The horror of a potential national recount is only one of the dangers direct presidential elections poses. But with the NPV Compact a change in party control of just one or two states could restore the old system of electing the president and then four years later it could be changed back. It could encourage voter turnout. 1. 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. 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. It would require an Amendment in the U.S. for presidential elections. The appeal of NPV is the simplicity of its message. Currently, the National Popular Vote bill has 172 electoral votes. Definition and Examples, Learn How Many Total Electoral Votes There Are. 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. 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. 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 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. 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. Robert Longley is a U.S. government and history expert with over 30 years of experience in municipal government and urban planning. The candidate who placed second in the popular vote was elected in 2016, 2000, 1888, 1876, and 1824. 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 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. 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. 5. More attention is given to the swing states, such as Florida and Iowa, which causes the third problem the Electoral College can cause. The time to stop its momentum is now. 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. And unlike direct elections, either would provide an incentive for grass-roots activity, coalition building and enhanced citizen participation. 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. It could help to reduce partisanship. Cookie Notice Ken Bickers. 8. OKLAHOMA CITY Oklahomans will head to the polls March 7 to decide if the state will become the 22nd in the country to legalize recreational marijuana for use by anyone 21 and older. A switch to the popular vote would eliminate the concept of a battleground state because the issue would be more on issues than states. Removing this system could encourage more people to come out to support their candidate. Because every vote is equal inside Ohio or Florida, presidential candidates avidly seek out voters in small, medium, and large towns. Should that happen, then the final decision of who gets to serve as President of the United States is taken away from individual voters. cons of the national popular vote plan. This is a situation that has caused controversy in the election years of of 1800, 1876, 1888, 2000 and 2016 when the elected president won the Electoral College and the presidency but did not win the popular vote. 1. Cons of Electoral College. 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. Is the National Popular Vote Plan Constitutional? 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. 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. 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. 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. The electoral requires that an election which does not receive a majority of electoral votes be taken into the U.S. House of Representatives. Politicians would focus on fewer swing states (Bigger states more potential votes) But sometime in the future the popular vote will change back and lean Republican. In countries where the concept of popular votes is in place, every vote has an equal weight regarding the election outcome. Each vote would affect each candidate instead of being overlooked due to which state those votes would be coming from. If this happens many people in the red states will not feel that the change is legitimate even if its legal and technically constitutional. 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. Just 12 Closely Divided Battleground States Got 96% of 2020 Campaign Events. 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." ThoughtCo. A close election would trigger the need for a full recount. This has occurred in 5 of the nation's 56 presidential elections, most recently in 2016. PBS: What does voter turnout tell us about the 2016 election. That's almost 1.5 billion . 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. Security would be improved across the country. 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. However, Hilary Clinton won 2.6 million more popular votes nationwide than Donald Trump. The electoral college encourages a two-party system and rewards candidates who have broad appeal. Instead, each state and Washington D.C. is assigned a certain number of electoral votes based on its population. 5. Or the opposite could be true. Longley, Robert. Either would likely produce an electoral vote count closer to the popular vote. 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? 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. But for those people who feel that changing how we elect the president should only be done by constitutional amendment they will feel that using the NPV Compact will undermine the legitimacy of the process even though its perfectly legal and constitutional. Not only it already happened five times, but in theory, a candidate could win the presidency with only 22% of the popular vote in a two-candidates race. Advantage: Encourages Voter Turnout Proponents of the National Popular Vote fail to understand the most basic facts about the American presidential electoral system. Even though pre-election polls made conspicuous predictions of Hilary Clinton winning the presidency and . Wyoming had just 3 electoral votes, but only had 255,000 voters as well. The National Bonus Plan was proposed by historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. One of the biggest reasons why voters dont vote is because they feel like their vote doesnt count. E pluribus unum -- out of many, one. Candidates get one vote for every congressional district they win, and then two votes for winning the state-wide vote. https://www.thoughtco.com/the-national-popular-vote-plan-3322047 (accessed March 4, 2023). Cookies collect information about your preferences and your devices and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. A direct popular election also ensures that citizens' votes have equal weight. 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 . However, some critics argue that the advantages of a direct popular election including reflecting democratic principals, outweigh the disadvantages. cons of the national popular vote plan. 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). 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. Our state will likely vote overwhelmingly for the Republican challenger to Barack Obama in November. How the National Popular Vote Plan Would Work. A candidate may not have to concentrate anymore, but they may have to move their attention to states such as Texas, New York, California, and Alaska. Thats the way it has been in this country for a long time. Start and finish your paper with ease. With the polarization in global politics today, especially in the United States, a switch to the popular vote would likely increase costs even further. Because of the winner-take-all rule, a candidate can be elected president without winning the most popular votes nationwide. However, a popular vote system, although hard to implement, is a more purely democratic system than the Electoral College. There would be fewer opportunities to illegally alter the results of an election. 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. An individuals vote doesnt make a difference when it is counted against the votes of the delegates in the House of Representatives and Senate. This has occurred in only four of the 58 presidential . Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Thats a bank of about 14 million potential voters that reliably vote as a majority for Democratic candidates. While we look further into the National Popular Vote, lets investigate some of its pro and cons for the American democracy. Dont know what Ranked Choice Voting is? 48 Vitosha Boulevard, ground floor, 1000, Sofia, Bulgaria, Samploon, Inc. 2022. 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. 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. HuffPost's top politics stories, straight to your inbox. 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. Under the current structure of the electoral college, the focus of a presidential campaign is on the so-called battleground states. The Constitution specifically leaves details like how the electoral votes are cast up to the states. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. 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. Currently, 48 of the 50 states follow the winner-take-all rule. The years-old effort is slowly making its way through state legislatures in hopes of changing the way The first advantage allows for electoral votes to be fairer than the Electoral College (Richards). Probably the NPV Compact would be enacted into law with as little as a simple majority of the states and possibly even less. Though the original, some would say highly undemocratic, purpose. 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. People are moving to live in like-minded communities more than ever before. That would give the Compact states only 3 days( and two of those days were weekend days) to certify their state votes. The Electoral College distorts presidential campaigns . It would eliminate the threat of a faithless elector. Under the Electoral College system, voters in states that are overwhelmingly in support of one candidate might feel like their vote is unimportant. But the national popular vote plan doesn't require a . Proportional Plan This was the intent of the Founding Fathers. The winner would receive all of the compact states electoral votes, giving them at least the necessary 270 to win the White House. The Electoral College was established in the Constitution to protect minority interests and mitigate the possibility of a regional candidate. There are alternatives to winner-take-all that do not involve abandoning the positive aspects of the Electoral College. Others may struggle to meet higher than expected voter turnout levels. 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 National Bonus Plan maintains the Electoral College voting system but adds 102 bonus electoral votes to the existing 538 votes. 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. 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. It is our national motto and is so for a reason. A simple change in the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact could fix the flaw and still provide the benefits of a popular election. 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. It awards all the bonus votes to the winner of the popular vote. Thats how politics works in America. At the moment, 98 more electoral votes are needed to pass this bill in all 50 states (National Conference of State Legislators). However, many people believe that a direct popular election is more democratic and fair than the Electoral College. The Electoral College system, however imperfect, serves this broader view of democracy. Using the NPV system means that every vote counts the same. Bush and Al Gore (Black). 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. Heres how. More people live in urban regions, which means they would have a constant sway over the election. For the 7 presidential elections between 1992-2016, the Republican candidate has won the Electoral college 3 times. 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. During the 2012 elections, 38 states, also known as spectator states, were ignored and forgotten. . Common Cause 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. A candidate can win the popular vote in enough states to win a majority of electoral votes but still lose the popular vote nationally. Change). 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. In theory that could happen every four years. June 7, 2022 . what connection type is known as "always on"? Lastly, the biggest problem that the Electoral College produces is the reality that a persons vote really doesnt matter (Black). mike matarazzo last photo. on WordPress.com. A plan to enact the National Popular Vote was introduced in the Michigan Legislature on Wednesday. The use of the Electoral College has been the only approach the U.S. has used to gain a President, but this way has generated numerous issues. The Electoral College is made up of 538 electors and a majority of 270 electoral votes is mandatory to nominate the President. 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.. Rural voters would almost always be in the minority. In the 2016 election, only 58 percent of eligible voters went to the polls. Although the 20th Amendment to the Constitution provides clarity to this situation, that process is based on the electoral college. 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. 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.