Sure, Every Vote Counts, But Not Equally

Published on 2020-10-27 16:04:45

"Every vote counts"

"Your voice matters"

"It's your civic duty"

Sure, there is a bit of truth in these statements - but they're extremely misleading. To make it more confusing, they're actually misleading in multiple ways. Let's break it down.

Every vote may be counted in a presidential election, but it only matters in your individual state. In most cases, the candidate who wins the popular vote in any given state then wins the official electoral college votes. Wait. What? You don't directly vote for the president of the United States, despite what we're taught growing up. In fact, the electoral college can vote against the popular vote if they so decide to in most states. So, you're really just voting for the voters to vote for president. Got that?

On to our second point. Yes, your vote may end up being counted, but because of this system, not all votes are counted equally. Your vote in California isn't worth nearly as much as it would be in Alaska. A state's number of electoral votes are a combination of their number of senators (2) plus the number of congressmen. Unfortunately, this doesn't come close to aligning with the population of each state. Need examples?

California's population of approximatley 35 million only receives 55 electoral college votes.

Wyoming's population of just over 500,000 still get 3 electoral college votes.

If you do the math, you will find out that Wyoming's electoral votes per resident are 3.8 times greater than for someone living in California. So no, not all votes are counted equally in a presidential election. Not even close. Need the data? Here you go:

State Population (2003) Electoral College Votes Rep. Value per Resident  
Texas       22,118,509 34 1.53717414  
California       35,484,453 55 1.54997458  
Florida       17,019,068 27 1.58645585  
New York      19,190,115 31 1.61541502  
Illinois      12,653,544 21 1.6596141  
Michigan        10,079,985 17 1.68651045  
Pennsylvania      12,365,455 21 1.6982796  
Georgia      8,684,715 15 1.72717239  
New Jersey     8,638,396 15 1.73643348  
Ohio      11,435,798 20 1.74889413  
Virginia      7,386,330 13 1.76000801  
Indiana       6,195,643 11 1.77544123  
North Carolina      8,407,248 15 1.7841748  
Arizona      5,580,811 10 1.79185427  
Washington       6,131,445 11 1.79403061  
Maryland      5,508,909 10 1.81524146  
Wisconsin     5,472,299 10 1.82738553  
Massachusetts      6,433,422 12 1.86525927  
Tennessee        5,841,748 11 1.88299803  
Missouri       5,704,484 11 1.92830763  
South Carolina     4,147,152 8 1.92903467  
Kentucky       4,117,827 8 1.94277224  
Oregon      3,559,596 7 1.9665153  
Minnesota     5,059,375 10 1.97652872  
Colorado      4,550,688 9 1.97772293  
Oklahoma     3,511,532 7 1.99343193  
Alabama 4,500,752 9 1.99966583  
Louisiana   4,496,334 9 2.00163066  
Connecticut       3,483,372 7 2.00954707  
Mississippi       2,881,281 6 2.0824071  
Utah       2,351,467 5 2.1263322  
Arkansas       2,725,714 6 2.20125809  
Kansas      2,723,507 6 2.20304189  
Nevada     2,241,154 5 2.2309935  
Iowa    2,944,062 7 2.37766732  
New Mexico       1,874,614 5 2.66721576  
West Virginia       1,810,354 5 2.76189077  
Nebraska       1,739,291 5 2.87473459  
Idaho       1,366,332 4 2.92754616  
Maine       1,305,728 4 3.06342515  
New Hampshire      1,287,687 4 3.10634494  
Hawaii      1,257,608 4 3.18064134  
Montana     917,621 3 3.26932361  
Delaware      817,491 3 3.66976517  
Rhode Island     1,076,164 4 3.7169056  
South Dakota      764,309 3 3.92511406  
Alaska       648,818 3 4.6237928  
North Dakota       633,837 3 4.73307806  
Vermont       619,107 3 4.84568903  
District of Columbia    563,384 3 5.32496486  
Wyoming      501,242 3 5.98513293  
         

 

But Wait - It Get's Worse!

In many recent presidential elections, the winner has been declared by the end of the day. As polling locations close, vote counts are registered, and in many cases can be called far before all votes are couned. If a polling district has already counted 75% of the votes and therefore can determine that the second choice candidate is unable to win, they are able to declare a winner in that location. Therefore, counting is not actually finished when the winner is declared locally, which can and should influence the actual electoral college voters.

Really want to feel slighted? Move to Hawaii. There have been many election years where the winner was declared before polls in Alaska even closed, due to the time zone difference.

How much does your vote count? 

Where do you live? How much does your vote count? Should you vote for the president? Tell us by letting us know who you're voting for in our anonymous vote for the president online poll. It's free, fun, and actually counts every vote!