Controversies Surrounding the Electoral College
Introduction
The Twelfth Amendment to the constitution of the United States is responsible for providing the procedure that is utilized to elect the president and the vice president to office. The Twelfth Amendment took effect in 1804 and since then all the presidential elections held in the country have been governed by it. Two times in the 21st century, 2000 and 2016 the candidate with the most popular vote across the states has not won the presidential election since they did not win most of the votes in the Electoral College. There has been a controversial debate raised by politicians, journalists, and constitutional scholars that the candidate who wins the most popular vote should win the election. Also, proposals have been brought forth suggesting that the Electoral College be bypassed without necessarily having to amend the constitution to ensure that whoever wins the popular vote becomes president. The below discussed is an exploration of the issue surrounding the Electoral College and proposals that have been brought forth on how to ensure that the candidate with the most votes wins the elections.
The National Popular Vote Movement argues that the vote of every citizen is important and should count regardless of where they reside. The National Popular Vote Movement is of the opinion that the country’s Electoral College system disregards the votes of the citizens and reduces them to mere spectators in the event of an election (FairVote n.d). The current election system that is firmly grounded by state laws in the country allows the votes cast by the Electoral College to take all basis. The movement believes that there are state-based constitutional ways that can be used to ensure that the presidential candidate with the majority of the most popular vote wins the election through the National Popular Vote interstate compact.
States have the constitutional right to exercise full control over the allocation of electoral votes. The election system can be set in a way that the current winner also wins the Electoral College vote. States can either choose to vote for the candidate who has won the most popular vote or not. Under the National Popular Vote interstate compact, it is possible for the candidate with the majority of popular votes to win the elections if the 50 states and DC choose to cast their Electoral College vote in their favor. However, this compact take effect only when the majority of states sign the agreement that the electoral college will vote in favor of the candidate who has the most popular vote in the state (FairVote n.d). In general, this means that a majority of the 270 Electoral College voters have to join the compact for it to take effect. The national Popular vote plan has been introduced in all 50 States and up to date only 15 states and DC have joined the compact. These states have a total of 196 Electoral College voters and the activation of the compact is at 72.6% (FairVote n.d). The National Popular Vote plans on ensuring that the vote of every citizen is equally valued. The National Poplar vote aims at eliminating the unprecedented inequality that has plagued presidential elections in the country, the implementation of the interstate compact will ensure that the most popular vote from the District of Columbia and all 50 states determines who wins presidential elections.
In 2019 the New York times magazine collected a few opinions from United States citizens and most of the opinions presented to the Editor at the New York Times were a mixture of bitter feelings towards the Electoral College voting system. Most of the citizens wanted the abolishment of the Electoral College since it only existed as a form of deliberate discrimination (The New York Times, 2019). In the opinion of many citizens the existence of this system of voting conflicts with their democratic rights. Also, following the controversy surrounding the election of 2000 and 2016 voters in the United States believe that the time for a constitutional amendment abolishing the Electoral College has come (The New York Times, 2019).
A survey conducted in the U.S. revealed that 58% of voters say that the constitution should undergo an amendment to ensure that the candidate with the majority of the popular vote wins the election. However, 40% of the voter’s population prefer to keep the current system, where the final decision on who wins the presidential vote is based on the majority of the electoral vote (Daniller, 2020). The 2006 election was responsible for stirring the presidential debate towards the amendment of the constitution. The majority of Republicans support the current election system. In 2011, majority of the Republicans wanted the constitution amended but following the presidential win of President Donald Trump who had lost the popular vote and won the electoral vote they now prefer that the current system remain as it is (Daniller, 2020). 81% of Democrats believe that the constitution should be amended.
It is impossible to by-pass the Electoral College without having to amend the constitution. If the nation has no desire to amend the constitution but desires to change the current voting system to allow the presidential candidate with the majority of popular votes to win the presidency then the country should consider the implementation of the interstate compact proposed by the National Popular Vote Movement. The movement gives forth a reasonable approach that can be implemented without necessarily going through the procedure of amending the constitution (FairVote n.d). The proposal presented by the movement is superior to the long procedure that is required to amend the constitutions, only a signature from Electoral College members from the various states is required declaring that they will vote in favor of the candidate who received the majority of the popular vote in the state.
In conclusion, the presidential elections in the United States are governed by the Twelfth Amendment of the Constitution. The Electoral College has determined the outcome of presidential elections since the 19th century. The constitution states that the candidates who receive the majority of electoral votes win the presidency regardless of whether they had lost the most popular votes. History has served the U.S. with occasions where the candidate who has lost the most popular vote wins the presidency because they won the electoral vote, this has happened twice in the 21st century. The National Popular Vote Moment is a movement that was established to ensure that the candidate who wins the most popular vote also wins the Electoral College vote. The Approach provided by the National Popular Vote movement can be considered as superior to other approaches that call for the amendment of the constitutions with a focus on abolishing the Electoral College.
References
Daniller, A. (2020). “A majority of Americans continue to favor replacing Electoral College with a nationwide popular vote” Retrieved from; https://www.pewresearch.org/fact- tank/2020/03/13/a-majority-of-Americans-continue-to-favor-replacing-electoral-college- with-a-nationwide-popular-vote/
FairVote (n.d). “A National Popular Vote for President” Retrieved from; https://www.fairvote.org/national_popular_vote
The New York Times (2019). “Exploring Alternatives to the Electoral College”. Retrieved from; https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/15/opinion/letters/electoral-college.html
