In the U.S., 65 percent of adults think whoever wins the popular vote should hold the nation's highest office, according to an Atlantic/PRRI poll last year. [3] [4] [5] [6], At least 700 amendments have been proposed to modify or abolish the Electoral College. Log in Sign up. The Electoral College comprises 538 electors; each state is allowed one elector for each Representative and Senator (DC is allowed 3 electors as established by the Twenty-Third Amendment). This is because Wyoming has three (3) electoral votes for a population of 532,668 citizens (as of 2008 Census Bureau estimates) and Texas has thirty-two (32) electoral votes for a population of almost 25 million. That, critics say, means devaluing the votes of many non-white voters too. So it's possible for a candidate to win more votes overall across the country than a rival but not be inaugurated because of insufficient support from the Electoral College: a scenario that has occurred twice in the past two decades. Illegal Immigration – What Are the Solutions to Illegal Immigration in America? The electors from nearly half of the states can vote however they wish, regardless of the popular will of the state. As an example, Democratic candidates have little incentive to spend time in solidly Republican states, like Texas, even if many Democrats live there. [7] [4] [16], Just as several voting laws that limited direct democracy in the Constitution have been modified or discarded throughout history, so should the Electoral College. Therefore, electors can decline to cast their vote for a specific candidate (the one that wins the popular vote of their state), either voting for an alternative candidate, or abstaining completely. 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren calls for abolishing the Electoral College and moving to a national popular vote: “Every vote matters” #WarrenTownHall https://t.co/pPFMVywETf pic.twitter.com/yy0J0HgAjc. The difference between these two states of 537,943 is the largest in the Electoral College. Many constitutional scholars agree that electors remain free agents despite state laws and that, if challenged, such laws would be ruled unconstitutional. [11] The existence of the Electoral College precluded calls for recounts or demands for run-off elections. Match. Today the pact has the support of states — and Washington D.C. — that total 181 electoral votes, largely those that have gone for Democrats in recent years. That might invite legal challenges from candidates or voters' groups if it took place. vanee_saa. Accessed October 9, 2020. https://www.procon.org/headlines/the-electoral-college-top-3-pros-and-cons/. Even in the states that do have control, often the punishment or repercussion is slim or nothing (some states issue only minimal fines as punishment), although some states instigate criminal charges ranging from a simple misdemeanor to a fourth degree felony. [14] In 227 years, the winner of the popular vote has lost the electoral vote only five times. However, these violators often only face being charged with a misdemeanor or a small fine, usually $1,000. Could Washington administer a national recount in the event of a close result? The Electoral College: Top 3 Pros and Cons. Gronke notes, however, that there would be major administrative challenges if the U.S. ever got to the point of switching to a national popular vote. The founders feared uneducated public opinion and designed the Electoral College as a layer of insulation from the direct voice of the masses. As a result of Constitutional amendments, women and former slaves were given the right to vote, and Senators, once appointed by state legislatures, are now elected directly by popular vote. In every one of the elections, more than half of the voters voted against the candidate who was elected. Mandatory National Service – Should the United States Have Mandatory National Service? Former Rep. Beto O'Rourke said there is a "lot of wisdom" in the idea and Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., also said she's open to it. 14, 1788, Marc Schulman, "Why the Electoral College," historycentral.com (accessed Nov. 18, 2016), Melissa Kelly, "Why Did the Founding Fathers Create Electors?," 712educators.about.com, Jan. 28, 2016, Hans A. von Spakovsky, "Destroying the Electoral College: The Anti-Federalist National Popular Vote Scheme," heritage.org, Oct. 27, 2011, Richard A. Posner, "In Defense of the Electoral College," slate.com, Nov. 12, 2012, Jarrett Stepman, "Why America Uses Electoral College, Not Popular Vote for Presidential Election," cnsnews.com, Nov. 7, 2016, Gary Gregg, "Electoral College Keeps Elections Fair," politico.com, Dec. 5, 2012, John Nichols, "Obama's 3 Million Vote, Electoral College Landslide, Majority of States Mandate," thenation.com, Nov. 9, 2012, Joe Miller, "The Reason for the Electoral College," factcheck.org, Feb. 11, 2008, William C. Kimberling, "The Manner of Choosing Electors," uselectionatlas.org (accessed Nov. 18, 2016), Sanford V. Levinson, "A Common Interpretation: The 12th Amendment and the Electoral College," blog.constitutioncenter.org, Nov. 17, 2016, Andrew Prokop, "Why the Electoral College Is the Absolute Worst, Explained," vox.com, Nov. 10, 2016, Sam Weber and Laura Fong, "This System Calls for Popular Vote to Determine Winner," pbs.org, Nov. 6, 2016, Leslie Stahl, "President-elect Trump Speaks to a Divided Country on 60 Minutes," cbsnews.com, Nov. 13, 2016, Lisa Lerer, "Clinton Wins Popular Vote by Nearly 2.9 Million,” elections.ap.org, Dec. 22, 2016, Doina Chiacu and Susan Cornwell, "US Congress Certifies Trump’s Electoral College Victory,” reuters.com, Jan. 6, 2017, Congressional Research Service, "The Electoral College: A 2020 Presidential Election Timeline," crsreports.congress.gov, Sep. 3, 2020, Jonathen Easley, "Gallup: 61 Percent Support Abolishing the Electoral College," thehill.com, Sep. 24, 2020, Fair Vote, "Past Attempts at Reform," fairvote.org (accessed Oct. 1, 2020). Andrew Jackson and Samuel Tilden won the popular vote in 1824 and 1876 respectively, only to see someone else walk into the White House. [2] This proves the system is working. The Electoral College gives disproportionate voting power to states, favoring the smaller states with more electoral votes per person. The debate over the continued use of the Electoral College resurfaced during the 2016 presidential election, when Donald Trump lost the general election to Hillary Clinton by over 2.8 million votes and won the Electoral College by 74 votes. Of those visits, nearly two-thirds took place in the four battlegrounds with the most electoral votes — Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and North Carolina.” [19], There are over 300 million people in the United States, but just 538 people decide who will be president. Write. How and why? "And places where there are more people become more important when you're counting votes.". Animal Testing – Should Animals Be Used for Scientific or Commercial Testing? Without the electoral college, groups such as Iowa farmers and Ohio factory workers would be ignored in favor of pandering to metropolitan areas with higher population densities, leaving rural areas and small towns marginalized. Start studying Electoral college. Indeed, when it comes down to it, electors are ultimately free to vote for whom they prersonally prefer, despite the general public's desire. Smaller States & the entire Midwest would end up losing all power - & we can’t let that happen. "The game will not be any longer to be a [politician who is] liberal but be able to appeal to a rural Ohioan," he said. This inconsistency allows for discrepancies in our electoral system. PLAY . Support of that magnitude has become rare for anything in a sharply divided United States. "Precisely what it does is proportionately advantages where the people are," Levy said. [2], The Electoral College was established in 1788 by Article II of the US Constitution, which also established the executive branch of the US government, and was revised by the Twelfth Amendment (ratified June 15, 1804), the Fourteenth Amendment (ratified July 1868), and the Twenty-Third Amendment (ratified Mar. Conversely, Republican candidates have little incentive to campaign in solidly Democratic states, like Massachusetts, especially when they know that states like Florida and Michigan are toss-ups. The compact would only go into effect once the number of states involved surpasses the 270 Electoral College vote threshold that is required to win the presidency. "There's no realistic chance of a Constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College," said Jacob Levy, a professor of political theory at McGill University. [23] A Sep. 2020 Gallup poll found 61% of Americans were in favor of abolishing the Electoral College, up 12 points from 2016. If the election depended solely on the popular vote, then candidates could limit campaigning to heavily-populated areas or specific regions. Gronke asks. Electoral college. The states with legal control over their electors are the following 29 and D.C.: Most of these state laws generally assert that an elector shall cast his or her vote for the candidates who won a majority of the state's popular vote or for the candidate of the party that nominated the elector. Advocates of the system say that this uneven power forces politicians to pay attention to smaller states, which would otherwise be ignored. Beto O'Rourke Announces His Run For President In 2020, Moderate Democrats Under Pressure As Party's Left Grabs Attention. Proper citation depends on your preferred or required style manual. [21] [22], For the 2020 election, electors are scheduled to meet and vote on Dec. 14, and deliver the results on Dec. 23. [25], On Monday Dec. 19, 2016, the electors in each state met to vote for President and Vice President of the United States. The winner-take-all rule also leads to lower voter turnout in states where one party is dominant, because each individual vote will be overwhelmed by the majority and will not, in effect, "count" if the winner takes all the electoral votes. The politicians are tapping into what's become a popular position with many voters, especially Democrats.

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