I will explain that in another blog post. Their answer is simple: one in which every citizen's vote is equal to every other citizen's vote and one in which the winner of the presidential popular vote, no matter how small his or her percentage is of those who voted, would be elected. Advantages of the NPV Interstate Compact 1. It is perhaps the most simplistic form of an election. 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. That would increase the amount of polarization being experienced in politics today because there would be less of a need to compromise. 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. When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. 1. Learn more about how the National Popular Vote compact works and the ways it could make our elections better for everyone. That means the cost of counting all the votes would be duplicated. To determine the National Popular Vote winner, state election officials simply would tally the nationwide vote for president based on each states official results. If a popular vote were allowed to declare a winner instead, it wouldnt be through a state-by-state counting of electoral votes. Maine and Nebraska are the only two states that are not affected by this approach. 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. 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 8. That effectively means that votes in the the 75% of the country that are in swing states effectively dont count at all. cons of the national popular vote plan. It has been enacted into law in 11 states with 165 electoral votes, and will take effect when enacted by states with 105 more. Louisiana voters should decide who receives Louisiana's electoral votes. This advance is referred to as the winner-take-all approach. 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. This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Actually the NPV Compact doesnt change one word in he Constitution and in fact only changes state laws. In U.S. history, there has been one vice-presidential candidate who died after being nominated and one that withdrew from their partys ticket. It is not at all clear that it would similarly prosper under the direct election regime being pushed by NPV. 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. ashburnham school committee; its his baby now political cartoon meaning; softstar primal sawyer 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. ThoughtCo, Dec. 16, 2020, thoughtco.com/the-national-popular-vote-plan-3322047. The Electoral College distorts presidential campaigns . Under the system of proportional representation, any party with a high enough percentage of the vote will receive a seat in the government. 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. 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. In 2016, Gary Johnson received 4.48 million votes and 0 electoral votes, but the potential is always there for this to happen. Mayors, governors, and senators are all elected by a simple majority. "The National Popular Vote Plan." It would reduce the influence of third parties on the U.S. presidential election. A Critique of the National Popular Vote October 13, 2008 Policy Analysis No. The cost of a presidential election in the United States is already several billion dollars. 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. 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). When the Constitution was set in place in 1789, the U.S. elected its first president. Where the National Popular Vote Plan Stands. 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. Because of the state Winner-Take-All rules, which arent even part of the Constitution, they can lead to presidential elections where the winner of the election doesnt have the most popular votes. 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. However, Hilary Clinton won 2.6 million more popular votes nationwide than Donald Trump. 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. 1. Going to the popular vote would eliminate this issue altogether. Under the current structure of presidential elections in the U.S., the states become a battleground of red states vs. blue states. Past Event: The League of Women Voters of Berrien and Cass Counties has announced plans to broadcast a webinar discussing the National Popular Vote (NPV) on Monday, Feb. 27 at 7:00 p.m. National Popular Vote has been leading the campaign to fix the electoral college and elect the president by national popular vote since its founding in 2006 . Published: Mar. 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 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. It has been enacted into law in 11 states with 165 electoral votes, and will take effect when enacted by states with 105 more. 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. If that was to take place, America could potentially face the same issues it is facing now. In Maine, both houses of the legislature passed the bill in 2019, but it failed at the final enactment step. The National Popular Vote initiative transpired in 2006. 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). Under the electoral college system, the candidates which receive the most votes in each state (or district) receive its assigned 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. Many of these states dont participate in campaign visits or get televised ads. After the process, the President of the Senate reveals who has officially been voted in as President and Vice President of the United 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. A popular vote election would bring the presidential election in line with the rest of the election structures. 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. 2. 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. 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. Pros & Cons of a National Popular Vote Buy Complete Issue $19.95 Login or Subscribe The National Popular Vote How would the interstate compact work? 15 states and Washington, D.C. have joined the National Popular Vote compact. Others may struggle to meet higher than expected voter turnout levels. First it would be relatively easy to implement. (2020, December 16). Since the Constitution and the Bill of Rights became governing documents in the United States, there have only been 17 amendments made to it. The first problem it creates is the opportunity for the loser of the popular vote to win the electoral vote. 805 15th Street, NW, Suite 800 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. But the national popular vote plan doesn't require a . 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. Heres how. 48 Vitosha Boulevard, ground floor, 1000, Sofia, Bulgaria, Samploon, Inc. 2022. April 8, 2016 National popular vote far better than Electoral College system for choosing presidents, Stanford professors say. 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. When you cast your ballot, you're not actually voting directly for your favored presidential candidate. Moving to the popular vote structure would eliminate this potential issue. Privacy Policy. The states' approval of the compact is a victory for democracy and the principle of "one person, one vote." Proportional Plan 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. A candidate could be elected without the popular vote. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. 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. 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. Like most issues involving politics, the U.S. Constitution is largely silent on the political issues of presidential elections. But NPV could force our electors to disregard the wishes of the . It could help to reduce partisanship. The second advantage is that the all votes would be equally weighed (Richards). Colorado is on the verge of joining a nationwide movement that could eventually change how we choose the next president of the United States. 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. With a popular vote in place, each election win would be decreed a mandate to follow the platform of the winning party. 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.. Bush and Al Gore (Black). All other votes cast for that candidate are therefore superfluous. NPV is more than a third of the way to its goal. 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. 9. And thats not how it should be in a democracy. Without any sort of broad support, the politics of the country could become even more fractured than they already are. On Dec. 22, 2016, the results were certified in all 50 states. "The National Popular Vote bill would guarantee the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in the entire U.S. The cost of a presidential election in the United States is already several billion dollars. 1. It gives more voting power to individual voters in smaller 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. She graduated magna cum laude from Brandeis University with bachelor's degrees in creative writing, English/American literature and international studies. This National Popular Vote Compact wouldn't take effect until states with 270 electors a majority joined in. 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. In countries where the concept of popular votes is in place, every vote has an equal weight regarding the election outcome. 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. Watch out! State Question 820 lays out a statutory framework for a recreational industry that would begin about 90 days after election results are certified. 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. List of the Cons of Using the Popular Vote 1. There are pros and cons to both systems. 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. Proponents of the National Popular Vote fail to understand the most basic facts about the American presidential electoral system. The framers enacted the provisions relating to the Electoral College to allow for state innovation. 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. Menu burger Close thin Facebook Twitter Google plus Linked in Reddit Email arrow-right-sm arrow-right Loading Home Buying Calculators For example, if a candidate was very popular in New York City, Los Angeles and other large cities, she might not need to earn votes from other areas of the country. After all, the Electoral College makes it possible that a candidate who wins the majority of the votes could still lose the election. The danger of NPV is that it will undermine the complex and vital underpinnings of American democracy. 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. Lawmakers discuss plan to enact National Popular Vote in Michigan. 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. That structure makes it easier for extremist views to find official representation. At the moment, 98 more electoral votes are needed to pass this bill in all 50 states (National Conference of State Legislators). With the polarization in global politics today, especially in the United States, a switch to the popular vote would likely increase costs even further. A popular vote system would significantly impact voters and turnout. 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. Wyoming had just 3 electoral votes, but only had 255,000 voters as well. 7. Start and finish your paper with ease. That, in turn, would likely diminish voter turnout. 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. It isnt impossible to pass a Constitutional amendment, though history shows that it is not an easy process to complete. 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. There would be fewer opportunities to illegally alter the results of an election. what connection type is known as "always on"? That offers the possibility that someone unwilling or unable to hold the office could be elected. Removing this system could encourage more people to come out to support their candidate. These are the states that may go to either major party candidate in the election. 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.. 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. 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. Cons of Electoral College. It would limit the influence of local issues in the election. It seeks to be a bulwark against mass hysteria and the hysteria created by mass media. More people live in urban regions, which means they would have a constant sway over the election. every decade states are redistricted could be redrawn to capture house seats and corrupt the Presidential election 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. . Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. Even though we will be able to elect the president by national popular vote using the The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, eventually the rules for how we elect the president should be an official part of the Constitution. Politicians would focus on fewer swing states (Bigger states more potential votes) 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). 6. The states that join the NPV Compact will not be able to certify their Electoral College Votes until all 50 states and DC certify their state popular votes and any mandated/requested recounts since the Compact state ECVs are dependent on the winner of the national popular vote and not just their own state popular votes. A close election would trigger the need for a full recount. Although moving to a popular vote election would balance the weight of each vote, it would also create more sway in larger population states. For the 7 presidential elections between 1992-2016, the Republican candidate has won the Electoral college 3 times. 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. 3. Opines that the national popular vote plan is the wrong way to abolith the electoral college. The one-vote approach does not align with the way the electoral votes operates. 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. 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. This feature is critical to the passionate bipartisan support the compact receives. Resource allocation would be focused on paid advertising, which would negate the need for grassroots activities. The issue raised by the National Popular Vote campaign is fundamental: What kind of a democracy should America be? However, some critics argue that the advantages of a direct popular election including reflecting democratic principals, outweigh the disadvantages. The National Bonus Plan was proposed by historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. It happened once, in 1876. As of July 2020, a National Popular Vote bill has been signed into law in 16 states controlling a total of 196 electoral votes, including 4 small states, 8 medium-sized states, 3 big states (California, Illinois, and New York), and the District of Columbia. The National Popular Vote plan does not do away with the Electoral College system, an action that would require a constitutional amendment. A candidate can win the popular vote in enough states to win a majority of electoral votes but still lose the popular vote nationally. Instead of a direct popular election, the United States has the Electoral College, a group of electors who represent each state's votes. cons of the national popular vote planchicago religious demographics. 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. That is hardly a mandate for governing, though it would be taken as such. You can find out more about our use, change your default settings, and withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future by visiting Cookies Settings, which can also be found in the footer of the site. Regional candidates could secure enough votes to win a national 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. Some areas may bend the rules of an election by extending voting hours illegally. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. What would happen during a switch to the popular vote would be unknown. National Popular Vote compact pros and cons. 7. 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. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. 5. In the 2016 election, "swing states" that might vote Republican or Democrat like Wisconsin were targets of candidates Donald J. Trump and Hillary R. Clinton. That means some voters, like Republicans in California or Democrats in Mississippi, are voting without power and without attention from their preferred candidates each year. Today, the fact that Nebraska and Maine do not use the winner-take-all system serves as proof that modifying the Electoral College system, as proposed by the National Popular Vote plan is constitutional and does not require a constitutional amendment. Nevada passed the legislation in 2019, but Gov. When a popular vote is held for a national office, the election becomes more about platform issues than local issues. It sees a healthy and vibrant democracy needing the underpinnings of civil society that rests on the sustained and active engagement of the citizenry and promotes approaches that seek to maximize that involvement. 1, 2023 at 1:16 PM PST. 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. Security would be improved across the country. Thats a bank of about 14 million potential voters that reliably vote as a majority for Democratic candidates. The pros and cons of the popular vote structure of an election allow for the majority to have their say in who they wish to serve. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. All in all, the Electoral College causes many problems that seem unfair to American voters during such an important election. 2023 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved. Because every vote is equal inside Ohio or Florida, presidential candidates avidly seek out voters in small, medium, and large towns. And that would undermine the legitimacy of the NPV among those people. For more information, please see our Analyzes how william c. kimberling, the deputy director of the federal election commission, is a credible author over the issue. 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. Rural voters would almost always be in the minority. 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. 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. Over the years, the National Popular Vote bill has been introduced in the legislatures of all 50 states. A popular vote election takes all ballots that are cast, counts them, and declares the winner based on who received the most votes. Even if states impose fines on faithless electors for their actions, it is not a guarantee that the behavior will stop. (2021, Jun 14). Their vote only counts at the local level, not the national level, because of the electoral votes. 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. 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.
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