It has its pros and cons though, many of which critics debate over. In the 2020 election California did not certify their votes until Friday, December 11, only 3 days before the Electoral College met on Monday, December, 14. First it would be relatively easy to implement. As of December 2020, the bill has been fully adopted predominately by Democratic-majority blue states which delivered the 14 largest vote shares for Barack Obama in the 2012 Presidential Election. Once enacted, the participating states would cast all of their electoral votes for the presidential candidate winning the nationwide popular vote, thus ensuring that candidate the required 270 electoral votes. It would require an Amendment in the U.S. for presidential elections. (LogOut/ Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/the-national-popular-vote-plan-3322047. This National Popular Vote Compact wouldn't take effect until states with 270 electors a majority joined in. This move would ensure that the Presidency would be given to the candidate that received the most popular votes all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Though the original, some would say highly undemocratic, purpose. In 6 Elections, 2 Near-Misses (2020, 2004) and 2 Second-Place Presidents (2016, 2000) National Popular Vote Has Been Enacted into Law in 16 Jurisdictions with 195 Electoral Votes. It could encourage voter turnout. Because of the Winner-Take-All state laws candidates for president only campaign and spend their money in 12-13 swing states because voters in those few swing states determine who wins the election and presidential candidates totally ignore voters in the rest of the country(except to raise money). Rural voters would almost always be in the minority. For example, if a state used NPV and voted for candidate A, but candidate B received the most votes nationwide, the state would allocate its presidential electors to candidate B. 41 States (with 80% of U.S. population) will be Ignored in the 2024 Presidential Election. It is our national motto and is so for a reason. The official 2016 election results from the Electoral College gave Donald J. Trump the victory with 306 electoral votes v. Hillary Clinton's 232 votes. It would reduce the influence of third parties on the U.S. presidential election. This text is available online and is used for gudiance and inspiration, We use cookies to give you the best experience possible. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) is an agreement among a group of U.S. states and the District of Columbia to award all their electoral votes to whichever presidential ticket wins the overall popular vote in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. I will explain that in another blog post. The National Popular Vote plan is a bill passed by participating state legislatures agreeing that they will cast all of their electoral votes for the presidential candidate winning the nationwide popular vote. Unless the national popular vote was very close, or there were all lot of recounts outstanding, the Compact states in most cases would effectively know what the outcome would be and could be prepared to certify their state votes very quickly to make the Electoral College meeting date deadline. In 2016, Florida had 29 electoral votes and 9.4 million voters, created a voter value of 0.72. (LogOut/ For the popular vote, however, Hillary Clinton received 65.8 million votes, while Donald Trump received 62.9 million votes. Due to some states being heavily populated in comparison to others, that may help a candidate quickly obtain a win. During the 2012 elections, 38 states, also known as spectator states, were ignored and forgotten. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your devices and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. In U.S. history, there has been one vice-presidential candidate who died after being nominated and one that withdrew from their partys ticket. In summary, a popular vote is simply a vote in which the individual or issue with the most total votes from a population of voters is the winner. Web. Retrieved from https://samploon.com/electoral-college-and-national-popular-vote-pros-and-cons/, Should the Electoral College Be Abolished, Pros for The Electoral College in the United States, Electoral College is Undemocratic but We Have no Better System, The Electoral College Should Be Terminated, The Electoral College Annotated Bibliography. For example, if a candidate was very popular in New York City, Los Angeles and other large cities, she might not need to earn votes from other areas of the country. cons of the national popular vote plan. Our experts will write for you an essay on any topic, with any deadline and requirements from scratch, Electoral College and National Popular Vote Pros and Cons. ThoughtCo. . A candidate may not have to concentrate anymore, but they may have to move their attention to states such as Texas, New York, California, and Alaska. Is this a solution to first past the post or is it merely reinforcing our current two party system? It gives more voting power to individual voters in smaller states. Now, the states are considering the National Popular Vote plan, a system that, while not doing away with the Electoral College system, would modify it to ensure that the candidate winning the national popular vote is ultimately elected president. Security would be improved across the country. As of now, 15 states and Washington, D.C. have joined the National Popular Vote compact: Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maryland, Washington, New Jersey, Illinois, New York, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Delaware and Oregon. Common Cause It has been enacted into law in 11 states with 165 electoral votes, and will take effect when enacted by states with 105 more. The National Popular Vote stems from the winner-take-all approach that validates the presidential candidate interactions with only 4 out of 50 dates during their campaign. When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. These are the states that may go to either major party candidate in the election. Although moving to a popular vote election would balance the weight of each vote, it would also create more sway in larger population states. I am confident that when we enter the next phase where the popular vote leans Republican that Republicans will change and be adamant that we should elect the president by direct popular vote and Democrats will be arguing why we should keep the Electoral College/Winner-Take-All system. But NPV could force our electors to disregard the wishes of the . It sees a healthy and vibrant democracy needing the underpinnings of civil society that rests on the sustained and active engagement of the citizenry and promotes approaches that seek to maximize that involvement. Do you have information you want to share with HuffPost. Weve already seen this issue take place with the GOP primaries in 2016. In 2016, Gary Johnson received 4.48 million votes and 0 electoral votes, but the potential is always there for this to happen. Wyoming had just 3 electoral votes, but only had 255,000 voters as well. The National Popular Vote Bill is not a Democrat or Republican bill. How about receiving a customized one? Should that happen, then the final decision of who gets to serve as President of the United States is taken away from individual voters. Hence, the National Popular Vote plan is an interstate compact a type of state law authorized by the U.S. Constitution that enables states to enter into a legally enforceable, contractual obligation to undertake agreed joint actions, which may be delayed in implementation until a requisite number of states join in. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. In theory we could change how we elect our president every four years. National Popular Vote Plan page 3 that non-member states that fail to hold such elections will not be included in the determination of 'the national popular vote winner.' This sidesteps the problem and provides an incentive for all states (non-members as well as members) to (continue to) hold such elections. There are a number of pros for this method. Ken Bickers. Note: Today we are in a phase where the popular vote in presidential elections leans Democratic. But don't forget, Bush won the popular vote four years later by three million votes. As with other powers entrusted to the states, it is an application, not a circumvention, of the Constitution when the states utilize those powers as they see fit. But if we set politics aside and focus on what is really best for democracy in our country in the long run I believe that the advantages of using the NPV compact to elect our president outweigh the disadvantages and the best way to elect our president in the 21st century is by direct popular vote using Ranked Choice Voting. But sometime in the future the popular vote will change back and lean Republican. It makes things easier for extreme parties to gain representation. 7. 8. 13 Early College High School Pros and Cons, 18 Major Advantages and Disadvantages of the Payback Period, 20 Advantages and Disadvantages of Leasing a Car, 19 Advantages and Disadvantages of Debt Financing, 24 Key Advantages and Disadvantages of a C Corporation, 16 Biggest Advantages and Disadvantages of Mediation, 18 Advantages and Disadvantages of a Gated Community, 17 Big Advantages and Disadvantages of Focus Groups, 17 Key Advantages and Disadvantages of Corporate Bonds, 19 Major Advantages and Disadvantages of Annuities, 17 Biggest Advantages and Disadvantages of Advertising. As the National Popular Vote (NPV) movement steps up its effort to impose a direct election for president, attempting to enlist states with a sufficient number of electors to constitute a majority (268) and to bind them to the winner of the national popular vote, those states considering the proposal might first reflect on the nightmare aftermath of the 2000 presidential election. Lastly, some Americans believe that there would be an increase in voter turn-out if people felt that their vote was viewed as a significant asset to their country. A candidate could be elected without the popular vote. In U.S. history, the electoral college winner has failed to secure the popular vote 5 times. This brings us to 196 of the 270 (73%) electoral votes needed to activate the pact just 74 votes away. In the 2000 presidential election, Al Gore won the popular vote by more than 500,000 ballots, but George Bush became president by winning the Electoral College 271 to 266. Under the electoral college, the majority votes of states assign electoral votes to a candidate, which then creates a majority total required for a victory. That view of democracy recognizes the existence and desirability of organized interests and enshrines that principle under the concept of pluralism. Start and finish your paper with ease. Advantages and Disadvantages of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact In the 2016 Presidential Election if the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact had been in effect the winner of the national popular vote, Hillary Clinton, would have become president instead of Donald Trump. Although faithless electors have not affected the results or outcome of an election yet, in 2016, there were 7 faithless electors. Right now, the President of the United States is not elected by a popular vote. Two-thirds of the campaign events were in four states, Florida, Iowa, Virginia, and Ohio, that year. But in practice it could happen every 10 or 20 years when the Electoral College votes change because the congressional boundaries change with the new population census.