How the Electoral College Sucks - I'll break it down!

As American presidential elections are coming up, ponder this:

• A vote for president in Maine is worth more than two votes for president in California.

• A vote for president in North Dakota is worth more than three votes for president in California.

I made this lovely graphic to show the value of a presidential vote in each state, compared to California. For example, Louisiana is labeled +39%. That means voting for president in Louisiana has 39% more value than voting for president in California - five votes from Louisiana equals almost seven votes from California. I decided to use California as a basis of comparison because I live here and because we rock.

Why is this happening?
Because the Electoral College sucks.

For those of you who are new to this or who didn’t pay attention in highschool. . . the Electoral College is how we vote a president into office: you cast your vote, and whoever gets the majority of your state’s votes wins all of the state’s “Electoral Votes.” Whoever wins all of those becomes president. Usually.

Here’s the catch: Because of something known as the “Connecticut Compromise” or “Great Compromise,” the number of electoral votes each state has does not accurately reflect their population size. This was originally a way to prevent the interests of smaller states from being trampled on by bigger states.

In simple terms: Alaska (with an estimated 2007 population of 683,478) has 3 electoral votes. California (with an estimated 2007 population of 36,553,215) has 55 electoral votes.

• For every 227,826 people in Alaska, there is one electoral vote.

• For every 664,603 people in California, there is one electoral vote.

A presidential vote in Alaska has 192% more value than a vote from California.
Which sucks.

Some Highlights:
• Presidential votes in some states carry over twice the value of a vote from California: Alaska (+192% more value), Delaware (+131%), Hawaii (+107%), Maine (+102%), Montana (+108%), New Hampshire (+102%), Rhode Island (+151%), South Dakota (+150%),

• Presidential votes in some states carry over three times the value of a vote from California: North Dakota (+212% more value), Vermont (+221%), and Wyoming (+281%)

• Only two states have presidential votes of less value than California: Texas (-6% less value), Utah (-13% less value).