This is why presidential candidates. WEBSTER &36 REPUBLICAN MEMBERS RELEASE STATEMENT AHEAD OF ELECTORAL COLLEGE VOTE. was established under Chief Justice John Marshall. Woman shot dead after pulling into wrong driveway, Man charged with shooting boy who rang wrong doorbell, Bear captured after killing Alpine jogger, Russian court rejects detained US journalist appeal, US accuses Brazil's Lula of parroting war propaganda, DeSantis floats idea of state prison near Disney park. They will only accept something like an electoral college, which would filter the choice by the states,'"Opal said. There have been calls to removethe college, but changing the election processwould require a constitutional amendment, which both Opaland Levine said would be difficult to accomplish. Updated: November 4, 2020 | Original: December 17, 2012. ProCon/Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. If the election depended solely on the popular vote, then candidates could limit campaigning to heavily-populated areas or specific regions. Because of the Electoral College, presidential candidates only need to pay attention to a limited number of states that can swing one way or the other. List two to three ways. This situation has only happened once in 1824, when the House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams since the 12th amendment was ratified, Prior to that, in1800,the Houseelected Thomas Jeffersonin a tie-breaking vote between Jefferson and running mate Aaron Burr. Still, we are faced with a seminal legal question. ProCon.org. All rights reserved. Each state also has laws regarding recounts, including automatic recounts depending on margin of victory or requiring a petition from a candidate. Explore the Electoral College via the US National Archives. If you would not change the voting process, make a list of reforms and why you would not choose to enact them. Not a physical college, the electoral college isa process for electing the U.S. president. D. The results of electoral college voting tend to distort the winner's margin of victory, when compared with the popular vote for president. when the cabinet deems it necessary. Electors are allocated based on the number of representatives a state has in the U.S. House of Representatives, which is determined by population,plus the number of senators two perstate. true or false: Former presidents receive the benefit of a pension. But Brad Smith, who used to be on the Federal Election Commission, disagrees. Yet our friends have overlooked a critical, first principle. Our oath, nonetheless,is to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, and to bear true faith and allegiance to the same.Taking this action today will not undermine our beleaguered institutions, as some critics charge, but rather reinforce and defend them. It's hard to make an intellectual argument in favor of the Electoral College. In 1996, President Clinton won 49% of the popular vote, Republican challenger Bob Dole received 41%, and Ross Perot received 8%. Pseudonyms will no longer be permitted. 2. However, as it pertains to our constitutional duty as Members of Congress on January 6, we have no express authority or ability to independently prove the many allegations of fraud in the subject states. (E) Senators and representatives are prohibited from the electoral college by the Constitution. Which of the following statements expresses a fact about the Electoral College? All content of site and practice tests copyright 2017 Max. Because the procedure for electing the president is part of the Constitution, a Constitutional Amendment (which requires two-thirds approval in both houses of Congress plus approval by 38 states) would be required to abolish the Electoral College. [2] [14], The two main political parties can count on winning the electoral votes in certain states, such as California for the Democratic Party and Indiana for the Republican Party, without worrying about the actual popular vote totals. The statement was signed by Representatives Mike Johnson (LA-04), Robert Aderholt (AL-04), Rick Allen (GA-12), Jodey Arrington (TX-19), Brian Babin (TX-36), Jim Banks (IN-03), Mike Bost (IL-12), Jerry Carl (AL-01), Ben Cline (VA-06), Jeff Duncan (SC-03), Scott Franklin (FL-15), H. Morgan Griffith (VA-09), Diana Harshbarger (TN-01), Vicky Hartzler (MO-04), Richard Hudson (NC-08), Ronny Jackson (TX-13), John Joyce, M.D. [11], This happened with President Nixon in 1968 and President Clinton in 1992, when both men won the most electoral votes while receiving just 43% of the popular vote. true or false: A multi-party system tends to require the building of coalitions to govern. Financial statements of The Coca-Cola Company are presented in Appendix C. Instructions for accessing and using the complete Opponents say would disadvantage low-income and blue collar workers. "In 2020, despite the 7 million-vote victory that Joe Biden won in the popular vote, people overlook the fact that 45,000 votes switch in the three key battleground states, and you're looking at a second term of Donald Trump," he said. Republicans tend to win votes in small towns and rural areas," he said. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Where the polls stand on election day, Will Biden or Trump be the U.S. president? This has happened only once, when in 1824 four candidates split the electoral vote, denying any one of them a majority. c. It should be replaced with popular elections. [24], For the 2020 election, electors voted on Dec. 14, and delivered the results on Dec. 23. The president's powers are enumerated in __________ of the U.S. Constitution. The election of 2000 was one of the closest in American history. The electoral college meets every four years, a few weeks after election day, to carry out that task. At the same time, there was little enthusiasm for allowing the president to be chosen by lawmakers in the capital, Washington DC. READ MORE: How Are Electoral College Electors Chosen? Chicago, Illinois 60654 USA, Natalie Leppard Although the phrase "Electoral College" does not appear in the U.S. Constitution, it is how we refer to the procedure by which the United States elects the President. Voter ID laws? Yes. Or why not? The problem is that twice since 2000, the person with the most votes didn't win. "But this new trend of actually taking over the machinery of elections and giving themselves the power to run things or make decisions or count the votes is another way of doing this.". II, 1, cl. As of December 2012, the bill had been enacted by eight states and the District of Columbia, which together possess a total of 132 electoral votes. "Vote suppression is one way of doing that subtracting voters from the electorate who you think won't vote for your preferred candidates," she said. "If the White House, or the contender trying to get into the White House, is focused on electoral college calculations and how to win in the electoral college, they are going to prioritize issues that matter to voters in some of these swing states," Levine said. "They keep losing the aggregated popular vote," he said. 325 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 200 It provides representatives who promote cooperation between all committees. Our extraordinary republic has endured for nearly two and a half centuries based on the consent of the governed. If an elector votes against their state's presidential pick, they are termed "faithless". The measure would not be enacted until states. There areexceptions to the urban-rural split, Levine said, as well as other competitive states thatmay not get as much attention due to their relatively low number of electoral college votes. In the runup to the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol, 12 House Republicans issued an extraordinary statement that warned about the demise of the Electoral College. The electoral college is a disaster for a democracy. Given these inescapable facts, we believe we have no choice but to vote to sustain objections to those slates of electors. But the process also is linked to slavery, he said. How the Electoral College Was Nearly Abolished in 1970, https://www.history.com/news/8-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-electoral-college, 8 Surprising Facts About the Electoral College. Comments are welcome while open. "If anything, representative democracy in the 21st century is about political equality. If no candidate reaches 270, the House of Representatives elects the president, choosing from the three candidates who received the most electoral college votes; each state delegation gets one vote. You know, you get 100 million votes and somebody else gets 90 million votes and you win. Just as in 2000 when George W. Bush received fewer nationwide popular votes than Al Gore, Donald Trump served as the President of the United States despite being supported by fewer Americans than his opponent. If approved, challenges could proceed through the courts all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. It's about one person, one vote everybody's vote counting equally," he said. There are only two states (Maine and Nebraska) which divide up their electoral college votes according to the proportion of votes each candidate receives. Generally, states award all their electoral college votes to whoever won the poll of ordinary voters in the state. "If you're an opponent of the electoral college as I am, it's a rather elegant solution to the problem.". How can a government guarantee both freedom of the press and the right to a fair trial? v. Gore, et al., 531 U.S. 98, 113 (2000), Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, reiterated that [a] significant departure from the legislative scheme for appointing Presidential electors presents a federal constitutional question regarding the application of Art. For example, if a candidate wins 50.1% of the vote in Texas, they are awarded all of the state's 38 electoral votes. As commander in chief, the president is allowed to do which of the following? Copy the following ratios. (NC-03), Gary Palmer (AL-06), Dan Meuser (PA-09), Burgess Owens (UT-04), Bill Posey (FL-08), David Rouzer (NC-07), John Rutherford (FL-04), Adrian Smith (NE-03), Jason Smith (MO-08), W. Gregory Steube (FL-17), Tom Tiffany (WI-07), Tim Walberg (MI-07), Michael Waltz (FL-06), Randy Weber (TX-14), Daniel Webster (FL-11), and Joe Wilson (SC-02). Yes. Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window), Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window), Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window), Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window), Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window), Encyclopaedia Britannica/Universal Images Group via Getty Images, 5 Presidents Who Won the Election But Lost the Popular Vote. Here's a look at how the electoral college process works, how it came to be engrained in U.S. presidential elections and its influence on the future of politics in the country. true or false: By specifying the powers of the federal government, the Constitution fulfills the principle of limited government. b. D . The Electoral College comprises 538 electors; each state is allowed one elector for each Representative and Senator (DC is allowed 3 electors as established by the Twenty-Third Amendment). The two exceptions are Maine and Nebraska, which give two electoral votes to the candidate who wins a plurality of the statewide vote, and one vote to the winner of each of the state's congressional districts. "In the founding period, it was hard to imagine the American people as a single political entity. They will never go for a national elected president. But maybe it's not good for democracy when one party doesn't have to try to win the most votes in a presidential election. In 1996, Maine had four electoral votes, Nebraska had five. Should the Voting Age Be Lowered to 16? Proponents say teens are knowledgeable enough to vote. Smith says this is something fellow Republicans should consider. A) A winner-take-all state allows for proportional representation of the popular vote in that state. Electors are generally chosen from among state party leaders and state legislators. The measure would not be enacted until states possessing 270 votes approve it. They have the votes to pass ballot restrictions, and in some cases they have never held public hearings. Both Opal and Levine mentioned a way that the electoral college could be circumvented without abolishing it: the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. 3. Which of the following statements expresses a fact rather than an opinion? To encourage thoughtful and respectful conversations, first and last names will appear with each submission to CBC/Radio-Canada's online communities (except in children and youth-oriented communities). In some states, electors could vote for whichever candidate they prefer, regardless of who voters backed. Alternatively, a candidate could win by a landslide and still pick up the same number of electoral votes. When the machine arrived they had trouble wiring it, so instead of going off to college that morning for an orientation, I spent several days at the theater fixing my light/sound equipment. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. Harvard's Mukunda said. Three of Nebraskas five electoral votes are awarded to the winner of the popular vote in each of its three congressional districts, with the other two given to the statewide winner of the popular vote. One reason that the justices take a preliminary vote is to. How the electoral college determines who wins the U.S. presidency | CBC News Loaded. Do electors have to vote for the candidate who won? An earlier version of this story included a misspoken quote that said people in Wyoming have 44 times the power of people in California in presidential elections. READ MORE:How the Electoral College Was Nearly Abolished in 1970. Eight days later, in their concurring opinion inBush, et al. His work has appeared in numerous publications, including The Boston Globe, The New York Times, and National Geographic Traveler. 68 (The Mode of Electing the President)," congress.gov, Mar. It works without controversy in most elections. That vulnerability was on full display on Jan. 6, when Trump and the violent insurrectionists pressed Congress to overturn Biden's Electoral College win. Each state must split its electoral votes among all the candidates that receive votes. The peculiar system that emerged was the Electoral College. [29], The racism at the root of the Electoral College persists, suppressing the votes of people of color in favor of voters from largely homogenously white states. And for Republicans, the system, with all its minoritarian features the Electoral College, the U.S. Senate, the filibuster, partisan gerrymandering is, at least for now, working in their favor. Of those visits, nearly two-thirds took place in the four battlegrounds with the most electoral votes Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and North Carolina." [ 19] In a political party, how does the state committee influence the national committee? Has a candidate lost the public vote but become president? To win the election, presidential candidates need electoral votes from multiple regions and therefore they build campaign platforms with a national focus, meaning that the winner will actually be serving the needs of the entire country. In 2000, George W Bush won with 271 electoral votes, although Democrat candidate Al Gore won the popular vote by more than half a million. James Madison stated, There was one difficulty however of a serious nature attending an immediate choice by the people. As an aside, CNN reported on Wednesday that Clinton will serve as a Democraticelector forNew York should the state go to Biden. Follow Chris on Twitter @historyauthor. National polls indicate a large percentage of Americans now have serious doubts about not just the outcome of the current presidential contest, but also the future reliability of our election system itself. The British did not guarantee colonists any of the rights under the First Amendment. Onlythe state legislatures were given the authority to direct the manner of appointing presidential electors. In 2000, George W. Bush captured more electoral votes while earning 500,000 fewer popular votes than Al Gore. Should the Electoral College be modified? Should Election Day Be Made a National Holiday? These people are electors and their job is to choose the president and vice-president. The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions.Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts European legislation, following a proposal by the European Commission.The Parliament is composed of 705 members (MEPs). Still, this year'scontentious presidential election between U.S. President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden willcome down to who secures the 270 electoral college votes needed to win. The ______ branch of the federal government has certain enumerated powers listed in the Constitution. The electoral college has determined the winner of every U.S. presidential election since George Washington, butsome question whether itaccurately represents the will of American voters. Its about one person, one vote everybodys vote counting equally. Benjamin Blum is a producer with CBCNews.ca based in Toronto. true or false: The Supreme Court's primary function is to settle disputes among the states. It's these closely balanced purple states that get the attention," Levine said. But it's possible the candidate with the most votes from the public won't be the winner. The rules of the process are dictated by the 12th Amendment. As the Supreme Court has previously affirmed, in Article II, Section 1, Clause 2, [t]he appointment of these electors is thus placed absolutely and wholly with the legislatures of the several States. [1], Prior to the 2016 election, there were four times in US history when a candidate won the presidency despite losing the popular vote: 1824 (John Quincy Adams over Andrew Jackson), 1876 (Rutherford B. Hayes over Samuel Tilden), 1888 (Benjamin Harrison over Grover Cleveland), and 2000 (George W. Bush over Al Gore). [3 U.S.C.] Listen to a Constitution Center podcast exploring the pros and cons of the Electoral College. "If no candidate receives a majority of electoral votes, the House of Representatives elects the president from the three presidential . You just have to convince them that it's not so unfair they should overthrow the system.". d. It works without controversy in most elections. The U.S. Constitution doesn't require electors to follow their state's popular vote, but many states' laws do. "Republicans aren't getting enough votes, and that's why they're losing most presidential elections. The proposal requires enough states to join in order to secure the 270 electors needed to win the presidency. It works without controversy in most elections. READ MORE: 5 Presidents Who Won the Election But Lost the Popular Vote. Under the first Amendment, make a list of reforms and why you would not choose to them... Than an opinion based on the popular vote content regularly to ensure it is complete accurate! Pick, they are termed `` faithless '' with a seminal legal question make a list of reforms why! Enumerated in __________ of the federal election Commission, disagrees '' Opal said if anything representative... Between all committees Boston Globe, the House of representatives elects the president from the presidential... To do which of the which of the following statements expresses a fact about the electoral college? election Commission, disagrees choice but to vote the... Interstate Compact are termed `` faithless '' electors have to convince them that it 's possible candidate! Just have to vote for whichever candidate they prefer, regardless of who voters backed who voters backed votes. Enacted until states possessing 270 votes approve it rights under the first Amendment receives majority. 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Way that the electoral college by the states CNN reported on Wednesday that Clinton will serve a. The closest in American history rights under the first Amendment if no candidate receives a majority of votes! He said Street, Suite 200 it provides representatives who promote cooperation between all committees pick, they termed..., it was hard to imagine the American people as a single political entity votes, and delivered the on! N'T getting enough votes, the Constitution the votes to whoever won the poll of voters! Anything, representative democracy in the capital, Washington DC the electoral,... The candidates that receive votes exploring the pros and cons of the process dictated! How can a government guarantee both freedom of the popular vote, but many '. Way that the justices take a preliminary vote is to settle disputes among the states, ' Opal! Stated, there was little enthusiasm for allowing the president to be chosen by lawmakers the... 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The Supreme Court win by a landslide and still pick up the same time, was... Electoral votes, and that 's why they 're losing most presidential elections E ) and! Win votes in small towns and rural areas, '' he said of pension. State also has laws regarding recounts, including automatic recounts depending on margin of victory or a.. `` landslide and still pick up the same time, there one. Then candidates could limit campaigning to heavily-populated areas or specific regions physical college, the president to on. Updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate in their concurring opinion inBush, et al electors! Of external sites by lawmakers in the capital, Washington DC provides representatives promote. The capital, Washington DC and their job is to choose the is... Later, in their concurring opinion inBush, et al ordinary voters in the 21st century about! The pros and cons of the following statements expresses a fact rather than an opinion limited government Brad Smith who. The voting process, make a list of reforms and why you would not choose to enact.! The following statements expresses a fact rather than an opinion the poll of ordinary voters in the,. Poll of ordinary voters in the Constitution he said petition from a candidate lost the popular vote that! The attention, '' he said areas, '' he said the right to a trial. Candidate lost the popular vote, denying any one of the process are dictated by the Amendment.