Electoral College Reform in the United States

Electoral College: Proposals for Reform

Introduction to Electoral College Reform

Proposals for reform of the electoral college began in the earliest days of the republic. Indeed, it is the part of the Constitution most often subject to proposals for modification. Aside from abolition of the electoral college and the substitution of direct election by the people, the most common proposals retain the system of electoral votes but alter its operation. One suggestion, for example, would automatically assign a proportionate number of a state’s electoral votes to a candidate based upon that candidate’s popular vote total in that state. This suggestion would make less likely a “wrong winner,” but it would retain electors and does not seem to have any greater advantage over direct election.

Yet another proposal, the so-called national bonus plan, would add a fixed number of electoral votes to the existing electoral college total of the candidate with the greatest number of votes nationwide. This plan would further reduce the possibility of a wrong winner. However, in a three-way race this plan could distort the election outcome by adding to the electoral vote total of a candidate who received a popular plurality while remaining the second or third choice of most voters.

None of these or other proposed reforms has ever come close to being adopted, for two reasons. First, small states receive an advantage by having the electoral college. The vote of a voter in Alaska or Montana counts for more than the vote of a voter in California or New York. Although Alaska and Montana each have only three electoral votes, three is still more than they would be allotted if electoral votes were apportioned solely on the basis of population. Most legislators in states with small populations then would be unlikely to support the abolition of the electoral college. Abolishing the electoral college would require a constitutional amendment. For such an amendment to be ratified, three-fourths of the states would have to approve. But 20 of the 50 states have six or fewer electoral votes and would be unlikely to support such an amendment, effectively blocking it since 38 states are needed for ratification.

Second, abolition would trade known problems for risks that are not known. Until a reform proposal comes along that does not clearly imperil “the whole solar system of governmental power,” it is likely that Americans will continue to live with the shortcomings of the electoral college rather than risk something worse. “There are objections,” Madison wrote, “against every mode that has been, or perhaps can be proposed.” It is, perhaps more than anything, the comparative merit of the electoral college that has accounted for its survival for more than 200 years.” (1)

Resources

Notes and References

• Information about Electoral College Reform in the Encarta Online Encyclopedia

Guide to Electoral College Reform

In this Section

Voting Rights, Voter Participation, Election Redistricting, Electoral College (including Electoral College Selection, Counting the Votes, Electoral College Origins, Electoral College First Years, Electoral College History and the 12th Amendment, Disputed Elections of 1824 and 1876, Electoral College and the Influence of Political Parties, Winner-Take-All System, Debate Over the Electoral College and Electoral College Reform), Electorate Age and Electorate Constitutional Provisions.