Even the minority party wouldnt be encouraged to negotiate because they could simply stall until the next election. A candidate can win the popular vote in enough states to win a majority of electoral votes but still lose the popular vote nationally. 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. 9. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact is an agreement where states in the compact award all their electoral votes to the winner of the . Many Americans are confused about how a win is obtained under these conditions and are on a quest to change this traditional statute. The horror of a potential national recount is only one of the dangers direct presidential elections poses. 8. 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 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. 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. 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. 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 Or the opposite could be true. Like most issues involving politics, the U.S. Constitution is largely silent on the political issues of presidential elections. A simple change in the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact could fix the flaw and still provide the benefits of a popular election. 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. Steve Sisolak vetoed it. Cookie Notice Lastly, the biggest problem that the Electoral College produces is the reality that a persons vote really doesnt matter (Black). (LogOut/ In contrast, in a direct popular election, each vote matters equally. Learn more about how the National Popular Vote compact works and the ways it could make our elections better for everyone. First it would be relatively easy to implement. They have only won the popular vote once. 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. National Popular Vote values rural and urban voters equally. Some areas may bend the rules of an election by extending voting hours illegally. The popular vote currently gives every citizenCalifornians and Texans, Hawaiians and Mainers, Alabamans and Oregoniansan equal say in choosing the president. It has its pros and cons though, many of which critics debate over. That means a candidate who receives a majority of their votes in a high-delegate state, such as California, could make a dramatic impact on the rest of the election. 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. It is not even a liberal or conservative bill. The time to stop its momentum is now. Is this a solution to first past the post or is it merely reinforcing our current two party system? 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. Currently, the National Popular Vote bill has 172 electoral votes. The danger of NPV is that it will undermine the complex and vital underpinnings of American democracy. Dont know what Ranked Choice Voting is? Post author: Post published: June 29, 2022 Post category: Uncategorized Post comments: paris apartment eiffel tower view for sale paris apartment eiffel tower view for sale A candidate could be elected without the popular vote. 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. 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. This feature is critical to the passionate bipartisan support the compact receives. 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. This brings us to 196 of the 270 (73%) electoral votes needed to activate the pact just 74 votes away. After the process, the President of the Senate reveals who has officially been voted in as President and Vice President of the United States. 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. 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. Instead, each state and Washington D.C. is assigned a certain number of electoral votes based on its population. . Under the electoral college system, if a state consistently pulls as leaning to one party, someone who supports the other party may not vote because they feel like there isnt a need to do so. 5. However, in the popular vote, Trump only received 62,984,825 votes against Hillary Clinton's 65,853,516 popular votes. The Constitution specifically leaves details like how the electoral votes are cast up to the states. The bill has crossed paths with 36 legislative chambers and has been sponsored or voted for by 3,112 state legislators (National Popular Vote). Longley, Robert. The National Popular Vote plan does not do away with the Electoral College system, an action that would require a constitutional amendment. 3. 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. Under the system of proportional representation, any party with a high enough percentage of the vote will receive a seat in the government. After all, the Electoral College makes it possible that a candidate who wins the majority of the votes could still lose the election. By continuing well assume youre on board with our, https://samploon.com/electoral-college-and-national-popular-vote-pros-and-cons/, Select a writer from a large pool of experts. Because every vote is equal inside Ohio or Florida, presidential candidates avidly seek out voters in small, medium, and large towns. on WordPress.com. Also the NPV Compact allows states to withdraw from the compact as late as four months before an election. Their vote only counts at the local level, not the national level, because of the electoral votes. All other votes cast for that candidate are therefore superfluous. 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. The electoral college leads to a heavy emphasis on swing states and also typically over-represents citizens in rural states. Candidates feel these states need a little bit more of their attention and apply pressure to supply these states with solutions to their problems in order to gain their vote. 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. 5. (2021, Jun 14). It would limit the influence of local issues in the election. This would happen in the extremely unlikely situation where this candidate would win just for one vote in some . It was a great idea in 1787 but the country has changed since 1787 and the people today want to elect the president by a simple, direct popular vote where whoever gets the most votes wins like we do in every other election in the country. 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. 2. It fails to reach the ideal of one-person one-vote. 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. E pluribus unum -- out of many, one. There are a number of pros for this method. Unexpected emergencies would be difficult to handle. 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). Less would get done, which would affect the needs of households at the local level. Menu burger Close thin Facebook Twitter Google plus Linked in Reddit Email arrow-right-sm arrow-right Loading Home Buying Calculators This has occurred in 5 of the nation's 56 presidential elections, most recently in 2016. It gives each vote an equal amount of power. 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. Colorado is on the verge of joining a nationwide movement that could eventually change how we choose the next president of the United States. In countries where the concept of popular votes is in place, every vote has an equal weight regarding the election outcome. It would reduce the influence of third parties on the U.S. presidential election. Nevada passed the legislation in 2019, but Gov. 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. Candidates feel they either cant win or lose with the votes from these states. 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." 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). Advantages of the NPV Interstate Compact 1. Here are the essential pros and cons of popular vote elections to examine. 10 Apr. After all, is said and done, the candidate who attains the largest number of votes can still lose. The country could become less stable and divided if he or she did not have a vast amount of support (Richards). 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.