By abolishing the Electoral College, a vote in every state, big or small, red or blue, would have equal weight. Their ballots will not be officially counted until January 4, 1941, the day after the 77th Congress convenes, when the President of the Senate, in the presence of the combined membership of the two houses, will canvass the ballots submitted by the states and announce the results of the election. The fact that lightning struck twice, and in such quick succession, reignited a political fight that's been around as nearly as long as the country has, and one that's centered around a single question: Is it time to abolish the Electoral College? called the Electoral College "undemocratic. That means if you live in a rural area, your vote may count more toward who gets to be the eventual president. It is impossible for a politician to gain the 270 votes needed to win the election by just concentrating on the states with the largest population or just one region. Still, whether or not the NPVIC may be an effective solution, it seems to be the one with the most momentum. Cobb tells Mic that in lieu of a constitutional amendment establishing a popular vote or the unlikely success of the NPVIC, Congress can consider a couple of alternatives. There are a couple of other important reasons to abolish the Electoral College. Bayh–Celler amendment (1969) The closest the United States has come to abolishing the Electoral College occurred during the 91st Congress (1969–1971). Abolishing the electoral college would require which of the following? Before getting into the actual solutions around electoral reform, it's important to understand the reasons for abolishing the electoral college in the first place. Democrats in red states and Republicans in blue states would no longer feel like their votes are wasted. Twice in the last five elections it has delivered the White House to the loser of the popular vote. 1. Because the Electoral College is based on the structure of state populations and representation in the House, some people have a vote that carries more weight per delegate than others. In effect, Codrington explains, the Electoral College was designed and implemented to suppress the political power of Black voters in the South in order to consolidate and maintain power in Washington, D.C. The race for the White House this year shed new light on an old problem, though, and with enough fervor that presidential candidates campaigned on the issue. If the electoral representatives had voted along percentage lines in states, Hilary Clinton may have won the election. The first way that we could get ourselves a new electoral system is by adding a constitutional amendment. Efforts have been made from time to time for nearly 150 years to supplant present electoral college machinery with a less complicated and more democratic system, and such efforts doubtless will be renewed next year. answer choices . "At the same time, I think efforts like this are useful because they educate people about the system and can be the forerunners to other kinds of change.". Cobb explains that the outsized Senate and therefore electoral power afforded to less densely populated states means that there's very little incentive to give up or redistribute power back to the American public. Still, experts like Cobb question the efficacy of its methodology. As Mic reported ahead of this year's election, the NPVIC is "a formal agreement between states to honor the will of the people while maintaining the electoral system." Rachael Cobb, chair and associate professor of government at Suffolk University in Massachusetts, tells Mic that the result of this lopsided system is "essentially as if ... the political interests of the majority of people are irrelevant.". I think fixing our electoral college is a better solution than getting rid of it (the reasons I have for this are largely the same as the ones I gave for keeping the electoral college in the article). Since a national level of support is required because of the Electoral College, minority causes, interests, and concerns are given a voice that reaches a national level. Presidential electors “appointed” in each of the states in November will meet at the 48 state capitals on December 16 to “choose” a President and a Vice President. When voting in California, it can seem like a futile duty if you are anything but a democrat, as California is traditionally a blue state. But even though Biden won the electoral vote, many Democrats are still pushing to abolish the electoral college … A. Historians say it was created as means to protect slavery, according to WGBH. The votes of a small minority in a state can sway the difference in an election, especially since most states award all their electoral votes to the winner of the popular vote. Tags: Question 18 . In 2… On Monday night, in a CNN town hall in Jackson, Mississippi, Sen. Elizabeth Warren made some news: She supports getting rid of the electoral college as the method by which we elect presidents. "States that have the high populations but may just not be up for grabs — in any given presidential election — are essentially political losers when it comes to the distribution of resources and goods," Cobb says. If democracy means the majority rules, the Electoral College is an undemocratic institution. (After the 2016 election, when the Electoral College benefited their candidate, Republican support for the popular vote plummeted.). True . One of the biggest issues with the Electoral College is the fact that winner takes all. It’s also enshrined in the Constitution. With President-elect Joe Biden on track as of Monday to win the national popular vote by a historic margin—more than eight million votes, according to one estimate—progressives are renewing their longstanding demand that the antiquated and undemocratic Electoral College be abolished in favor of a system that adheres to the principle of "one person, one vote." In 1800, r… 30 seconds . As recently as 1934, a proposed constitutional amendment for abolition of the electoral college failed by only two votes to win the necessary two-thirds majority in the Senate. Erected in 1787, the Electoral College supersedes the popular vote by organizing votes on a state-by-state basis. How can the population affect the Electoral College? Alexander Keyssar, a Harvard University professor of history, said in a conversation with The New York Times's Jamelle Bouie that since 1800, congressional legislators have introduced nearly 1,000 bills or amendments seeking to remake the cumbersome system. Match Direct Elections at Local and State Level. The Electoral College has recently come under scrutiny after two presidents in the last 20 years won the Electoral College despite losing the national popular vote. said that she wanted to be the last president elected by way of the Electoral College. The American people are qualified to elect their President by a direct vote, and I hope to see the day when they will.”. answer choices . "If you really ask me, 'Do I think it's going to work?' This fall, Colorado became the 16th state to sign onto the compact, pledging its nine electoral votes to the national popular vote winner in the case of an Electoral College upset — but this too would only take affect after enough states sign on. Proposals to Revise Electoral Machinery, Possibility of Electoral Reform Next Year. Thank you for commenting! Tags: Question 44 . Popularity for the NPVIC is growing, though. "Of the considerations that factored into the Framers’ calculus, race and slavery were perhaps the foremost," Codrington wrote. ". The most glaring one is its impact on the outcome of presidential elections — namely, that a few hundred people get to determine who the president is, and that their votes don't always align with the American public's. asked Apr 17, 2019 in Political Science by GirlyGirl. There would be no more "swing states", ensuring that everyone's vote counts the same. If there was no majority vote getter, it went to the house where each state got one vote. She also believes that a universal voting rights bill would be more likely to pass than full-on electoral college reform. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. These problems are magnified when it comes to voting for the president in that political influence is distributed inequitably among the states. Republicans, Democrats, and independents have historically been in favor of using a national popular vote to elect a president — perhaps one of the only issues that the different ideological wings can agree on. Report an issue . The 12th Amendment’s ratification in 1804 is the only alteration to the structure of the Electoral College. This election, the Associated Press called the race at 290 electoral votes for former Vice President Joe Biden and 232 electoral votes for Trump, making Biden the president-elect. First, the system is wildly unpopular: A Gallup poll from September 2020 reports that 61% of the general American public supports nixing the system. Brief The electoral college is an important system that ensures the will of the larger, more populous areas of the country aren’t the only focus of nationwide elections. Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, called the Electoral College "undemocratic." The presidential election of 1968 resulted in Richard Nixon receiving 301 electoral votes (56% of electors), Hubert Humphrey 191 (35.5%), and George Wallace 46 (8.5%) with 13.5% of the popular vote. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) is more of a reform idea than an all-out abolition of the system. It should never happen again. Speaking at Bowling Green, Kentucky, in October, 1937, Barkley said: “The electoral college is useless. It was essentially designed to ensure that political elites, rather than the people, held outsized power in determining the occupant of the Oval Office. Everyday Americans still participate in presidential elections — their individual votes inform how state electors vote — but there isn't a direct line between one's presidential ballot and the president themself. First, the system is wildly unpopular : A Gallup poll from September 2020 … This has happened quite a few times in the past. Legal experts challenge the NPVIC based on the idea that the method wouldn't escape a court battle unscathed. Change the number of electoral votes a state gets . An act of Congress C. Approval by a simple majority of the states D. A parliamentary system of … There are a couple of other important reasons to abolish the Electoral College. It causes some votes to have greater weight than others. The Electoral College emerged from the same social, political, and economic context as when American enslavement flourished; Wilfred U. Codrington III, a fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice, wrote for The Atlantic last year about how many of us tend to forget this fact. It can't affect it the Electoral College. It's become a … The Electoral College consists of 538 electors who decide who the president of the United States will be. 30 seconds . The Electoral College is an arcane out-dated system that allows the will of the people to go subverted when picking the President of the United States, by giving 538 people the power to become “electors”. In fact, sources cite that it has happened a total of four times in the past 56 Presidential elections. Cobb says that "the United States Senate is the most malapportioned legislature in the entire world," pointing to how less populated states, like Wyoming with its 578,759 residents, have the same amount of political sway in the Senate as California and its nearly 40 million residents. Statistically, it happens more than seven percent of the time. Operation of Electoral College System CQ Press is a registered trademark of Congressional Quarterly Inc. The Electoral College was never intended to be the “perfect” system for picking the president, says George Edwards III, emeritus political science professor at Texas A&M University. Take a look at our latest pr… If this system were to be abolished, the… Electoral reform efforts often reflect the political anxieties of the time. Still, congressional action might be more feasible than the alternative: getting two-thirds of state legislatures to pass an amendment. Twice in the past 20 years a U.S. president has been elected to office despite losing the popular vote. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) It also ensures that a candidate runs a national, rather than a regional, campaign. The person with the greatest number (must be a majority) of votes won the presidency; the person with the second most votes became the vice president. Report Outline The growing anger at the Electoral College comes from the desire — and expectation — that all your political desires should be fulfilled without constraints simply by voting. Abolishing The Electoral College Would Be More Complicated Than It Seems Polls suggest that's what the majority of the public wants. Another reason for reform is the Electoral College's origins. A candidate, for instance, could win the majority of the popular vote, but lose according to the Electoral College. . Start studying Government- Electoral College. SURVEY . In recent year… The President and Vice President so elected will take office less than three weeks later (January 20). It's time to abolish the Electoral College. Finally, in the last paragraph, he presents his solitary argument against a constitutional amendment to abolish the electoral college: It might encourage others to … Constant calls to change the electoral college after a popular vote win/electoral college loss can seem… 1. Effects of a Deadlock in the Electoral College, CCPA – Do Not Sell My Personal Information, Environment, Climate and Natural Resources. She floats the idea that a constitutional amendment overturning the Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission Supreme Court decision could play a key role in rewiring election processes. The National Archives reports that over the past 200 years more than 700 proposals have been introduced in Congress to reform or eliminate the Electoral College – without any becoming law. The compact wouldn’t kick in until states with at least 270 electoral college votes among them — the threshold required to elect a president — have signed on. I don't think so," Cobb tells Mic. The Electoral College is comprised of a group of unelected deputies from each state, who cast the final vote for president based on which candidate won their state's electoral votes. Q. If there is a tie in the Electoral College, states with many people find that their individual votes count less. In 2000 and 2016, America elected presidents who lost the popular vote. And here's why: The Electoral College is determined by a state's congressional delegation. After all, what's the point of an institution that denies the people's will? District Plan: Pros ... -abolish electoral college system-each vote would count equally in … Even Vice President-elect Kamala Harris said she was open to the idea of abolishing the system. ©2020, CQ Press, An Imprint of SAGE Publishing. Voters in all 50 states cast ballots for local, state, and congressional offices that directly influence election outcomes. Not the least compelling argument for revision of present electoral machinery is the fact that the Constitution does not now require that the President shall be elected by popular vote: it provides merely that “each state shall appoint …electors” in a manner designated by its legislature. As has been done 27 other times, the federal government could add language to the Constitution that mandates that a national popular vote determine the president. Initially, in the electoral college, electors vote for president. Since that time, Senator Barkley (D., Ky.), majority leader of the upper house, has indicated his support of electoral college reform. "Politics is about power, but it's also about the distribution of goods," Cobb tells Mic, emphasizing that abolishing the Electoral College would force the federal government to operate differently and perhaps distribute resources to states that currently hold less political power. However, getting the two-thirds majority of representatives in both the House and the Senate required to add an amendment is not likely to happen. False . The current Electoral College leaves much to be desired. Abolish the Electoral College. It happened in 2000 with President George W. Bush and again in 2016 with President Trump; both men were made victorious by a little thing called the Electoral College. The President and Vice President to be chosen by the voters at the polls on November 5 will not be officially elected until two months later. Possibility of Electoral Reform Next Year Since that time, Senator Barkley (D., Ky.), majority leader of the upper house, has indicated his support of electoral college reform. There were at least 752 known proposals to change the electoral system from 1789 to 2017, according to the Congressional Research Service. SURVEY . In most years, this isn't necessarily an issue, given that the national popular vote and the Electoral College count trend in the same direction. I said the founders created the institution to make sure that large states did not dominate small ones in presidential elections, that power between Congress and state legislatures was balanced, and that there would be checks and balances in the constitutional system. As recently as 1934, a proposed constitutional amendment for abolition of the electoral college failed by only two votes to win the necessary two-thirds majority in the Senate. For years when I taught campaigns and elections at Brown University, I defended the Electoral College as an important part of American democracy. The Electoral College ensures that all the states have a voice in the national election. If a person is a republican voter, he/she could feel under represented. (Trump, perhaps unsurprisingly given the Electoral College is the only reason he became president, has not called for its deletion.). Others have pointed out what a hassle it would to abolish the EC, but it would be much easier to render it moot. Despite California having millions of more people living in the state compared to Wyoming, the weight of a vote is 30% less. A constitutional amendment B. Members of Congress, however, have suggested changes to electoral voting throughout the country’s history. ... and they would be required to cast their electoral votes in line with their state's popular vote. As Mic reported in 2018, at least 16 other states considered the cCompact in the 2017-2018 state legislative session. But the Constitution and the courts have allowed the states some leeway … Take our survey to help us improve CQ Researcher! How could Americans respond if there was tie in the Electoral College and the House of Representatives had to decide? Each elector votes for two persons. Look into something called “National Popular Vote”. The following five reasons to abolish the Electoral College are offered by supporters of using a different approach to presidential elections. All Rights Reserved. Of these “electors” a Presidential candidate must receive 270 votes in order to win the election. The Electoral College is uniquely suited for a nation as large and diverse as ours. It can determine the number of Senators each state gets. In part, that is because the Electoral College is constitutionally mandated, and abolishing it would require a constitutional amendment.