should the electoral college be reformed quizletshould the electoral college be reformed quizlet

For the results of U.S. presidential elections, see the table. Despite what you may have learned in school, it was not the product of careful design by brilliant men. The correct number is 102. A plan to scrap the Electoral College via constitutional amendment would not pass in the current environment. "They include states from every region of the country, and that forces candidates to try to go out and have a platform that will appeal to the huge, diverse sections of America or at least not grossly turn them off.". We will focus on elections in the 20th and 21st centuries. List the 6 reasons for reforming or abolishing the electoral college? Here's how to reform the Electoral College - The Fulcrum And partisan divides in views of the Electoral College are most pronounced among those who pay the most attention to politics. An Idea for Electoral College Reform That Both Parties Might - POLITICO In 1804, the 12th Amendment was passed to create separate votes for presidents and vice presidents in the Electoral College. In his recent Op-Ed The Electoral College Will Destroy America, Mr. Wegman provides further evidence to support his claim that the Electoral College is unfair: The Electoral College as it functions today is the most glaring reminder of many that our democracy is not fair, not equal and not representative. The Electoral College is outlined in Article II, Section 1, of the U.S. Constitution. Who is Oppenheimer? "The desire to abolish the Electoral College is driven by the idea Democrats want rural America to go away politically," Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said on Twitter. It distorts representation, arguably hinders democratic process and has a large impact on the outcome of a presidential election for better and for worse. Yes. 4. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. The official count comes later, when the electors cast their official votes. The Electoral College Will Destroy America, The Battleground States Biden and Trump Need to Win 270, free daily writing prompts for remote learning. Instead of the legislature itself directly drawing the districts, it appoints people to a relatively nonpartisan commission. 12.2 The Presidential Election Process - OpenStax The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories. @nicoleolived. The Electoral College is the result of a series of compromises struck during the grueling Constitutional Convention of 1787. Lesson of the Day: How Does the Electoral College Work and Why Does It Republicans especially worry about tipping the balance away from their party. The controversial man behind the atomic bomb, Discovering time-honored traditions in Texas, 4 French royal mistresses who made their mark on history. 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. It's called the national popular vote movement, and it's already been passed into law in many states, totaling 196 electoral votesthe states include big ones like California and New York and small ones like Vermont and Hawaii. I wrote a whole book on the subject. In this video excerpt from our Oct. 22 panel, Mr. Wegman argues that states should join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, a plan to guarantee that the candidate who receives the most popular votes across all 50 states and the District of Columbia wins the presidency. 1, that Democrats will win a popular vote every time. Theres been quite a lot of success so far. And even though it is widely acknowledged that the Electoral College is a ticking time bomb that could seriously erode American democracy, none of these attempts has been successful. Hutchins Roundup: Climate-induced losses, Russian oil price cap, and more, Addressing urgent challenges for the healthcare supply chain, Spurred by federal legislation, new industrial investments are reaching a wide swath of the country, Director of the Office of Cannabis Policy, - Maine Department of Administrative and Financial Services, The Biden administrations updated school discipline guidelines fail to meet the moment. In principle in an ideal democracy, sometimes it might be okay to have slightly unequally weighted votes, if thats a way of increasing the representation and authority of minorities that otherwise would be neglected by the political process. How to Reform the Electoral College Analysis How to Reform the Electoral College The much-maligned Electoral College does not need to be abolished. "This is the essence of the minority-rule position, right?" Disputed returns from three states led to the creation of a bipartisan commission that awarded the election to Hayes in 1877, but Southern Democrats only accepted the results when Republicans promised that federal troops would leave the South, effectively ending the period of federal intervention in the post-Civil War South known as Reconstruction. If you live in a state where youre in the political minority, your vote is effectively erased. The Constitution is written so that a states equal representation in the Senate cannot be changed without that states consent. From Michelin-starred menus to gilded historic sites, these restaurants are worth a visitwhether or not youre a tourist. Why? By Jack Rakove, the William Robertson Coe Professor of History and American Studies and a professor of political science. Sixteen years later in 2016, another Democratic candidate won the popular vote but lost the Electoral College when Hillary Clinton lost to Republican challenger Donald Trump. That commission might have three Republicans and three Democrats, or unaffiliated members. And even when that doesn't happen, Wegman sees another problem with the Electoral College system. In 2019, Maine became the only state to adopt a ranked-choice system in which voters rank candidates in order of preference. It's time to abolish the Electoral College | Brookings Here are the questions used for this analysis, along with responses, and its methodology. Alternative 1: Two electoral votes to national popular vote winner; state winner-take-all for the remainder, *Each of these races included faithless electors, such that the total of electoral votes, as shown, does not equal 538. Do you think that more states or all states should join the compact? 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. Article II of the Constitution holds that each state should appoint electors equal to the number of its U.S. senators and representatives. 5. This was a sticking point among Southern slaveholding states, which lacked the population of their northern neighbors. Critics also deride the winner-take-all approach to allocating votes as undemocratic for the way it overrides the preferences of wide swaths of a states voters. The Electoral College - Pros and Cons - Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S To continue tracking how the public views the U.S. system for presidential elections, we surveyed 6,174 U.S. adults from June 27 to July 4, 2022. It is not simply Republican elected officials who want to maintain the Electoral College system; Republican voters support it as well. (+1) 202-419-4372 | Media Inquiries. In this extraordinarily strange election year, debating the Electoral College might seem an odd pastime when so many other issues concern us. Learn more here. In fact, lets tally up all the votes cast for president between 1932 and 2008. Here's what you should know. And, you know, they need to think about, how do we appeal to more people?". electoral college, the system by which the president and vice president of the United States are chosen. The fossilized shin bone shows clear signs of butchery, but the identity of the hominin species is still unclear. It just has to change how it operates. AQA A Level Politics: Should the electoral college be reformed - Quizlet Started in the mid-2000s, the NPVIC is a fairly straightforward system that capitalizes on the constitutional guarantee that states are free to determine the manner in which they award their electoral votes. If Democrats again win the popular vote but lose the election this year, they probably will not have swept governorships and state legislatures, so the status quo could persist. Proponents of the Electoral College argue that the system allows states to check the power of the national government and averts the possibility of nationwide recounts that could throw elections into chaos. But if youre a voter in the United States, theres a really good chance your vote doesnt count the way you think it does. For those who say they follow politics only now and then or hardly at all, there is a much smaller partisan gap, with 74% of Democrats and 59% of Republicans saying they favor changing the system. Why are so many dead whales washing up on the East Coast? Change in the short term is harder to predict, because it would require action by state legislatures at a minimum. For instance, in 1900 New York was the biggest state in the union with 7,268,894 people and the state with the median population, Louisiana, had 1,381,625 people. Our 230-year-old jerry-built system for picking the president, known as the Electoral College. Throughout history there have been over 700 attempts to reform or abolish the Electoral College, according to the Congressional Research Service. Well, American democracy operates on a whole collection of cherished ideas and practices, but our system also includes some dusty old artifacts from its founding two centuries ago. Born of compromise and enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, the Electoral College isnt a place. In the winner-take-all system, which is in effect in 48 states and the District of Columbia, all of the states electoral votes are allocated to the slate of electors chosen by the political party of the candidate who won the states popular vote. They argue that this system favors candidates from major parties and encourages candidates to campaign in just a few battleground states that are ideologically split and disproportionately white. This polling reflects why a constitutional amendment to get rid of the Electoral College will not pass the U.S. Congress any time soon, nor would it have anywhere near the necessary support in state legislatures. But Smith, a Republican, says the battleground is diverse. Electoral College Dbq - 909 Words | Bartleby Congress passed the 1887 Electoral Count Act a decade later to avoid such protracted disputes by setting the deadlines and vote-counting procedures that are still used today, but that didnt resolve the bigger issue. Candidates focus on swing states because they actually have a chance of flipping them and winning a bucket of electoral votes. In the current Congress, this would require every Democratic House member to vote in favor of such an amendment and be joined by 59 Republicans and every Democratic Senator to be joined by 19 of their Republican colleagues. Dionne, Jr., William A. Galston. There are millions of Republicans in deep-blue states, like Massachusetts and California. After a long battle in Florida Bush won the state narrowly, giving him an Electoral College victory of 271 to 266 over Al Gore. If the popular vote alone decided elections, the presidential candidates would rarely visit those states or consider the needs of rural residents in their policy platforms. But the reality is, right now neither the small states nor the big ones have the voice they should. In his video, Mr. Wegman offers counterarguments to what he calls myths about the Electoral College. To win the election, a candidate must win a majority270 electoral votes. The effect is to erase all the voters in that state who didnt vote for the top candidate. Ultimately, the House of Representatives chose John Quincy Adams instead of Andrew Jackson, who had won the popular vote. "I mean, the fact that you could have the entire outcome of the election ride on 45,000 votes in three random states is, you know, just a huge, glaring vulnerability for any republic.". However, in the five presidential elections of the 21st century, two ended up with the winner of the popular vote losing the Electoral College. At the time, the Democratic-Republican party had fragmented, and no candidate won the majority of the electoral votes. By guaranteeing every state at least two electoral votes to match its senatorial representation, the system gives small states more electoral votes per capita. Should we get lobsters high before eating them? Plenty. While the size of the House of Representatives would be based on populationas determined by the U.S. Censuseach state received two senators to give a small bump in power to less populous states. They have the votes to pass ballot restrictions, and in some cases they have never held public hearings. During that contest, five electors pledged to Democratic contender Hillary Clinton and two pledged to Republican Donald Trump successfully switched their vote to candidates who were not in the race, such as former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and moderate Republicans John Kasich and Colin Powell. But under this system, those Republican votes might as well not exist. . It could also help states sidestep the effects of third-party and independent voters, whose votes can siphon off support from major candidates. However, no election has ever been determined by a faithless elector. Despite political challenges to reforming the manner in which the United States selects its president, there is danger in maintaining the status quo. Among partisans who say they follow what is going on in government and public affairs most of the time, 85% of Democrats but only 24% of Republicans say they favor changing the system. How younger voters will impact elections: What is happening to the white evangelical vote? The signers then implored their colleagues not to vote to reject the electors from battleground states, as Trump was asking them to do. One reform proposal is the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, an agreement among states to award all of their electoral votes to the candidate who wins the popular vote nationwide. Americas auto industry auto industry auto industry At least in part because its located mostly in swing states, like Michigan and Ohio, states whose electoral votes he needed to win. Without an electoral college, each citizen's vote would be worth more and everyone could help determine a new president instead of the select few who are living in "swing states." All of these reasons help to make it clear that the electoral college is a corrupt Get Access The Electoral College Should Be Abolished Essay And finally, Myth 3: The Electoral College protects small states. In 2016, the results were even more dramatic. And not everyone believes that it should. In January 2020, Pew Research Center ran a survey experiment in which this question was asked in two slightly different ways. Unauthorized use is prohibited. One point that the Founding Fathers didnt consider during their deliberations was how to distinguish between ballots for the president and vice president. Editor's note: This story was updated on October 20, 2020, to clarify that neither candidate in the 1824 election had won the majority of electoral votes. About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. "Republican presidential candidates have won the national popular vote only once in the last 32 years," it stated. Myth No. Thats almost 1.5 billion votes. 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. But does choosing a head of state in this manner actually reflect the will of the people? To win the election, a candidate must win a majority270 electoral votes. Maine and Nebraska assign electoral votes by congressional district, a system that has resulted in one split election in each state. Document G. That means that the national winner would start out with 102 Electoral College votes. There has been a modest increase in the share of Americans who favor changing the way presidents are elected: In January 2021, the last time the Center asked this question, 55% said the system should be changed, while 43% supported maintaining the existing system. Here are the questions used for this analysis, along with responses, and its methodology. Legal scholars note that this bias toward small states has played a decisive role in three elections, most recently in 2000. On the other hand, Republicans don't have to convince the public. Since the 1850s, American politics has been dominated by the Democrats and the Republicans. 6. It distorts the results of the election, and the loser of the popular vote can win. One hopes that this election can remedy that somewhat and pull us back from the brink, but democracy is definitely at stake this year. As we begin the third decade of the 21st century, change benefits the Democrats. Discovering time-honored traditions in Texas, Video Story, Copyright 1996-2015 National Geographic Society, Copyright 2015-2023 National Geographic Partners, LLC. Rather than lament the systems bias toward small states, they argue it encourages candidates to campaign outside of highly populated urban areas. Another way the Electoral College is unfair, says Harvard University political scientist Gautam Mukunda, is that each state gets electors based on its representation in the House and Senate, which means small states get extra votes. But heres the important part. Christine Stenglein and Saku Gopinath provided research support for this post. Is the way Americans choose the president undemocratic and unfair? It wasnt the first time a president won by losing or the second or even the fourth. 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. Should the electoral college be abolished? Flashcards | Quizlet Then there was the matter of who was qualified to be an elector. Republicans say their goal is to fight future election fraud. Every four years, debate revives over the efficacy, equality, and even necessity of this electoral system. But that was contentious, too, because delegates couldnt agree on what role, if any, state legislators and governors should play in the process. Barring any unforeseen outrage, a majority will vote for Joe Biden, the popular vote winner in the general election, to sighs of relief. According to The New York Times, Trump won 48.6 percent of the Florida vote, with Clinton close behind at 47.4 percent. The voices of small states, like Rhode Island and Wyoming, would be drowned out. Wildfire season is getting longer. Democratic Representative Maxine Waters holds up an objection to the Electoral College vote on January 6, 2017. The contest was thrown to the U.S. House of Representatives, which ultimately selected Jefferson after deadlocking 35 times. It is extremely difficult to amend the Constitution. 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. If a candidate wins the popular vote in a state, even by a single vote, they get all of that states electoral votes. Why? But most electors do promise to vote a certain way in the Electoral Collegeand when they go against those pledges, they earn the moniker faithless. Thirty-two states and the District of Columbia have laws that require electors to abide by their pledges. Most people feel that the person who gets the most votes should become president. Two hundred years after James Madisons letter, the state winner-take-all rule is still crippling our politics and artificially dividing us. This is the heart of the problem with the Electoral College. In very close elections, victory can be denied the candidate receiving the most popular votes nationwide. 2? SHOULD THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE BE ABOLISHED 5.0 (3 reviews) LOA: Click the card to flip There is no doubt that there are many things wrong with the electoral college. 1615 L St. NW, Suite 800Washington, DC 20036USA Those who object to the Electoral College system and favor a direct popular election of the president generally do so on four grounds: the possibility of electing a minority president the risk of so-called "faithless" Electors, the possible role of the Electoral College in depressing voter turnout, and Younger adults are somewhat more supportive of changing the system than older adults: Seven-in-ten Americans ages 18 to 29 support changing the system, compared with 56% of those 65 or older. Nevertheless, opposition to the Electoral College has become more pronounced in recent years due to the controversial outcomes of the 2000 and 2016 elections. Look at the interactive diagram in " The Battleground States Biden and Trump Need to Win 270. As we all know only too well, in practice this archaic system means that the person who wins the most votes may not win the election. Are electric bikes the future of green transportation? Nicole Daniels joined The Learning Network as a staff editor in 2019 after working in museum education, curriculum writing and bilingual education. And why should they? So lets put the power to select the president where it actually belongs, in the hands of all the people. Republican state lawmakers in places like Georgia and Texas have advanced bills that would give new powers to legislatures to fire election officials and overturn elections. Did you know that when Americans vote in the 2020 presidential election, theyre not actually voting for the next president? SHOULD THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE BE ABOLISHED Flashcards | Quizlet Where do breakthrough discoveries and ideas come from? The story of Turtle, one of the world's first submersibles. Gallup Polls during the late 1940s indicated that 58% of American favored a proportional vote and President Truman endorsed the idea. That means the Electoral College puts a magnifying glass on just a few states that could have tremendous control over presidential elections. The question of how to count enslaved people resulted in the notorious Three-Fifths Compromise, which determined that three out of every five slaves would be counted as persons for congressional representation, taxation, and the Electoral College. This isnt a partisan issue its a fairness issue. To understand why, lets start from the point we make above: the Electoral College system currently benefits Republicans, as two Republican presidents in the last 20 years have been elected despite losing the popular vote and that nearly happened a third time this year. State rules vary on how to allocate electoral votes. As the Washington Post has shown, the four most populous states, California, Texas, Florida and New York are all dramatically underrepresented in todays Electoral College. 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. Most electors vote for the candidate to whom they've pledged support but some have been known to switch loyalties. Faith in elections, trust in government, and the legitimacy of elected officials and the offices they hold will be challenged by a system that consistently turns its back on the will of the voters. That is, the compact does not go into effect until there is a critical mass of states for it to be effective. It should be noted, there is debate about the permissibility of such a proposal and its going into effect would likely face a flurry of lawsuits. If such an amendment were to pass Congress, defeat in the states is likely. But he lost the Electoral College to Republican candidate George W. Bush 271 to 266 after the U.S. Supreme Court halted the recount of ballots in Florida, where Bush had only a narrow lead and voting irregularities had been recorded. Thats very unlikely, of course, because not only would there have to be bipartisan agreement, but states like Alaska or Wyoming would have to say, Yes, were willing to have less representation than we currently have..