cons of the national popular vote plan

It's time to abolish the Electoral College - Brookings A candidate could be elected without the popular vote. It would be a national mandate to put someone in office, even if that winning candidate received less than 50% of the vote. Inicio; Nota Biografica; Obra; Blogs. Electoral College Pros and Cons - ThoughtCo National Popular Vote - Pros and Cons : r/NeutralPolitics - reddit 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. Since the Constitution and the Bill of Rights became governing documents in the United States, there have only been 17 amendments made to it. 4. Popular vote better than Electoral College, Stanford scholars say and our In the 2016 election, only 58 percent of eligible voters went to the polls. 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 Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Cookie Notice But we're closer to that than you might think 15 states and the District of Columbia have already signed on, providing 196 electoral votes of the needed 270. A majority of 270 electoral votes is required to elect the president. For under its plan, the next time the U.S. has very close national vote, a recount would not be of six million votes in one state but of more than 130 million votes in all states and the District of Columbia, all with their own rules for conducting a recount. Richard F. Potthoff looks critically at a proposed alternative way of electing the US president, the National Popular Vote plan, where all states in an interstate compact which cover 270 or more electoral votes would cast their electoral votes for the candidate who won the nationwide vote, no matter who wins their state. 2. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. That structure makes it easier for extremist views to find official representation. 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.. E pluribus unum -- out of many, one. 18 Pros and Cons of Popular Vote - Vittana.org The National Popular Vote Bill is not a Democrat or Republican bill. Yes. The first problem it creates is the opportunity for the loser of the popular vote to win the electoral vote. Inkwell | Everything You Need to Know About the National Popular Vote All other elections in the U.S. are through the popular vote. Disadvantages of the NPV Interstate Compact. As a result, the bill will take effect when enacted by states possessing an additional 74 electoral votes. National Popular Vote Analyzes how william c. kimberling, the deputy director of the federal election commission, is a credible author over the issue. In a direct popular election, a candidate could theoretically win without having broad support throughout the country. 2. Heres how. However, many people believe that a direct popular election is more democratic and fair than the Electoral College. 1. national popular vote plan pros and cons - shipoom.com And that would lead to chaos in how political parties campaign for president and could also undermine the legitimacy of the process. 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. 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. Pros and cons of district elections | Columnists | smdailyjournal.com The states' approval of the compact is a victory for democracy and the principle of "one person, one vote." When a popular vote is held for a national office, the election becomes more about platform issues than local issues. However, Hilary Clinton won 2.6 million more popular votes nationwide than Donald Trump. 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. 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. This type of system would give the individual voter a much more significant influence. 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. April 8, 2016 National popular vote far better than Electoral College system for choosing presidents, Stanford professors say. 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. If a popular vote were allowed to declare a winner instead, it wouldnt be through a state-by-state counting of electoral votes. As of December 2020, the National Popular Vote bill has been adopted by 15 states and the District of Columbia, controlling 196 electoral votes: CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, HI, IL, MA, MD, NJ, NM, NY, OR, RI, VT, and WA. Here are the essential pros and cons of popular vote elections to examine. In theory that could happen every four years. A close election would trigger the need for a full recount. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. 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. 5. Either would provide a reason for both parties to compete in most states because there would be electors to win. America is known to have the costliest, prolonged, and complicated structure when electing a head of state. Actually the NPV Compact doesnt change one word in he Constitution and in fact only changes state laws. Over the long run the countrys popular vote in presidential elections has roughly been equally split between Republican and Democratic.*. "The National Popular Vote bill would guarantee the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in the entire U.S. They have only won the popular vote once. 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. This brings us to 196 of the 270 electoral votes needed to activate the pact. 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. The Electoral College Vs. Popular Vote - 1203 Words | 123 Help Me 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. 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. District Plan CONS Technically still possible, but A LOT hard to do so District 1 = Romney 57% District 2 = Romney 52% District 3 = Romney 70% Gerrymandering. Activating the National Popular Vote compact would reshape our . How about receiving a customized one? Others may struggle to meet higher than expected voter turnout levels. There are logistical issues that are managed at the local level in each election. Robert Longley is a U.S. government and history expert with over 30 years of experience in municipal government and urban planning. However, a popular vote system, although hard to implement, is a more purely democratic system than the Electoral College. The horror of a potential national recount is only one of the dangers direct presidential elections poses. 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. Ken Bickers. 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. National Popular Vote Movement - Common Cause | Get Involved The National Popular Vote plan does not do away with the Electoral College system, an action that would require a constitutional amendment. 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. A Critique of the National Popular Vote October 13, 2008 Policy Analysis No. Without any sort of broad support, the politics of the country could become even more fractured than they already are. The National Popular Vote: Misusing an Interstate Compact to Bypass the Colorado is on the verge of joining a nationwide movement that could eventually change how we choose the next president of the United States. It is our national motto and is so for a reason. That view of democracy recognizes the existence and desirability of organized interests and enshrines that principle under the concept of pluralism. 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. Secondly, it creates a minimalist depiction in the minds of the candidate towards more than 40 states. List of the Cons of Using the Popular Vote 1. 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. All other votes cast for that candidate are therefore superfluous. It could encourage voter turnout. . 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. The National Popular Vote proposal is doomed if even only - LSE Blogs 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). A plan to enact the National Popular Vote was introduced in the Michigan Legislature on Wednesday. This has occurred in only four of the 58 presidential . 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. Longley, Robert. There are a number of pros for this method. 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. With a popular vote in place, each election win would be decreed a mandate to follow the platform of the winning party. 15 states and Washington, D.C. have joined the National Popular Vote compact. on Advantages and Disadvantages of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, Follow All U.S. Citizens Should Vote. Rebekah Richards is a professional writer with work published in the "Atlanta Journal-Constitution," "Brandeis University Law Journal" and online at tolerance.org. every decade states are redistricted could be redrawn to capture house seats and corrupt the Presidential election 4. Though the original, some would say highly undemocratic, purpose. 622 By John Samples The National Popular Vote plan (NPV), introduced in more than 40 states, and adopted. 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. The popular vote currently gives every citizenCalifornians and Texans, Hawaiians and Mainers, Alabamans and Oregoniansan equal say in choosing the president. The discussion around using the popular vote for elections has increased since the results of the 2016 election. The Constitution specifically leaves details like how the electoral votes are cast up to the states. That principle should be expanded to presidential elections. There are alternatives to winner-take-all that do not involve abandoning the positive aspects of the Electoral College. Even the minority party wouldnt be encouraged to negotiate because they could simply stall until the next election. Rural voters would almost always be in the minority. The candidate who placed second in the popular vote was elected in 2016, 2000, 1888, 1876, and 1824.