cons of the national popular vote plan

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. 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%. The National Popular Vote initiative transpired in 2006. Where the National Popular Vote Plan Stands. A Critique of the National Popular Vote October 13, 2008 Policy Analysis No. 4. 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. This National Popular Vote Compact wouldn't take effect until states with 270 electors a majority joined in. 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 . 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. And thats not how it should be in a democracy. 3. These battleground or swing states receive 7% more federal grants, twice as many presidential disaster declarations, more Superfund enforcement exemptions, and more No Child Left Behind law exemptions (National Popular Vote). 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. pros and cons." dave leip's atlas of u.s. presidential elections. A faithless elector in the United States is someone who casts an electoral ballot for someone other than the individuals to whom they are pledged. That effectively means that votes in the the 75% of the country that are in swing states effectively dont count at all. 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. 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. 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. Instead of a direct popular election, the United States has the Electoral College, a group of electors who represent each state's votes. It knows that a majoritarianism that produces a plurality is not the voice of a majority of the citizenry. a plan for a national popular vote could undermine the . It could help to reduce partisanship. Do you have information you want to share with HuffPost? The popular vote currently gives every citizenCalifornians and Texans, Hawaiians and Mainers, Alabamans and Oregoniansan equal say in choosing the president. 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. That nightmare may seem like a pleasant dream if NPV has its way. In the 2016 election, only 58 percent of eligible voters went to the polls. 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. 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. The plan would not get rid of the Electoral College. 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. Should that happen, then the final decision of who gets to serve as President of the United States is taken away from individual voters. It gives each vote an equal amount of power. Because every vote is equal inside Ohio or Florida, presidential candidates avidly seek out voters in small, medium, and large towns. Even the minority party wouldnt be encouraged to negotiate because they could simply stall until the next election. Because its so hard to get an amendment to the Constitution passed that means that once it becomes law it will probably remain so for a long time because the bar to change it back is so high. The Congressional District method would allocate electoral votes based on the winner of each congressional district. And that would undermine the legitimacy of the NPV among those people. 13 Early College High School Pros and Cons, 18 Major Advantages and Disadvantages of the Payback Period, 20 Advantages and Disadvantages of Leasing a Car, 19 Advantages and Disadvantages of Debt Financing, 24 Key Advantages and Disadvantages of a C Corporation, 16 Biggest Advantages and Disadvantages of Mediation, 18 Advantages and Disadvantages of a Gated Community, 17 Big Advantages and Disadvantages of Focus Groups, 17 Key Advantages and Disadvantages of Corporate Bonds, 19 Major Advantages and Disadvantages of Annuities, 17 Biggest Advantages and Disadvantages of Advertising. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. A shift of a relative handful of votes in one or two states would have elected the second-place candidate in six of the last 12 presidential elections. 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. 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 Electoral College was established in the Constitution to protect minority interests and mitigate the possibility of a regional candidate. They have only won the popular vote once. In the case of a tie, there are contingencies in place to determine which person will serve in the elected office. Instead, each state and Washington D.C. is assigned a certain number of electoral votes based on its population. If that was to take place, America could potentially face the same issues it is facing now. A popular vote election takes all ballots that are cast, counts them, and declares the winner based on who received the most votes. However, in the popular vote, Trump only received 62,984,825 votes against Hillary Clinton's 65,853,516 popular votes. America is known to have the costliest, prolonged, and complicated structure when electing a head of state. "The National Popular Vote Plan." 5. 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). 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. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. The appeal of NPV is the simplicity of its message. If this happens many people in the red states will not feel that the change is legitimate even if its legal and technically constitutional. Wyoming had just 3 electoral votes, but only had 255,000 voters as well. At that stage, anyone who received an electoral vote is eligible to become the next president. And unlike direct elections, either would provide an incentive for grass-roots activity, coalition building and enhanced citizen participation. 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. Longley, Robert. The one-vote approach does not align with the way the electoral votes operates. It fails to reach the ideal of one-person one-vote. 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. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. If you need to flag this entry as abusive. Here are six reasons why legislators should reject this attempt to jettison our electoral system: 1. 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. But if some non-member National Popular Vote (NPV) was founded in 2006 by lottery scratch-card inventor John Koza and election lawyer Barry Fadem to lobby for an "interstate compact" for states to deliver their electoral votes for President to the "winner" of the national popular vote. Currently, the National Popular Vote bill has 172 electoral votes. Unexpected emergencies would be difficult to handle. Although moving to a popular vote election would balance the weight of each vote, it would also create more sway in larger population states. List of the Cons of Using the Popular Vote 1. Battleground states would disappear in U.S. elections. 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. Removing this system could encourage more people to come out to support their candidate. 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. In 2016, Florida had 29 electoral votes and 9.4 million voters, created a voter value of 0.72. Many cities and school districts, under threat of a lawsuit by a Malibu attorney, have already adopted or are in the process of changing to district elections rather than remaining citywide or . 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. The first advantage allows for electoral votes to be fairer than the Electoral College (Richards). 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. That is hardly a mandate for governing, though it would be taken as such. When you cast your ballot, you're not actually voting directly for your favored presidential candidate. Robert Longley is a U.S. government and history expert with over 30 years of experience in municipal government and urban planning. Lincoln Chafee (D) made his state the latest to sign on. Although the 20th Amendment to the Constitution provides clarity to this situation, that process is based on the electoral college. 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. Either would provide a reason for both parties to compete in most states because there would be electors to win. 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 electoral college leads to a heavy emphasis on swing states and also typically over-represents citizens in rural states. 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. And thats not how it should be in a democracy. 8. To pass an amendment to change the Constitution the Founding Fathers wisely required approval by 2/3 of both houses of Congress and 3/4 of the state legislatures instead of a simple majority. There are pros and cons to both systems. But the national popular vote plan doesn't require a . 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. 1. The alternative view of democracy is more complex; it is one that includes but is not limited to the pursuit of equality. Ken Bickers. Proportional Plan I am confident that when we enter the next phase where the popular vote leans Republican that Republicans will change and be adamant that we should elect the president by direct popular vote and Democrats will be arguing why we should keep the Electoral College/Winner-Take-All system. 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. 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. Over the long run the countrys popular vote in presidential elections has roughly been equally split between Republican and Democratic.*. The votes of those who do not live in closely divided battleground states effectively count less. There are logistical issues that are managed at the local level in each election. June 7, 2022 . This advance is referred to as the winner-take-all approach. 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. 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. It would limit the influence of local issues in the election. Disadvantages of the NPV Interstate Compact. 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. PBS: What does voter turnout tell us about the 2016 election. The selection of presidential electors is specifically entrusted to the states by the Constitution. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact is an agreement where states in the compact award all their electoral votes to the winner of the . Electoral college reform proposals include (1) the district plan, awarding each state's two at-large electoral votes to the statewide popular vote winners, and one electoral vote to the winning candidates in each congressional district; (2) the proportional plan, awarding electoral votes in states in direct proportion to the popular vote gained evergreen funeral home live stream. National Popular Vote compact pros and cons. Just another site cons of the national popular vote plan . Louisiana voters should decide who receives Louisiana's electoral votes. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz often split about 60% of the GOP vote, which allowed Donald Trump to win early primaries with 35% of the vote. But don't forget, Bush won the popular vote four years later by three million votes. 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. Bosque de Palabras cons of the national popular vote plansuper lemon haze greenhouse. With a popular vote in place, each election win would be decreed a mandate to follow the platform of the winning party. "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. on Advantages and Disadvantages of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, Follow All U.S. Citizens Should Vote. This brings us to 196 of the 270 electoral votes needed to activate the pact. 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. 1. The candidate who placed second in the popular vote was elected in 2016, 2000, 1888, 1876, and 1824. 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). The NPVIC is an agreement among states designed to guarantee election of the presidential candidate who wins the most popular votes in the 50 states and Washington, D.C. NPV is grounded in two powers delegated to states by the Constitution: the power to design rules for awarding their electoral votes and the power to enter into interstate Under the current structure of presidential elections in the U.S., the states become a battleground of red states vs. blue states. Under the electoral college system, the candidates which receive the most votes in each state (or district) receive its assigned electoral votes. That means every state is allowed a minimum of 3 electoral votes. 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. 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 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. The National Popular Vote bill will take effect when enacted into law by states possessing 270 electoral votes a majority of the current 538 electoral votes. When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. A plan to enact the National Popular Vote was introduced in the Michigan Legislature on Wednesday. Over the years, the National Popular Vote bill has been introduced in the legislatures of all 50 states. 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 And thats not how it should be in a democracy. 9. (LogOut/ 1. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. 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. cons of the national popular vote planchicago religious demographics. The Pros and Cons of the Electoral College - SmartAsset The electoral college is a tradition of American politics that's fairly controversial. In the U.S., that means people who lean Democratic live in urban areas, while people who lean Republican live in rural areas. Home| Government| Elections| Electoral College| Electoral College Pros And Cons. 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. It gives more voting power to individual voters in smaller states. Many Americans are confused about how a win is obtained under these conditions and are on a quest to change this traditional statute. It would eliminate the threat of a faithless elector. Under the plan, Michigan's 15 Electoral . To take effect, the National Popular Vote bill must be enacted by the state legislatures of states controlling a total of 270 electoral votes - a majority of the overall 538 electoral votes and the number currently required to elect a president. The cost of a presidential election in the United States is already several billion dollars. 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. It would reduce diversity in the election structures. 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. 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. Under the Electoral College system, voters in states that are overwhelmingly in support of one candidate might feel like their vote is unimportant. 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 issue raised by the National Popular Vote campaign is fundamental: What kind of a democracy should America be? Definition and Examples, Learn How Many Total Electoral Votes There Are. 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. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. Secondly, it creates a minimalist depiction in the minds of the candidate towards more than 40 states. 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. The National Popular Vote Bill is not a Democrat or Republican bill. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. 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. 4. Others may struggle to meet higher than expected voter turnout levels. Without any sort of broad support, the politics of the country could become even more fractured than they already are. 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. It awards all the bonus votes to the winner of the popular vote. Currently, candidates focus more on swing and battleground states to help them gain those electoral votes. HuffPost's top politics stories, straight to your inbox. 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). Definition and Examples. But NPV could force our electors to disregard the wishes of the . Due to some states being heavily populated in comparison to others, that may help a candidate quickly obtain a win. What would happen during a switch to the popular vote would be unknown. However, some critics argue that the advantages of a direct popular election including reflecting democratic principals, outweigh the disadvantages. It has been enacted into law in 11 states with 165 electoral votes, and will take effect when enacted by states with 105 more. Imagine a scenario where a presidential candidate focuses on Los Angeles, New York City, Portland, OR and Seattle. During the 2012 elections, 38 states, also known as spectator states, were ignored and forgotten. 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. Here is the entire text of the proposed "Agreement Among the States to Elect the President by National Popular Vote." Tweet Email this More on The Electoral College: Honorable Steve Cohen The NPV Interstate Compact does not eliminate the very complicated Electoral College system that most voters dont really understand. 41 States (with 80% of U.S. population) will be Ignored in the 2024 Presidential Election. In theory that could happen every four years. 805 15th Street, NW, Suite 800 A popular vote system would significantly impact voters and turnout. The Electoral College system, however imperfect, serves this broader view of democracy. Many of these states dont participate in campaign visits or get televised ads. You can use essay samples to find ideas and inspiration for your paper. However, Hilary Clinton won 2.6 million more popular votes nationwide than Donald Trump. It would be a national mandate to put someone in office, even if that winning candidate received less than 50% of the vote. Do you have information you want to share with HuffPost. 7. Longley, Robert. A close election would trigger the need for a full recount. That's almost 1.5 billion . Some critics argue that more people would vote in a direct popular election, according to the University of the Pacific. 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. 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. Hillary Clinton, but won the electoral vote to become the 45thPresident of the United States. At the moment, 98 more electoral votes are needed to pass this bill in all 50 states (National Conference of State Legislators). 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. And that would lead to chaos in how political parties campaign for president and could also undermine the legitimacy of the process. 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. Also the NPV Compact allows states to withdraw from the compact as late as four months before an election. Bush and Al Gore (Black). Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. 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). To determine the National Popular Vote winner, state election officials simply would tally the nationwide vote for president based on each states official results. The Supreme Court has said in local and state elections voting should be based on the principle of one person one vote. 4. 2. However, in the popular vote, Trump only received 62,984,825 votes against Hillary Clinton's 65,853,516 popular votes. This blog post is a joint effort with Leslie Francis, former executive director of the Democratic National Committee and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Surprisingly enough, the National Popular Vote bill could possibly bring forth some problems.