Abolishing the Electoral College: Arguments for and Against
The Electoral College, a cornerstone of the American presidential election system, has been a subject of intense debate since the nation's founding. With the 2024 presidential election looming, the debate over its continued relevance and fairness has reignited. While some argue that it is a vital component of American self-government, others contend that it undermines the democratic principle of one person, one vote. This article explores the arguments for and against abolishing the Electoral College.
The Electoral College: A Primer
Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution establishes the Electoral College, granting each state a number of electors equal to its total number of representatives in Congress (House and Senate), plus three electors for the District of Columbia, totaling 538 electoral votes. A candidate must secure a majority of these votes to win the presidency. In most states, the candidate who wins the popular vote receives all of the state's electoral votes. However, Nebraska and Maine employ a different method, allocating two electoral votes to the statewide winner and one to the winner of each congressional district.
The Electoral College system has resulted in situations where a candidate wins the presidency despite losing the popular vote. This has occurred in five presidential elections: 1824, 1876, 1888, 2000, and 2016. These instances have fueled criticism of the Electoral College, with many arguing that it disenfranchises voters and distorts the will of the people.
Arguments Against Abolishing the Electoral College
Despite its critics, the Electoral College has staunch defenders who argue that it serves several important functions.
Preservation of Federalism and State Representation
One of the primary arguments in favor of the Electoral College is that it protects the interests of smaller states and reinforces federalism. The "senatorial bump," which grants each state two electors regardless of population, ensures that less populous states have a proportionally greater voice in presidential elections. This prevents a situation where candidates focus solely on densely populated areas and neglect the concerns of smaller states.
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James Madison worried that a popularly elected president would be more likely to neglect smaller states’ interests or sacrifice them altogether.
Prevention of Tyranny of the Majority
The delegates to the Federal Convention of 1787 who wrote the Constitution wanted to empower the federal government while ensuring it could not use its power to become tyrannical. The delegates understood tyranny as “the accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many.” To prevent tyranny, they divided the government into three branches.
Making each branch of government directly dependent on the popular will will eliminate any obstacle to the concentration of power in their hands.
Promotion of Broad-Based Support
The Electoral College encourages candidates to build broad-based support across multiple states rather than focusing on racking up large margins in a few heavily populated areas. This promotes a more national and less regional vision, as candidates must appeal to a diverse range of interests and concerns to win enough states to reach the 270 electoral vote threshold.
Reinforcement of the Two-Party System
The Electoral College channels presidential politics into a two-party system, which some argue is superior to multi-party systems where fringe factions can exert too much leverage. By making it difficult for third-party candidates to win electoral votes, the system incentivizes voters to coalesce around the two major parties, promoting stability and preventing the fragmentation of the electorate.
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Reduction of Campaign Costs and Vote-Counting Disputes
It probably reduces the cost of presidential campaigns by confining television advertising to the battleground states (and spares the rest of us the tedium of endless repetitive ads). And it confines vote-counting disputes to just one, or maybe a few, states. Imagine a Florida-style recount in every precinct in America.
Arguments for Abolishing the Electoral College
Opponents of the Electoral College argue that it is an outdated and undemocratic system that should be replaced by a national popular vote.
Upholding the Principle of "One Person, One Vote"
The most compelling argument for abolishing the Electoral College is that it violates the fundamental democratic principle of "one person, one vote." In a system where the popular vote winner can lose the election, some votes are effectively worth more than others, depending on the state in which they are cast. This undermines the equality of all citizens and disenfranchises voters in states where the outcome is not competitive.
Our votes would count the same wherever they were cast. No other mode of presidential elections would be fully consistent with our underlying commitment to the equality of all citizens.
Elimination of the "Battleground State" Phenomenon
A national popular vote would eliminate the "battleground state" phenomenon that has now become the key feature of post-convention campaigning, leaving most Americans alienated from the decisive phase of presidential elections. Swing or battleground states are mere accidents of geography. They do not matter because they have any special civic characteristics. They simply happen to be states that become competitive because of their demography, and which are readily identifiable as such because of the increasing sophistication of political polling. In a truly national election, parties and candidates would have the incentive to turn out their votes wherever they were, fostering a deeper sense of engagement across the whole population.
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The organization argues the Electoral College encourages presidential candidates to ignore most states due to the swing-state effect. The organization notes that all of the general election events in the 2012 presidential race took place in 12 states, ignoring 38 states and their voters.
Increased Voter Turnout and Engagement
Amar also pointed out how a popular vote would encourage states to increase turnout. He believed that every state that boosts turnout in this system would exert greater say over the presidential winner. This incentive would be strongest for traditionally red or blue states where turnout stagnates due to expected outcomes.
Legitimacy of Presidential Authority
Having an election in which victory went to a candidate carrying a single national constituency might not wholly cure this problem, but it might well work to mitigate it.
Disproportionate Influence of Small States
Stanford University Professor Jack Rakove suggested in 2016 that the Electoral College weighs votes differently based on state. Rakove said that the disproportionate influences of small states distorts election results.
Potential Alternatives to the Electoral College
Given the ongoing debate over the Electoral College, several alternative systems have been proposed.
National Popular Vote Interstate Compact
The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) is an agreement among states to award their electoral votes to the candidate who wins the national popular vote. The compact would go into effect when states with a combined total of 270 electoral votes join the agreement. As of 2023, the NPVIC has been adopted by states with a total of 205 electoral votes.
Proportional Allocation of Electoral Votes
Another proposed alternative is to allocate electoral votes proportionally based on the popular vote within each state. This would eliminate the winner-take-all system and ensure that all votes contribute to a candidate's electoral vote total.
Direct Popular Election
The most straightforward alternative is to simply abolish the Electoral College and elect the president based on the national popular vote. This would require a constitutional amendment and would likely face significant political opposition.
The Path Forward
The debate over the Electoral College is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. While there is significant support for abolishing the system and replacing it with a national popular vote, there are also strong arguments in favor of preserving the Electoral College. Any attempt to reform the system would require a broad consensus and significant political will.
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