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 . Yet he persists. Many feel that is a major benefit of the Electoral College. Frederic Legrand COMEO / Shutterstock.com. OUR COLUMNIST Marc A. Thiessen noted last week that President Trump had come very close to winning reelection. 5. One of the most life-changing places I have had the privilege of experiencing in my 16 years here. Don't need 50%. Ensure that you have the right strategy, culture, people, structure and processes in place to achieve your goals. California didnt need a puny electoral college to elect the Governator! Any switch to a national system would rightly trigger debates over runoffs or ranked-choice voting to ensure majority rule. Mood Unchanged, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, 61% prefer amending Constitution to use popular vote to elect president, 89% of Democrats, 23% of Republicans favor popular vote, Democrats' preference for popular vote highest in two decades. A majority of U.S. adults (58%) say the Constitution should be amended so the presidential candidate who receives the most votes nationwide wins, while 40% prefer to keep the current system in which the candidate who receives the most Electoral College votes wins the election. While this might make sense, campaigning hard in swing states and blowing through safe states diminishes important political conversations in some areas. Katrina vanden Heuvel: No matter who wins, its time to get rid of the electoral college. Hyper-blue New York City (save for Manhattan) drags the rest of the extremely populous state to the left, and ensures that upstate New York Republicans have just as much say in U.S. presidential elections as they do in the Canadian elections across the border. This article was published more than2 years ago. While many of us doubt this possibility, there have been several elections where we have come very close. What resulted was a desire to create uniformity and stability. Here's how it works. If you dissolved New Yorks 29 votes and treated New York City like its own state, New York state would then have roughly the same population of Ohioa state with 18 EVsand NYC would have roughly the same population as Virginia, who has 13 EVs. Abolishing The Electoral College Would Be More Complicated Than - NPR It is one of my greatest hopes that come 2025, she will actually run to be voted as the president and continue to break the barriers and make a difference as she already has and does in small and big ways. After debating and exhausting all possibilities, the Electoral College, in its most basic form, was established. When the Electoral College was first created, they knew that they could not base the number of votes each state received on its population alone. Yale Law Professor Akhil Reed Amar has been a vocal advocate for using the popular vote for presidential elections. It is also important to note that different states have different rules making the whole process more complicated. If the Electoral College was such an efficient system, wouldnt it be modeled on all levels, state and federal? Most Republican officials are cowering, so its up to voters to reject Trumps big lie, The Roberts court systematically dismantles the Voting Rights Act. +1 202.715.3030, Americans Favor Using Popular Vote to Elect President. And even when that doesn't happen, Wegman sees another problem with the . But, even with all the progress that has been made, there is still a very long way to go in Tanzania and for millions of women around the world. This is a fact. 5. 1) The only way to abolish (get rid of) the Electoral College is with an amendment to the Constitution. Why not just put it all to a vote and let majority rule on the First Amendment? Without the Electoral College, the vote of every American voter citizen would finally be equal. Over the course of several months, we watched as each of the candidates took the stand to proclaim their views and describe how they would fix our financial crisis, aid foreign policy, and enhance healthcare and education for millions around the nation. Today, technology allows for an informed national electorate as, Electoral College She had previously served as Tanzania's Vice President from 2015 until 2021. 2. McAdam found only six of the 50 states had margins of victory of 5% or less, while the remaining states had an average margin of 19%. The substitution of electors obviated this difficulty and seemed on the whole to be liable to fewest objections. You could punch a kid, or he could punch you, and half an hour later you could both ride your bikes to a convenience store for a Slurpee. For those of us who can vote, we have been told time and time again that our vote matters. In the United States, the Electoral College is a winner-take-all system that adequately supports two parties, making it difficult for third party candidates to secure a win. For months preceding Election Day, Hilary Clinton led the polls and was the nations favored candidate for President. The women of Tanzania were seen as second-class citizens, denied basic rights and freedoms, all in the name of tradition, culture, and religion. Electoral College Flashcards | Quizlet . States Themselves Are Arbitrary Gerrymanders. He believed that a national popular vote would have a unifying effect each election because individual voices, not state voting blocs, would be heard. Why? Another benefit many see is that it gives the winning candidate the majority of the vote. Giving another politician the ability to elect our future President, and possibly reversing our vote, is just another unnecessary and possibly dangerous step in the political process. But the idea of using the skills of the women of the family to create cushion covers with patterns inspired by the famous Zanzibar doors came from the owner of the first hotel in Stone Town, the Emerson. *Not Affiliated, Sponsored or Endorsed by any University. Given the current polarization among partisans on the issue, there is little chance that such an amendment will happen anytime soon. When it comes to analyzing the Electoral College, another cause for concern are swing states. Looking ahead, it is probably safe to assume that these states will most likely vote Republican, again, come the next Presidential election. For many of the same reasons, safe states present an issue when it comes to analyzing the Electoral College. Their campaigns often go undetected by the general public. CP: Supporters of the electoral college system suggest that this isn't necessarily a problem from a democratic standpoint as in many states electors are voted in in primaries and so the electoral college system is as democratic as other another system e.g. He believed that every state that boosts turnout in this system would exert greater say over the presidential winner. Click Here! There is absolutely no real logic as to why people living in the Four Corners region should have dramatically different powers over electing our President than their neighbors across Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona have. The Constitutional Convention rejected this parliamentary model. Choosing electoral college adds to the cohesiveness of the nation by obliging an appropriation of popular support to be elected President, improves the status of minority interests, contributes to the political dependability of the country by promising a two-party system, and keeps up an elected arrangement of government and representation (Kimb. Please contact your congressional representatives and senators and encourage them to abolish the Electoral College through a constitutional amendment at the earliest opportunity. is a reason to avoid . With the electoral college, voters think that their vote doesn't count. And now he's stubbornly holding on to the dream that his court challenges of elections in key swing states will flip reality on its head and give him another term at the expense of Joe Biden and the Democrats. This post will highlight a few of my personal favorite stories of the evolution of Tanzanian women. Smaller, rural states, in this case, would be completely irrelevant in an election. It creates a system where margins do not matter. Support List Land! PDF Why Should We Abolish the Electoral College? - LWV Wilmette Voters in all 50 states cast ballots for local, state, and congressional offices that directly influence election outcomes. It's an image that to me represents history in the making and how phenomenal power and beauty can co exist. 10. Argumentative Essay: We Should Keep The Electoral College 1. And we'd vote. 1. Bold and unwavering leaders, graciousness knows no bounds a force of nature a source of hope and motivation their roar can be heard from land to sea. But it'll be too late. 2023 Paste Media Group. 3. Mr. Trump became president in 2016 despite earning 3 million fewer votes than Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Once upon a time, woman's empowerment was but a distant dream. At that point, 49% of Americans wanted the current system to be replaced, and 47% wanted it to remain in place. Rather, they can be spending their time and money campaigning in a state where they can secure a questionable vote. It does not require a majority vote of the population. Joe Biden has a slight edge on Donald Trump in favorability with the American public, but both are below 50%, which is low, historically. This is likely the main reason behind Democrats' strong support -- and Republicans' strong opposition -- to changing the current system to use the popular vote to elect the U.S. president. An alternate proposal that would not require a constitutional amendment -- The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact -- is an agreement between states to award all of its electoral votes to the presidential candidate who wins the overall popular vote. We cannot talk about swing states without also mentioning safe states. This has happened quite a few times in the past. By 2019, support for using the national vote totals over the Electoral College had risen to 55%. Loyiso Mqalo. Between 1967 and 1980, Gallup tracked the public's appetite for changing the electoral system with a similarly worded question and found majorities of 58% to 80% approved of amending the Constitution to "do away with the Electoral College and base the election of a president on the total vote cast throughout the nation.". We believe that Mr. Trumps election was a sad event for the nation; his reelection would have been a calamity; we hope Mr. Thiessen is wrong about 2024. The electoral college has been part of the US's history and tradition and to abolish it would require a constitutional amendment. Perhaps you might not mind government searching and seizing what it thought best from those you despise on the other side of the political divide. Jacob Weindling is a writer for Paste politics. Learn how to use the CliftonStrengths assessment and strengths-based development to accomplish your goals. Some say this does not happen often, but the Bush/Gore election was not the first time a presidential candidate was robbed a presidency. Of the seven times this question was asked over the past two decades, support for amending the Constitution to abolish the Electoral College only fell below the majority level once -- in November 2016 after Donald Trump won the electoral vote and Hillary Clinton the popular vote. Justices Opened Door to Gerrymander Presidential Elections, How Trump Could Win Re-Election By One Electoral Vote, 5 Reasons to Abolish the Electoral College, Another Look at the 2020 Battleground States, Imagining the 2024 Electoral Map After Redistricting, The Electoral College Penalizes Voters In High Turnout States, The Winner-Take-All Electoral College Isnt In the Constitution. (C)2020 Chicago Tribune. 3 Myths About Abolishing the Electoral College. Opinion. Despite its faults, it is a process that we are comfortable with. Why do some people believe that the Electoral College needs to be Puts the choice of president in the hands of voters in only a few so-called "swing states." Decreases participation in our democracy. The country and its electorate deserve no less! Why did they create the Electoral College? - Wise-Answer The problem, however, is that the current system is built for two parties not several of them. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Top 10 Reasons It's Time to Abolish the Electoral College This November was no doubt an exciting one. Reasons to Keep the Electoral College - ThoughtCo Create a culture that ensures employees are involved, enthusiastic and highly productive in their work and workplace. Electoral College Pros and Cons - ThoughtCo Most likely, counties would clearly vote one way or the other. The Electoral College makes it possible to elect a president who has lost the popular election. It favors small states because each elector actually represents fewer people than the electors in larger states. (Video: Daron Taylor/The Washington Post), Reporting and analysis from the Hill and the White House, Its not just Mar-a-Lago: Trump charges highlight his New Jersey life, What the DeSantis fentanyl plan owes George W. Bush, The twin flaws of No Labelss 2024 strategy, Arizonas vote audit is based on ignorance and dishonesty, A legal reckoning may be coming for the lawyers who helped Trump push election lies, Texas Republicans renew their attack on democracy, Virginians deserve to know where Glenn Youngkin stands on abortion. Its time that we begin to truly amend this broken process and finally restore democracy. If there was a tie, House members would have to decide whether or not to vote the way their state voted or to vote according to their party. And America won't look like a playground. The Founding Fathers succeeded admirably in the area of state-based election of the president, but did they succeed in also ensuring we have a democratically elected president? This was seen in the 2000 election, where a President was elected without winning the popular vote. If you extend this ruling to a national scale in the presidential election, you can see how it got conservatives all hot and bothered when MSNBCs Chris Hayes asserted that the Electoral College is unconstitutional (according to the Warren Court, hes almost surely correct). Samia is the first female president of the country. Retrieved from https://www.minnpost.com/eric-black-ink/2012/10/10-reasons-why-electoral-college-problem/. The current function of the Electoral College is that each state has a set number of votes for the President, based on the population of that state. Because it is an archaic system that has created numerous issues for our democratic nation. The magazine found that the 2016 presidential tickets spent 53% of their last two months on the trail in Florida, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Ohio. The electoral college has us stuck on a hamster wheel. Abolish Electoral College? Sure, and Why Not Let - RealClearPolitics Learn how to develop and engage employees to create an exceptional workplace and boost your business outcomes. In the United States, we have what is known as a single-member district, where each district gets one legislative seat. Now they have about 200 pieces in stock and 45 women are supporting their families through being a part of the Sasik family. 2. Why The Electoral College Should Be Abolished A non-partisan take on the Electoral College. Any rudimentary study of the time when our Constitution was being written reveals that slavery was at the heart of every dispute in this new government as far as appropriating political power goes, and youll never guess what Madison said the solution was to fusing a practical union between this difficulty in presidential elections. Top 10 Reasons It's Time to Abolish the Electoral College - ListLand Marc A. Thiessen: Trump can run and win in 2024. So, why is this an issue? It does not always promote fairness. Although this is not likely to happen, it is a situation that can be quite tricky for House members. The electoral college creates the possibility for the loser of the popular vote to win the electoral vote. Additionally, electoral college math induces candidates to pay attention to voters in some small states who might otherwise be ignored. Past Presidential elections have been decided in these states by a relatively slim margin. This was well over 200 years ago where there were far less people, much less people who were educated and as engaged in political conversation as there are now. They wouldn't think about Minnesota or Maine or Missouri or Mississippi. The second time a tie happened was during the Presidential election of 1824. Whatever happened to our votes counting? This enrages his opponents, though wasn't Hillary Clinton applauded for telling Biden before the election not to concede under any circumstance? It turns presidential elections into massive efforts to win the votes of a small number of voters in a few key states, rather than the support of the American people as a whole. The Electoral College helps give rural states with lower populations an equal voice. Within Each State, the Electoral College Betrays its Supposed Minority-Rule Values. Reduces voter participation by creating a "my vote doesn't matter" feeling. If a candidate wins 50% of the vote +1 nationwide, they may not win the presidency. If Democratic nominee John F. Kerry hadnt lost Ohio by just 120,000 votes in 2004, he would have won an electoral college victory despite trailing President George W. Bush by 3million votes in the national count. One person, one vote is the democratic manifestation of the constitutions promise that all men are created equal. While we are definitionally a republic, we were initially constituted as a republic of slave owners who preached democratic ideals far more than they practiced them. Each state counts its own ballots, and each decides when recounts are needed. AP Gov Electoral College Flashcards Flashcards | Quizlet The electoral college is a set group of "electors" who are nominated by political activists and. Electoral College When the constitution of United States was framed there were discussions on various methods of selecting the President and the method of a direct popular vote was rejected. When creating Democratic processes in other countries, the US itself doesnt recommend that any country uses this system. Republicans have been consistently less supportive of eliminating the Electoral College throughout the past 20 years compared with Democrats and independents. The site also features a series of explainers about how presidents are actually elected in the United States. Arguments FOR Reform or Abolition of the Electoral College - Quizlet We draw a different lesson: It is alarming that a candidate came so close to winning while polling more than 5 million fewer votes than his opponent nationwide. Swing states are just as they are described. The Electoral College has come under fire for lacking fairness and ignoring the will of voters across the nation. As citizens of the United States, we watched with fervor. Black, E. (2012, October 14). For example, it does not differentiate between a, Electoral College: Should the U.S. Push for Reform or Elimination?
');(playerPro=window.playerPro||[]).push(i);})(); The electoral system is flawed and should be replaced. That a close race would come down to absentee votes and the counting would drag out? That would have been a problem, too. How to get rid of the Electoral College | Brookings While this is certainly not true in every situation, it is an accurate statement when looking at the big picture. From management to chiefs, to security guards, to the safari guides and drivers, the entire lodge is run by and managed by amazing Tanzanian women. Specialized Unit: Why Abolish The Electoral College - Blogger These individuals are often referred to as faithless electors. This was the case in both the 2000 and 2016 elections, which were won by George W. Bush and Donald Trump, respectively. Time concluded that while rural areas lack the concentration necessary as campaign targets, individual voters from small towns to big cities would have greater influence with a popular vote system than the Electoral College. With ranked-choice voting, they rank candidates in order of preference. President Donald Trump won the election in 2016 through the. 61% of Americans Support Abolishing Electoral College - Gallup.com They just need to worry about having enough voters to keep them in the running. Those states, which account for 54% of the population, are already decided by majority rule, and its hard to argue that any one singular vote really matters in any of those states in a presidential race. Is It Realistic to Abolish the Electoral College? In sum, the American people want, need and deserve to elect their president directly. Althouse, A. To all the girls I say "Let's stay crazy" and with it, a brighter, and more beautiful future lies ahead. Why The Electoral College Should Be Abolished. This is just as important as having a president who is equally representative of the interests of each state. While some liberals love to get all hot and bothered about Ralph Nader collecting a percentage of the national vote in each of his presidential contests thats less than an average polling margin of error, those supposed spoiler campaigns pale in comparison to Ross Perots 1992 success(?) Explore more election coverage from the Washington Post newsroom and Opinions section. Background: In 1948, one vote in New York was worth 100 votes in Texas (how things have changed since then!). Popular vote supporters argue that the Electoral College reduces the value of votes in red and blue states. It worked on our playgrounds because a punch in the stomach isn't the end of the world, exactly. They'd fly to the coasts where the population is centered, spend all their money and time catering to New York and California and large urban areas and ignore many of those flyover states. And the other is power after Trump. Retrieved from https://history.house.gov/Institution/Electoral-College/Electoral-College/. electoral college Flashcards | Quizlet More places should use it. In a March 2019 article, the centers Alex Cohen argued that any votes over the 50% plus one vote threshold in a state have no impact on the election. Imagine a hurricane hitting the southeast just before the election, with the catastrophic damage extending from Florida to Virginia. While amendments have been passed and revisions have certainly been made, it is time to create a system that can adequately cater to twenty-first century demands. For results based on the total sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error is 4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. Democracy and the will of the people would finally be restored, and under this new system, when we go to the polls to elect the President we would actually be voting for President, and not instructing delegates or electors and telling them who we want them to vote for. In the United States, there are a handful of states that largely favor one party. 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The top two choices happened to be Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, both of whom received a total of 73 electoral votes. The fact that there are swing states means that presidential candidates typically spend more time convincing citizens in these states to vote for them and less time convincing those in other states. 7 What are the steps in the Electoral College process? The United States has a problem and just kicking it down the road isnt enough anymore. What happens if a candidate does not win the Electoral College? Learn how to discover the data you need to help your organization make better decisions and create meaningful change. Mr. Thiessens point was that Mr.Trumps near miss makes him a viable candidate in 2024. U.S. House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives. Reason 2 for abolishing the electoral college. At paperdue.com, we provide students the tools they need to streamline their studying, researching, and writing tasks.