoral votes are needed to pass this bill in all 50 states (National Conference of State Legislators). This feature is critical to the passionate bipartisan support the compact receives. Privacy Policy. It would eliminate the threat of a faithless elector. Either would likely produce an electoral vote count closer to the popular vote. The cost of a presidential election in the United States is already several billion dollars. 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. Unexpected emergencies would be difficult to handle. The Electoral College is made up of 538 electors and a majority of 270 electoral votes is mandatory to nominate the President. 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. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. (See: Electoral Votes by State). 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. The Electoral College system, however imperfect, serves this broader view of democracy. Feb 25, 2023. The popular vote currently gives every citizenCalifornians and Texans, Hawaiians and Mainers, Alabamans and Oregoniansan equal say in choosing the president. https://www.thoughtco.com/the-national-popular-vote-plan-3322047 (accessed March 4, 2023). A Critique of the National Popular Vote October 13, 2008 Policy Analysis No. There are pros and cons to both systems. Proportional Plan The electoral college encourages a two-party system and rewards candidates who have broad appeal. The Constitution specifically leaves details like how the electoral votes are cast up to the states. Explains kimberling, william c., and dave leip's . In theory we could change how we elect our president every four years. Also the NPV Compact allows states to withdraw from the compact as late as four months before an election. Change). Lastly, it may cause a third-party candidate to prevail and win, which would allow Americans to be given more choices besides the two primary parties (Richards). National Popular Vote compact pros and cons. It would require an Amendment in the U.S. for presidential elections. 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. It gives each vote an equal amount of power. You can use essay samples to find ideas and inspiration for your paper. The advantage of this system is that it preserves the preferences of. 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. In Maine, both houses of the legislature passed the bill in 2019, but it failed at the final enactment step. I will explain that in another blog post. 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. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact is an agreement where states in the compact award all their electoral votes to the winner of the . All samples were added by students. For example: States already have the power to award their electors to the winner of the national popular vote, although this would be disadvantageous to the state that did so unless it was joined simultaneously by other states that represent a majority of electoral votes. Yet, by May 2021, 15 states and Washington, D.C., had signed onto the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. 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. Under the current structure of the electoral college, the focus of a presidential campaign is on the so-called battleground states. NPV is more than a third of the way to its goal. In fact, let's tally up all the votes cast for president between 1932 and 2008. 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. This National Popular Vote Compact wouldn't take effect until states with 270 electors a majority joined in. 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. The popular vote eliminates this issue too. The Congressional District method would allocate electoral votes based on the winner of each congressional district. Due to some states being heavily populated in comparison to others, that may help a candidate quickly obtain a win. (LogOut/ Every state is allocated several votes according to the number of senators and representatives in its U.S. Congressional delegation. The Electoral College is very undemocratic and riddled with issues. In 2016, Gary Johnson received 4.48 million votes and 0 electoral votes, but the potential is always there for this to happen. The Electoral College distorts presidential campaigns . 1. 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. This would happen in the extremely unlikely situation where this candidate would win just for one vote in some . The electoral college leads to a heavy emphasis on swing states and also typically over-represents citizens in rural states. It has also happened four times out of the 56 presidential elections. It could help to reduce partisanship. Since the Constitution and the Bill of Rights became governing documents in the United States, there have only been 17 amendments made to it. 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. 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. The National Popular Vote initiative transpired in 2006. amazon web services address herndon va custom airbrush spray tan near me custom airbrush spray tan near me National Popular Vote values rural and urban voters equally. 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.. It gives more voting power to individual voters in smaller states. 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. During the 2012 elections, 38 states, also known as spectator states, were ignored and forgotten. [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.]. State Question 820 lays out a statutory framework for a recreational industry that would begin about 90 days after election results are certified. Lastly, some Americans believe that there would be an increase in voter turn-out if people felt that their vote was viewed as a significant asset to their country. But if we set politics aside and focus on what is really best for democracy in our country in the long run I believe that the advantages of using the NPV compact to elect our president outweigh the disadvantages and the best way to elect our president in the 21st century is by direct popular vote using Ranked Choice Voting. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact collectively apportions votes to the winner of the overall popular vote without a constitutional amendment abolishing the electoral college or the assent of Congress. 6. Instead of a direct popular election, the United States has the Electoral College, a group of electors who represent each state's votes. 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. As of now, 15 states and Washington, D.C. have joined the National Popular Vote compact: Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maryland, Washington, New Jersey, Illinois, New York, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Delaware and Oregon. For the popular vote, however, Hillary Clinton received 65.8 million votes, while Donald Trump received 62.9 million votes. 1. 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 . Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. 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. That structure makes it easier for extremist views to find official representation. Going to the popular vote would eliminate this issue altogether. cons of the national popular vote plan. 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. 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. Our state will likely vote overwhelmingly for the Republican challenger to Barack Obama in November. Less would get done, which would affect the needs of households at the local level. cons of the national popular vote plan. 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. Washington, DC 20005, Common Cause pays tribute to our leader, our friend, and a lifelong advocate for our democracy, Constitution, Courts & Other Democracy Issues, Ensure Fair Districts & Reflective Democracy, Expand Voting Rights & Election Integrity, Promote Free Speech & Accountability in Media, Protect the Constitution, Courts & Other Democracy Reforms. Because of the winner-take-all rule, a candidate can be elected president without winning the most popular votes nationwide. Donald Trump won the presidential election by securing 304 electoral votes, compared to Hillary Clintons 227 electoral votes. 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. Although moving to a popular vote election would balance the weight of each vote, it would also create more sway in larger population states. To determine the National Popular Vote winner, state election officials simply would tally the nationwide vote for president based on each states official results. That would give the Compact states only 3 days( and two of those days were weekend days) to certify their state votes. That view of democracy recognizes the existence and desirability of organized interests and enshrines that principle under the concept of pluralism. Maine and Nebraska are the only two states that are not affected by this approach. 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. Voters in spectator states, including five of the nations 10 most populous states (California, Texas, New York, Illinois, and New Jersey), and 12 of the 13 least populous states (all but New Hampshire) have no real incentive to go to the polls as their votes do not affect the outcome of the election. 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%. List of the Cons of Proportional Representation. Opines that the national popular vote plan is the wrong way to abolith the electoral college. On Dec. 22, 2016, the results were certified in all 50 states. The years-old effort is slowly making its way through state legislatures in hopes of changing the way A candidate can win the popular vote in enough states to win a majority of electoral votes but still lose the popular vote nationally. 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. In 2016, Florida had 29 electoral votes and 9.4 million voters, created a voter value of 0.72. 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. 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. The National Popular Vote Plan. 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. Dont know what Ranked Choice Voting is? The National Popular Vote Bill is not a Democrat or Republican bill. Cons of Electoral College. An individuals vote doesnt make a difference when it is counted against the votes of the delegates in the House of Representatives and Senate. It would eliminate the Congressional provisions for a non-majority election. Either would provide a reason for both parties to compete in most states because there would be electors to win. The states' approval of the compact is a victory for democracy and the principle of "one person, one vote." Bosque de Palabras The first problem it creates is the opportunity for the loser of the popular vote to win the electoral vote. 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. Candidates feel they either cant win or lose with the votes from these states. In states with large population centers, individual voters have less power than voters in smaller states. If you need to flag this entry as abusive. 9. The horror of a potential national recount is only one of the dangers direct presidential elections poses. 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. 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. Heres how. F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush were elected with less than a majority of the votes cast. Even the minority party wouldnt be encouraged to negotiate because they could simply stall until the next election. A candidate could be elected without the popular vote. 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. Though the original, some would say highly undemocratic, purpose. The plan would not get rid of the Electoral College. 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. In contrast, in a direct popular election, each vote matters equally. 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. A popular vote election takes all ballots that are cast, counts them, and declares the winner based on who received the most votes. 2015. It would limit the influence of local issues in the election. Once enacted, the participating states would cast all of their electoral votes for the presidential candidate winning the nationwide popular vote, thus ensuring that candidate the required 270 electoral votes. Today, many electors are bound to vote according to their states' popular vote results, and those who aren't almost always do. Rebekah Richards is a professional writer with work published in the "Atlanta Journal-Constitution," "Brandeis University Law Journal" and online at tolerance.org. The bill has crossed paths with 36 legislative chambers and has been sponsored or voted for by 3,112 state legislators (National Popular Vote). 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. 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. Samploon is a database of free essay samples. 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. 10 Apr. Lincoln Chafee (D) made his state the latest to sign on. The winner would receive one vote per congressional district won with the winner of the state popular vote gaining a two electoral votes. Others may struggle to meet higher than expected voter turnout levels. And thats not how it should be in a democracy. 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 average, studies show that falls in line with historical averages showing around 60 percent of eligible voters casting a vote in presidential election years. Yes. How about receiving a customized one? ashburnham school committee; its his baby now political cartoon meaning; softstar primal sawyer Before the 2016 election, the largest vote deficit in the popular vote was Al Gore securing over 500,000 votes more than George W. Bush. All other votes cast for that candidate are therefore superfluous. The amendment requires that any change to the rate of compensation for members of Congress can only take effect after a subsequent election in the House of Representatives. That means every state is allowed a minimum of 3 electoral votes. "The National Popular Vote Plan." These are the states that may go to either major party candidate in the election. In the early 19th century, many states ratified an approach that would allow the candidate with the most votes in that state to be the winner. 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. The danger of NPV is that it will undermine the complex and vital underpinnings of American democracy. Definition and Examples, How Political Party Convention Delegates are Chosen, What Is a Caucus? 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. Two-thirds of the campaign events were in four states, Florida, Iowa, Virginia, and Ohio, that year. However, a popular vote system, although hard to implement, is a more purely democratic system than the Electoral College. 2. 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. Nevada passed the legislation in 2019, but Gov. . The Electoral College system - the way we really elect our president - has always had its detractors and lost even more public support after the 2016 election, when it became apparent that President-ElectDonald Trump might have lost the nationwide popular vote to Sec. Just another site cons of the national popular vote plan . In a closely contested direct popular election, every precinct across the country might require close examination, rather than a handful of states or precincts. Do you have information you want to share with HuffPost. 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. The bill has passed one chamber in 12 additional states with 96 electoral votes. Like most issues involving politics, the U.S. Constitution is largely silent on the political issues of presidential elections. 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. One of the biggest reasons why voters dont vote is because they feel like their vote doesnt count. List of the Cons of Using the Popular Vote 1. If a popular vote were allowed to declare a winner instead, it wouldnt be through a state-by-state counting of electoral votes. 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. . Each vote would affect each candidate instead of being overlooked due to which state those votes would be coming from. 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. 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. 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. Battleground states would disappear in U.S. elections. That principle should be expanded to presidential elections. 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. If the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact becomes law it would be an excellent first step to help get a future amendment to the Constitution to replace the Electoral College/Winner-Take-All system to elect the president with a national popular vote using Ranked Choice Voting. 1. HuffPost's top politics stories, straight to your inbox. Using a popular vote system, candidates could campaign regionally, targeting major areas of support, to secure enough votes to win an election. Make a contribution to support Common Cause today. 1, 2023 at 1:16 PM PST. Colorado is on the verge of joining a nationwide movement that could eventually change how we choose the next president of the United States. Richards earned a master's degree at Carnegie Mellon University. 2. Start and finish your paper with ease. Robert Longley is a U.S. government and history expert with over 30 years of experience in municipal government and urban planning. 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. The United States has a representative democracy rather than a direct democracy: Citizens elect representatives rather than voting on each bill. The NPVC is a proposed interstate compact in which the signatory states agree that they will appoint their presidential electors in accordance with the national popular vote rather than their own state electorate's vote. All in all, the Electoral College causes many problems that seem unfair to American voters during such an important election. 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. Just 12 Closely Divided Battleground States Got 96% of 2020 Campaign Events. With the polarization in global politics today, especially in the United States, a switch to the popular vote would likely increase costs even further. Part of HuffPost Politics. A popular vote system would significantly impact voters and turnout. It is not even a liberal or conservative bill. 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." Some states, such as California and Hawaii, both had their bills vetoed by their governors before it was overridden and enacted by state legislators. She graduated magna cum laude from Brandeis University with bachelor's degrees in creative writing, English/American literature and international studies. 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. Retrieved from https://samploon.com/electoral-college-and-national-popular-vote-pros-and-cons/, Should the Electoral College Be Abolished, Pros for The Electoral College in the United States, Electoral College is Undemocratic but We Have no Better System, The Electoral College Should Be Terminated, The Electoral College Annotated Bibliography. The NPV movement seeks to create an unfair and unconstitutional system that diminishes the voting rights of citizens throughout the country and raises the prospect of increased voter fraud and. Lawmakers discuss plan to enact National Popular Vote in Michigan. How the US Electoral College System Works, Biography of Donald Trump, 45th President of the United States, What Is Statutory Law? And thats not how it should be in a democracy. 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.

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