what would happen if the electoral college was abolished

Yes. It can be fixed. In the video above, we delve into the reasons people give for keeping the Electoral College and why theyre wrong. The general threshold that an election result must reach to trigger an automatic recount is a difference of 0.5% of the vote or less. In each case, the number of faithless electors who exercised that behavior would not have had a meaningful impact on the outcome. Warren says she wants to get rid of the Electoral College, and vote for president using a national popular vote. Instead of a politician trying to appeal to someone with specific needs, the adoption of a general platform that maximizes votes in urban centers would become the emphasis of each party. [1] Only when they sign the certificate of ascertainment and the votes are tallied in the United States Congress is the presidential race officially over. What would happen if the Electoral College was eliminated? That system worked well until the two-party system briefly died with the Federalist Party. What happens if a candidate with electoral votes dies or becomes Presidential elections have little if anything to do with the subject, even when some candidates claim to be running against Washington.. This is one reason why they created checks and balances, including the Electoral College. Maine and Nebraska, however, have enacted the congressional district method, which allocates one electoral vote to the winner of the popular vote in each state-drawn district. The first is easily dismissed. The framers of the Constitution set up the Electoral College for a number of different reasons. He disliked the practice so much he called for a constitutional amendment barring it. A party system was instituted really to fulfill that old function of the Electoral College's, which is to narrow people down and get responsible people to be candidates for the presidency. And because they created it, its a sacred work of constitutional genius. {{currentYear}} American Bar Association, all rights reserved. 260, February 19, 2020, p. 9, https://www.heritage.org/election-integrity/report/destroying-the-electoral-college-the-anti-federalist-national-popular-0. Hamilton believed that it would prevent the Office of the President from falling into the lot of a person who was not endowed with the requisite qualifications to serve the American people. In fact, there is already a movement brewing among states to agree to award their electors to whichever candidate wins the national popular vote. Electoral college reform: What would happen if Congressional districts The way it gets implemented is the result of dozens of state laws, which evolved over time as the country settled into a two-party system. After a long battle in Florida Bush won the state narrowly, giving him an Electoral College victory of 271 to 266 over Al Gore. The corrosiveness of this system isnt only a modern concern. It doesnt have to be this way. But experts say reforming this practice isn't likely anytime soon for a number of reasons. Each of those states has Democratic control of the state legislature. In the video above, Mr. Wegman argues that the Electoral College is undemocratic. These imbalances effectively ensure that some votes in presidential elections are worth more than others, and as that imbalance scales up across the entire Electoral College, it can (under the right circumstances) provide the recipes for popular vote winners losing the Electoral College. This has happened five times in American history. The point is, even accounting for demographic changes, neither party has a built-in advantage under a popular-vote system. Beto O'Rourke Announces His Run For President In 2020, Moderate Democrats Under Pressure As Party's Left Grabs Attention. Anyone can read what you share. Your membership has expired - last chance for uninterrupted access to free CLE and other benefits. It was replaced by party conventions, which eventually were replaced (almost) with strings of single or multiple state primaries and caucuses. Jesse Wegman, the author of the Opinion pieces above, is one of the guests on our Oct. 22 live panel for students. Alexander Hamilton was a significant supporter of the Electoral College. Because Donald Trump lost to Hillary Clinton in the popular vote, yet was the clear victor in the ultimately definitive electoral college, the strange, disproportionate nature of electoral. As far as the 2016 election is concerned, Hillary Clinton would still be the likely winner if the Electoral College didn't exist. While people were moving to the coasts, especially California, the Electoral College stayed the same. While there are two different means to amend the founding document, this country has always used the same route: a 2/3rds vote in both houses of Congress, followed by the ratification of 3/4ths of the states. What would happen if the Electoral College was abolished https://saveourstates.com/threats/the-status-of-npv, https://www.heritage.org/election-integrity/report/destroying-the-electoral-college-the-anti-federalist-national-popular-0. The electors can vote their conscience as well, refusing to follow what their state elections guide them to do. This issue exists in the Electoral College when the rural states face off with the urban ones. 2. Almost no one would adopt an Electoral College today if we were starting from scratch. Kitty on Twitter: "RT @Valkary: THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE For years, a majority of Americans have opposed the Electoral College. The Electoral College thus presents democratic risks without serving any of its original purposes. But explaining exactly how it does this remains a mystery. The truth is . For almost the first half century of the republic, presidential candidates were chosen by the caucuses of the two parties in the House and the Senate. As Madison wrote in an 1823 letter, states using the winner-take-all rule are a string of beads and fail to reflect the true political diversity of their citizens. Does It Need to Be Fixed? We survived. Thanks to the Internet, telephones, email, social media, and every other form of communication that we have today, people can choose for themselves whether a new story has an underlying sinister bias. And it confines vote-counting disputes to just one, or maybe a few, states. Thats almost 1.5 billion votes. Is the Electoral College a Problem? Does It Need to Be Fixed? A few states provide criminal penalties if an elector violates the requirement. The current system is weighted too heavily in favor of celebrity appeal, demagogic displays and appeals to narrow special interests. Four of the electors came from the state of Washington. Now is the time for sober and spirited citizens from both parties to devise a new system for 2020. Maintaining the Electoral College may seem like the most politically expedient position for the Republican Party in the short term, but it may cause significant damage in the long term. How to get rid of the Electoral College - Brookings The winner of the Electoral College vote is usually the candidate who has won the popular vote. The elected officials of both parties have incentives to choose candidates with an eye toward popular electability and governing skill. Opinion | Abolish the electoral college - The Washington Post Supporters of a national popular vote argue something must be done; the Electoral College disproportionately inflates the influence of rural areas while undervaluing the votes of cities. Under these laws, which states adopted to gain political advantage in the nations early years, even though it was never raised by the framers states award all their electors to the candidate with the most popular votes in their state. Technically, it is . And this year, who knows? The tribalism and mob rule, of which the Founders warned would be realized, and the voices of smaller states would become marginalized. The interests of the minority would no longer receive protection. An example of a state closely split by congressional district is Florida in 2016, where Trump won in 14 of them and Clinton won in 13. Why did they lose? 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. Frequently Asked Questions | National Archives The Current Threat | The Heritage Foundation The following table shows how this would have changed the outcome in the two contested elections of the 21st century and includes 2004 for comparison. Why? The US presidential election takes place 3 November. If the Electoral College system begins to prevent, on a regular basis, the popular vote winner from becoming president, it will create systemic challenges. They do not matter because they have any special civic characteristics. Under the current plan, states that join will not activate the compact until enough states have joined to total 270 electoral votes. It is extremely difficult to amend the Constitution. 61% of Americans Support Abolishing Electoral College - Gallup.com Activists, with the aid of misguided state legislators, have begun to gain ground in the states, with NPV arising as a serious threat to the stability of our presidential election process. ABA Legal Fact Check: Can the Electoral College be abolished? 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. The founders fought like cats and dogs over how the president should be chosen. 14 Pros and Cons of Abolishing the Electoral College List of the Pros of Abolishing the Electoral College 1. Or is it working the way it is supposed to? There are millions of Republicans in deep-blue states, like Massachusetts and California. "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. How the Electoral College helps preserve our constitutional system. Republicans especially worry about tipping the balance away from their party. Whether youre Republican or Democrat, the Electoral College is unfair. This isnt a partisan issue its a fairness issue. Most Americans would breathe a sigh of relief, I believe, if we had a system capable of choosing the U.S. equivalent of Theresa May instead of Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. Although he said that the system was far from perfect, it was at least excellent. 3Qs: Should the Electoral College be abolished? - News /content/aba-cms-dotorg/en/news/abanews/publications/youraba/2019/october-2019/q--the-electoral-college--is-it-open-for-interpretation-by-the-c, Trade, Sports & Professional Associations, Affordable Housing & Community Development Law. These states currently total 196 electoral votes, although after the 2020 census is completed, projections suggest a net loss of two seats, lowering that number to 194. Electors manage the needs of the state and community instead of following the will of the general public throughout the country. Amending the Electoral College: The 12th Amendment Those states do get a boost from their two Senate-based electoral votes, but that benefit pales in comparison to the real culprit: statewide winner-take-all laws. Abolishing the Electoral College stops swing states from having sway in the election. Map. It is true that the Electoral College no longer serves its original purposes, and that it creates a grave risk that a candidate not favored by a majority of the people will, from time to time, be elected president. But specifics vary. This year is the poster child for the need for reform. Mr. Wegman argues that reforming the Electoral College isnt a partisan issue its a fairness issue. Debate renewed in 2016 after theelectionof the fifth U.S. president who won the presidency despite losing the popular vote. Getting Rid Of The Electoral College Isn't Easy - Bustle Two closely watched cases arising from the 2016 electoral process, however, might provide the justices with an opportunity to do just that. If such an amendment were to pass Congress, defeat in the states is likely. There is a trigger for NPV to go into effect, and we are creeping ever closer toward it.10 When enough states have entered the compact to reach a majority of the electoral votes270 out of 538the compact will then kick in. Having the states play an autonomous role in presidential elections, it is said, reinforces the division of governing authority between the nation and the states. It seems to me that the original system may have been superior to what we now have. The system calls for the creation, every four years, of a temporary group of electors equal to the total number of representatives in Congress. President Trump once supported abolishing the Electoral College he previously felt it was a "total disaster for democracy" but since his 2016 presidential victory over Hillary Clinton, in which Clinton won the popular vote by almost 3 million votes, but Trump received 304 electoral votes, he has changed his mind. 7. 1, that Democrats will win a popular vote every time. Younger voters also tended to support abolishing the Electoral College. 11. He makes the case that both Republicans and Democrats should support a change. Eliminating this barrier could mean that some parts of the country never become part of the overall campaign. Why? Myth No. Iowa farmers might lose out to California union workers since their population numbers are larger. In the Electoral College, there are 51 voting jurisdiction (states) that includes D.C. Reagan also dominated in 1980, taking 489 votes to Jimmy Carters 49. That means more people can feel like their government accurately represents their needs. Stanford, CA 94305-6105 That means centrist ideas tend to be the ones that receive the most traction instead of the individual priorities of platforms on the extreme left or right. Democracy is, at its core, about fair, equal representation one person, one vote. Having an election in which victory went to a candidate carrying a single national constituency might not wholly cure this problem, but it might well work to mitigate it. Residents of places like Puerto Rico and Guam would have their votes be counted in the final total, and these locations consistently vote for one party. It gives each state in such manner as the legislature thereof may direct electors equal to its representation in Congress. Even if all 25 of the states that Mr. Biden won in 2020 were to ratify such an amendment, nine additional states that President Trump won would need to ratify it as well. That might invite legal challenges from candidates or voters' groups if it took place. The Electoral College has given one candidate a majority win in this political structure since 1992, but there have been four times when the winner of the election didnt receive a clear majority of the votes across the entire country. Who verifies if a candidate is qualified to run for President? Our 230-year-old jerry-built system for picking the president, known as the Electoral College. We already see gridlock and partisanship in Congress that limits the opportunities for collaboration. For example, in 1967, 58 percent favored its abolition, while in 1981, 75 percent of . That meant more power for those states under an Electoral College system, and slave states didnt want to give up that power. Would the federal government get into the business of administering the elections, or leave that up to state and local officials, as it does today? 6. Most Americans, by a wide margin, believe the Electoral College should be abolished. A supporter of President-elect Joe Biden holds up his cellphone to display the electoral college map, outside the Philadelphia Convention Center on Nov. 7. Many of them were unhappy with the results. [2] The compact would then be 43 Electoral College votes short of going into effect. The effect is to erase all the voters in that state who didnt vote for the top candidate. But reforming the Electoral College does not rank high among our national problems. This Student Opinion prompt and a related Lesson of the Day will prepare students to participate in our live panel discussion about the Electoral College, on Oct. 22 at 1 p.m. Eastern. Even though some Americans dont like the gridlock that a two-party system creates, the electoral college keeps this design healthy with each 4-year cycle. The Electoral College was created by the framers of the U.S Reagan would almost make a clean sweep in 1984 as well, taking 525 of 538 electoral votes and only losing Minnesota and DC. There can be distinctive advantages to one party in a decade where three election cycles are possible. As far as the 2016 election is concerned, Hillary Clinton would still be the likely winner if the Electoral College didn't exist. 61% of Americans Support Abolishing Electoral College by Megan Brenan Story Highlights 61% prefer amending Constitution to use popular vote to elect president 89% of Democrats, 23% of Republicans. Today that system is threatened by a proposal called the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, or. ## For the purposes here, all electoral votes in a given state were awarded to the proper winner, thus attributing faithless electors to the proper candidate. The state also reelected their Republican governor in 2020. It's just not clear how you could do that.". The winner-take-all method is nowhere in the Constitution. Having this structure go away would encourage more third-party development. What Might Make Joe Biden Unelectable Is a Very Scary Threat The only states that matter to either party are the battleground states especially bigger ones like Florida and Pennsylvania, where a swing of a few thousand or even a few hundred votes can shift the entire pot of electors from one candidate to the other.
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