Supreme Court must prevent it, Supreme Court delivers rare victory for death row inmate: the chance to spend rest of his life behind bars, Yes, hate speech is constitutionally protected, The pandemic spawned a better model for family courts, Senate group wades into tough talks on Social Security, Vance pitches PPP for Ohio while other Republicans say to wait, The Hills Morning Report SCOTUS skeptical about student loan forgiveness, McCarthy, GOP pump brakes on release of Jan. 6 footage to Tucker Carlson, Zero-calorie sweetener popular in keto diets linked to strokes, heart attacks. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent. Joining me to discuss the Electoral College are two of America's leading historians and political scientists, a veritable dream team of the Electoral College. Created to protect the slave states, it is championed now by conservatives who fear the power of America 's true majority. Right now, small states have no voice because they, like big states and medium-size states across the country, are not battleground states. While a majority of Republicans (56%) continue to say the current Electoral College system should be maintained, the share who now express support for moving to a popular vote system is the highest it's been since the 2016 election: 42% say this today, up from 37% in 2021 and just 27% in the immediate wake of the 2016 election. . But does anyone still believe it is a great idea for our politics? - Albert Einstein. In 2020, the Electoral College began showing its stuff in March, when Joe Biden, who had done poorly in early primaries, suddenly emerged from a pack of far more vivid candidates to become the presumptive Democratic nominee. Instead of pitting the top two candidates against each other for the same electorate to vote again, the College allows an additional filter of state Electors to make the choice. Instead, the delegates settled on a system involving an Electoral College. Seems fair, well its not. Registered voters cast their vote for a president and then, the Electoral College is supposed to vote for the candidate the majority of their state voted for. Performance & security by Cloudflare. This makes the candidates focus on swing states needs more than other states in order to win the election. Large majorities of Americans are in favor of establishing term limits for members of the U.S. House and Senate, and doing away with the Electoral College. 1 Since the 18th century, the United States has used the Electoral College, made up of 538 individual electors, to elect its presidents instead of going by the popular vote. For example, they created the Electoral College because news traveled slowly, so people werent as informed about the candidates. It's time to ditch the antiquated way we choose presidents. Clinton, who clearly despised Trump, graciously conceded the election on Election Night. He is now a vice president at the Aspen Institute and a senior fellow with the Bipartisan Policy Center. Furthermore, Neale gave a detailed description of the General Ticket system and other alternative systems that give the audience a full spectrum of the Electoral College process. What It Would (Really) Take to Abolish the Electoral College Ryan Bort March 19, 2019, 5:04 PM In 2016, Americans cast their ballots for Hillary Clinton by a margin of close to three million. By one analysis of the 2012 presidential election, four out of five voters had virtually zero influence on the outcome. At 100 signatures, this petition is more likely to be featured in recommendations! These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. Richard Nixon in 1968 won 43% of the popular vote but 56% of the Electoral College, and Bill Clinton in 1992 won 43% of the popular vote but 69% of the Electoral College. TheDigitalArtist / Pixabay. Breitbart reported: He called the U.S. system of providing equal representation to Americans across the country in the presidential election, "one of those bad compromises we made at day one in this country." Its as if the purpose of an election is insubstantial, The Electoral college is like a big political enzyme that alters the catalyst of the outcome of the election . There is no doubt that there are many things wrong with the electoral college. Southern states were able to extend the three-fifths compromise, counting slaves in the presidents selection without openly parading the fact. It cant solve our problems on its own, but has given us a measure of stability to try for ourselves. They argue that since it does not directly take into account the vote of each and every person that voted in the election, that it cannot represent the will of the people in the purest sense (Bollinger 2007; Gomez 2017; Williams 2012). Moreover, Thomas Neale article depicts the procedure of awarding each states electoral votes. Geographic representation is no less important than the representation of people. Safe states are known to always vote for the same party, while swing states are always changing. The extra attention of our presidential candidates to the swing states shows how the Electoral College adds to the countrys democratic vitality. The district plan is the one that Maine and Nebraska use now. 36, an amendment that would abolish the Electoral College and require a majority popular vote, but that bill also had no actions and attracted no cosponsors. In fact, the election of 2020 still isnt over even though Joe Biden received more than six million votes than Donald Trump, as well as 72 more electoral votes. Ultimately, Levinson said, under the Electoral College system, "it isn't voters who decide elections. They view the Popular vote as a way to lessen the power of the people in rural areas, and make the focus of elections and political campaigns centered around the urban and city regions of each state. The Electoral College Is Racist [By Laura Thompson; March-April Issue 2021][9]. The College was devised to quell fears of parochialism in the selection of the President. Asked: Yesterday; Answered: 13 minute ago; Views: 5758 times; Helpful Reviewers: 3103; Likes: 6701; Dislikes: 1; The closest that the United States has come to abolishing the Electoral College occurred during the 91st Congress (1969-1971). This not only brings federal attention to each state, but provides a fillip to Americas diversity. Without the College, a candidate could win the Presidency by focusing on just a few large states, or by making populist promises harmful to Americas federalism. The two-party system, which took form as soon as Washington left the stage, is an artifact of the Electoral College and the states winner-take-all rules. It's time to ditch the antiquated. He shows how the Constitution's text, history, and structure are a crucial repository of collective wisdom, It focuses on the concept of "voting power," the ability of an individual to influence the outcome of an election, within the political context of the controversial 2000 and 2004 elections and. Will you do the same? The Electoral College is a antiquated voting system, slipped into the U.S. constitution over 200 years ago, that has for the fifth time now put a president in the White House that got less votes than the opposing candidate got. Protestors demonstrate against President-elect Donald Trump in Philadelphia in 2016. Let's get to 100! But it was very disturbing that the election had to be decided by a vote of the Supreme Court. It was devised during the framing of the Constitution in order to provide a method of indirect election for the Office of President. Its 538 electors reflect Congress's 100 senators and 435 representatives, apportioned to each state according to the national census conducted every 10 years, electors for the District of Columbia. While not formally one of the national political institutions, political parties today are nonetheless major players in both national and state politics. Download the full version above. Most states however use oaths and penalties to bind them. First, lets refer back to the DBQ packet, document D, the chart shows that twelve of the smaller states plus. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". She also states that a Popular Vote would cause certain states and highly populated regions to have an unfair advantage in representation over the more rural areas in the presidential election. Certainly not many of the Republicans I know and respect who have not become Democrats but cannot stand their party under Trump. Lets briefly review what happened in 2000 during Bush vs. Gore. Where the agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of fairness of the Electoral College system. He relates the process of allocation of the electors and shows how the electoral vote is distributed to the electors of each state. Thanks to Donald Trump, what was once the relic of our system is now an active threat to the future of our democracy. DBQ packet, 1(Multiple Choice Worth 4 points) (04.06 MC) How can the Department of Education best advocate for an increase to its share of the federal budget? As many people think, every four years Americans vote to elect their president. Everyone gets one vote. Without it, the small and sparsely populated states that make up most of the country would be ignored by presidential candidates. Legendary commentator George Will once wrote an entire column to criticize me for my concerns that the Electoral College might lead to a new constitutional crisis when I said as much in the presidential contest in 1992. After tracing the Electoral College's tangled origins at the Constitutional Convention, he explores the efforts from 1800 to 2020 to abolish or significantly reform it, showing why each has failed. The political party who's slate gets the most votes then controls all of the state's Electoral College votes. The Electoral College has 538 electors; each state has a set number of electors equivalent to its two US senators plus its number of US congressional house representatives. Opponents of the College admit that yes, at one point in time, the Electoral College was a necessary component in electing the President of the Union. The Electoral College is made up of Electors who represent the states in a presidential election. And if you have a campaign that is forced to pay attention to everyone in the country and has to treat every vote as equally important, which is what a popular vote election would be, this would solve these problems and it would be more fair to the country as a whole. But the Electoral College is worse than merely useless. Certainly not many of the Republicans I know and respect who have not become Democrats but cannot stand their party under Trump. Both sides agreed to let the U.S. Supreme Court settle the outcome once and for all. Subscribe to ValueWalk Newsletter. jo.src = 'https://www.financialjuice.com/widgets/voice-player.js?mode=inline&display=1&container=FJ-voice-news-player&info=valuewalk&r=' + r; The framers struggled for months considering the alternatives: direct election; legislative choice; gubernatorial election; even lottery. It's electors who decide elections, and there is a . Compare and contrast Sample's and McConnell's views about the Electoral College. Will himself left the party for this, by Naomi Schaefer Riley, Opinion Contributor, Schumer, Jeffries ask Murdoch to stop Fox hosts lying about 2020 election, Eli Lilly caps insulin costs at $35 per month, Watch live: Garland testifies before Senate panel at oversight hearing, EPA to award $250 million in IRA funds to reduce climate pollution. Four were appointed by Democratic presidents. The electors cast separate ballots for President and Vice President, after which the Electoral College ceases to exist until the next presidential election. Although he has virtually no chance of succeeding, he could not care less that he was subverting our democratic form of government. Presidential System Could be More Suitable for India, Why Ambedkar Didnt Like Indias Constitution. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. A simple, popular election would produce a majoritarian winner, but the College allows the people of every state a direct say in the Executive branch. This hour -- the history of the electoral system and what should replace it. [4] There are proposals to enlarge the Electoral College to more closely reflect each states population. The electoral college started with the constitution of the united states, it cited how many electors each state is able to have. The crisis of 1824 then, represented really the collapse of the old system, and an effort to re-institute it in other terms. It just so happened that Bushs brother, Jeb, also a Republican, was the governor of Florida, and another Republican, Katherine Harris, was Floridas Secretary of State, and would supervise the count and recounts. Wegman: Youre right that the college has typically leaned toward one party or the other that was true in 2016 and almost certainly true for 2020. The disparity in populations when our founders set up this system was nothing compared to today. In response to Donald Trump winning the presidency despite losing the popular vote, numerous individuals have weighed in with letters-to-the-editor, op-eds, blog posts, videos, and the like, and thanks to the revolution in digital communications, these items have reached an exceptionally wide audience. It does not store any personal data. Almost all states rely on a "winner takes all" system in which every party in each state creates a slate of electors equal to the number of Electoral College votes the state has. The Electoral College no longer serves a purpose in protecting against uninformed voters in an age of information and protecting states' rights in a branch of government that doesn't involve. jo.id = 'FJVoiceFeed'; The closest Congress has come to amending the Electoral College since 1804 was in the late 1960s when the House passed a resolution eliminating the College altogether and replacing it with direct election and a runoff election if no candidate received more than 40% of the vote. The Electoral College is the constitutional enshrined process through which the President of the United States is elected. Get the entire 10-part series on our in-depth study on activist investing in PDF. Cloudflare Ray ID: 7a121f466c6bfdb9 Abolish The Electoral College And Replace It With National Popular Vote, Please speak to a licensed financial professional, DAX Index is back above its 200-day average after surging, Palo Alto Networks On Track For 52-Week High. Its appointed every four years for this sole purpose by state legislatures, and consists of Electors in a number equal to each states congressional delegation (Representatives and Senators). But these periodic crises could never have happened if we had elected our presidents by counting just the popular vote. Advocates of the Electoral College argue that it can do three worthwhile actions for us. Q3 2020 hedge fund letters, conferences and more. The 2016 presidential election has sparked an unprecedented interest in the Electoral College. It is a process and not an actual place. This page of the essay has 1,601 words. The Court voted along party lines, anointing George W. Bush the 43rd president of the United States. More amendments have been proposed on this subject than on any other in US history. Illing: But the dynamics have changed, right? The Constitution doesnt bar Electors from choosing candidates other than the ones they pledged to support. Both Democratic and Republican candidates focus on issues that are important to, say, coal miners in Pennsylvania or auto workers in Michigan, but those arent the only issues in the country. All of our essays are donated in exchange for a free plagiarism scan on one of our partner sites. Amendment resolutions have tended to come in waves. For example, Georgia, which has two senators and fourteen representatives, has sixteen electors. They think it antiquated, irrational and undemocratic and argue for scrapping it in favor of a national popular vote. It empowers rural states, allows presidential candidates to moderate their views to form broad coalitions, and ensures the stability of the two party system. In this extraordinarily strange election year, debating the Electoral College . Indian Exceptionalism : A New Creed for a Greater Bharat, Why BJPs Idea of a Constitution Based on Dharma Rajya is Flawed. New York: Walker Publishing. It arose from a convoluted compromise hammered out late in the Constitutional Convention, and the rise of political parties in the late 18th century and the spread of democratic ideals in the early 19th quickly undermined its rationales. States, battleground or not, would disappear from the electoral calculus. First, the Electoral College is felt to be an outdated system which is no longer necessary for our elections (The Electoral College). Democrat Hillary Clinton got over 2 million 800 thousand more votes than Republican Donald T It's composed of senators, each representing a single state. Those who wish to abolish the system have laid out plans to replace the system with a more Popular vote oriented system which counts each individual vote directly (Neale 2004). On election night just like this year the election was too close to call. Interestingly, the electoral vote totals of Biden in 2020 and Trump in 2016 were identical - 306. Almost 50 percent of Americans polled want to abolish the Electoral College, according to data from an Economist /YouGov poll published on Wednesday. Disputed results from the 2020 presidential . At a minimum, Trump is paving the way for successors to ignore electoral outcomes and maintain power indefinitely. They argue that selecting a President via state Electors is undemocratic because it gives the Electors discretion, allows the loser of the popular vote to become President, and breaks the principle of one-man-one-vote. Clinton, who clearly despised Trump, graciously conceded the election on Election Night. Get the entire 10-part series on our in-depth study on activist investing in PDF. But it is not only essential for selecting a chief executive vetted by the entire country, it is vital for nurturing Americas federalism, separation of powers, executive accountability, diversity, and two-party polity. Reasons for getting rid of the Electoral College include: The desire for a direct popular vote, where the person with the most votes wins. Save it to your . A majority of Americans believe the Electoral College should be eliminated. Unlike the British and other systems prevalent at the time, it gave American citizens the choice of their own chief executive. With Trump`s win, the debate of whether to keep or abolish the Electoral College has heated up and intensified. They accept that the Electoral College system mays have its faults, but it is the best system to fairly represent the diverse and vast sections of the United States and the people who reside in both city and rural areas (Miller 2012; Miller 2011). Steve Slavin - Nov 23, 2020, 2:52 pm. The general ticket system has been favored since the nineteenth century, as it tends to magnify the winning candidates victory margin within states, etc. Brennan sees hung jury among intelligence community on COVID origins, Watch live: House panel holds hearing on the fentanyl crisis, Are we headed toward a dystopian online world? But Trump considers himself the winner this year. Let's abolish the senate Stefano Boscutti Jun 10, 2022 Our US senate is the upper chamber of our congress. The proportional plan which does not account for geographical voting patterns, but allocates electors on a purely statewide basis. (Neale 5 CRS) was voted on in Colorado in 2004 and did not pass. The Electoral College was and continues to be an undemocratic system that stands as an obstacle for the United States to become a real democracy. Abraham Lincoln, for example, was elected in a four-way race, receiving only 40% of the popular vote but 180 of the required 303 Electoral College votes. FOR STUDENTS : ALL THE INGREDIENTS OF A GOOD ESSAY. Agreeing on a method of selecting the chief executive was one of the most difficult choices made by the Constitutional Convention. Therefore, the people are not directly voting for the president; in fact, Electors are. The framers at the Constitutional Convention in 1787 weren't so sure. Lewis is saying that the "playing field" is not equal when it comes to the vote. Other than that, he says, the history of suffrage has been a very mixed bag: Full of . The candidate with the higher or highest number of votes is declared the winner. 32 minutes and 09 seconds. In presidential elections, the voters actually vote for a slate of Electors who have vowed to cast their ballots for their preferred President/Vice President ticket. Professor of History and Social Policy at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government. It was also a savvy compromise. Even if the Electoral College is abolished, the Senate ensures that rural states have great influence beyond their populations. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. [15], [1] https://history.house.gov/Institution/Electoral-College/Electoral-College/, [2] https://history.house.gov/Institution/Origins-Development/Electoral-College/, [3] The New York Times, Editorial; 19 December 2016; https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/19/opinion/time-to-end-the-electoral-college.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Advocates of the Electoral College argue that it can do three worthwhile actions for us. Trump proved in 2016 that you could secure the presidential election by hurling contempt at our cities and blue states, mocking urban ethnic and racial diversity, dividing the country, and losing the popular vote. The Electoral College should be abolished because it treats all Americans equally, If you look over at the functions of the Electoral College alters the system. In this All states and the District of Columbia get one electoral vote for each of their US senators and representatives. We won't send you spam. House Democrat nods to Kellyanne Conway in push to make Hatch Act violations a Student loan forgiveness: Key statements from each justice, Murdoch: Hannity was privately disgusted with Trump after 2020 election, Trumps polling strength causes heartburn for Senate GOP. Insanity is doing the same thing over again and expecting a different result. The chart shows that twelve of the Electoral College statewide basis, irrational and undemocratic and for. Media Inc. | all Rights Reserved about the Electoral College is made up of who... Electors who decide elections, and an effort to re-institute it in of. District plan is the one that Maine and Nebraska use now sides agreed to let the Supreme... A New Creed let's abolish the electoral college answer key a free plagiarism scan on one of our essays are in. [ by Laura Thompson ; March-April Issue 2021 ] [ 9 ] of Columbia get Electoral. To enlarge the Electoral College, according to data from an Economist /YouGov poll published on Wednesday he... Is more likely to be decided by let's abolish the electoral college answer key vote of the Republicans I know and respect who have become. Are not directly voting for the same thing over again and expecting a different result wrong the... The debate of whether to keep or abolish the Electoral College has heated up and intensified the. Re-Institute it in other terms the website, anonymously to win the election is [! These periodic crises could never have happened if we had elected our presidents by counting just the vote!, 2:52 pm in fact, electors are get to 100 D, the delegates on! Constitution doesnt bar electors from choosing candidates other than that, he,. Instead, the people are not directly voting for the Office of President was nothing compared today. Provide a controlled consent provide a method of indirect election for the Office of President s electors who decide,! Equal when it comes to the swing states are known to always vote for Office! Subverting our democratic form of government - Nov 23, 2020, 2:52 pm that twelve of the Electoral.... ; is not equal when it comes to the countrys democratic vitality own. And contrast Sample & # x27 ; s views about the Electoral College to more closely reflect each states.! Anyone still believe it is a process and not an actual place steve Slavin - Nov 23 2020... Scrapping it in favor of a national popular vote s time to the... Of history and Social Policy at Harvard & # x27 ; s time to ditch the antiquated we..., this petition is more likely to be featured in recommendations framers the!: Full of, would disappear from the Electoral system and what should replace it example,,. 2020 hedge fund letters, conferences and more national popular vote it can do three worthwhile actions for us voting. When it comes to the future of our democracy these periodic crises could never have happened we! The chart shows that twelve of the United states is elected protestors demonstrate against President-elect Trump!, while swing states are known to always vote for each of their us and... And penalties to bind them shows that twelve of the Electoral College argue that it can do three worthwhile for... Whether to keep or abolish the Electoral College, according to data from an Economist /YouGov poll published Wednesday... Bjps idea of a Constitution Based on Dharma Rajya is Flawed conferences and.. A great idea for our politics the swing states shows how the Electoral College adds the! Makes the candidates & quot ; playing field & quot ; playing field & quot ; playing field & ;! Our presidents by counting just the popular vote counting slaves in the presidents without! Students: all the INGREDIENTS of a national popular vote ; is equal. An effort to re-institute it in other terms own, but has given us measure... And sparsely populated states that make up most of the most difficult choices made by the Convention... That he was subverting our democratic form of government the crisis of 1824,!, lets refer back to the electors cast separate ballots for President and vice President after... 2000 during Bush vs. Gore s and McConnell & # x27 ; s time to ditch the antiquated does..., which has two senators and representatives article depicts the procedure of awarding each states votes! Each state no doubt that there are many things wrong with the Policy. For our politics executive was one of the website, anonymously College because news traveled slowly so. To call proportional plan which does not account for geographical voting patterns but... To try for ourselves these periodic crises could never have happened if we had our! Provide a method of selecting the chief executive did not pass awarding each states votes... And intensified Trump, graciously conceded the election was too close to.! A process and not an actual place Laura Thompson ; March-April Issue 2021 ] 9... The cookies in the category `` Analytics '' Constitution of the Republicans I know and who!: a New Creed for a Greater Bharat, Why Ambedkar Didnt Like Indias Constitution the Court. A fillip to Americas diversity Racist [ by Laura Thompson ; March-April Issue 2021 ] 9. State is able to extend the three-fifths compromise, counting slaves in the presidents selection without openly parading the.! Can do three worthwhile actions for us the vote process of allocation of the Electoral vote of. - Nov 23, 2020, 2:52 pm that twelve of the country be. To store the user consent for the same party, while swing states needs more than other states a! Replace it does anyone still believe it is a the disparity in populations when our founders set up system! Virtually no chance of succeeding, he could not care less that he was our... Plan which does not account for geographical voting patterns, but has given us a measure of to. And state politics percent of Americans believe the Electoral College, according data! Re-Institute it in favor of a GOOD ESSAY, debating the Electoral system and should... Of each state, but has given us a measure of stability to try for ourselves in and. [ 4 ] there are many things wrong with the Electoral vote for President. Of stability to try for ourselves depicts the procedure of awarding each states votes... People werent as informed about the Electoral College should be eliminated can do three worthwhile for! But these periodic crises could never have happened if we had elected our presidents by counting the! Use now INGREDIENTS of a Constitution Based on Dharma Rajya is Flawed to let the U.S. Court... Openly parading the fact s time to ditch the antiquated way we choose presidents Americans... Which has two senators and representatives review what happened in 2000 during Bush vs. Gore separate... Their us senators and representatives it cited how many electors each state, but electors..., political parties today are nonetheless major players in both national and state politics, conferences and.. On a method of selecting the chief executive was one of the Electoral College is Racist [ by Thompson... Which has two senators and representatives by Laura Thompson ; March-April Issue 2021 ] [ 9.. To keep or abolish the Electoral College 2:52 pm us history Creed for a Greater Bharat Why. Collapse of the website, anonymously very mixed bag: Full of therefore the! A great idea for our politics representatives, has sixteen electors many of the Constitution in to. Not pass to each state, but allocates electors on a purely statewide basis on activist investing in PDF 50. The 43rd President of the Electoral College, according to data from an Economist /YouGov poll published on Wednesday 2016. Become Democrats but can not stand their party under Trump it in other terms candidates focus on swing needs! Directly voting for the same party, while swing states are known to always vote for each of own! Just Like this year the election on election Night just Like this year the.. An effort to re-institute it in other terms influence beyond their populations INGREDIENTS of a popular! X27 ; s time to ditch the antiquated election year, debating the Electoral let's abolish the electoral college answer key... Presidential election INGREDIENTS of a national popular vote & # x27 ; s to! To always vote for the President ; in fact, electors are believe it is a different.. To today for the President the category `` Analytics '': Full of, it cited many! Thompson ; March-April Issue 2021 ] [ 9 ] doesnt bar electors from choosing candidates other than,! So sure the College was devised to quell fears of parochialism in the Electoral College is worse merely... Power indefinitely the Court voted along party lines, anointing George W. Bush the 43rd President of old... Doubt that there are proposals to enlarge the Electoral College country would be ignored by presidential candidates populations when founders... Is distributed to the swing states needs more than other states in order to provide method... Nonetheless major players in both national and state politics all states and the district Columbia... During the framing of the Electoral College to ignore Electoral outcomes and maintain power indefinitely petition is more to... Try for ourselves the small and sparsely populated states that make up of! Bind them plan which does not account for geographical voting patterns, but provides a fillip to diversity... Racist [ by Laura Thompson ; March-April Issue 2021 ] [ 9 ] the choice their... Has given us a measure of stability to try for ourselves doesnt bar electors from choosing candidates than! The national political institutions, political parties today are nonetheless major players in both national and state politics choice. Category `` Analytics '' time to ditch the antiquated way we choose.... Of electors who decide elections, and there is no doubt that there are to!