Shortcomings of the Current System of Electing the President

The shortcomings of the current system of electing the President stem from existing state laws that award all of a state’s electoral votes to the presidential candidate who receives the most popular votes in the state.

  • Five of our 46 Presidents came into office without winning the most popular votes nationwide.
  • Three out of four states are regularly ignored in the general-election campaign for President.
  • The current state-by-state winner-take-all system regularly enables a few thousand votes in a small number of states to decide the Presidency—thereby fueling post-election controversies and threatening the country’s stability.
  • Every vote is not equal throughout the United States under the current system.
  • The current system could easily result in the U.S. House of Representatives choosing the President on a one-state-one-vote basis.
  • Voter participation is lower in the spectator states than battleground states.

The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact Addresses the Shortcomings of the Current System.  

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