I spent several hours today comparing the number of voters in a given US state with the number of electoral votes that state gets. I then compiled a table of what I found out, with data from 2000 to show how it actually works as well as how it works in theory.
It was educational. So much so, in fact, that I want to share it with all of you.
Notes: Voting-age population accurate in year 2000.
Base vote value is the precise percentage of an electoral vote each person in the state would get if each voting-age individual voted and they all voted for the same person. It is also the value of the contribution each person would make to the electoral vote if everyone in the state voted and they did not all vote for the same person — the amount of “say” each person has in which way the state goes.
The 2000 vote values show how much influence each vote had on the state’s final position in that year’s election. These numbers reflect the actual voter turnout, which is why they’re included.
The rank is the amount of influence a given voter has compared to voters in other states, with 1 being best and 51 being worse (51 because D. C. has 3 electoral votes — I know there are only 50 states, no worries.)
There may be some typos here — I had to correct the rankings twice, and I’m still not sure they’re all down correctly. If you spot anything, let me know.
My HTML’s too complicated — follow the link.
At this point I would point out the basic unfairness of the system, rant about how the winner of an election is not ever actually going to have the majority of votes (nearly half the people who can vote don’t anyway!) and finish up by organizing a group to move to Wyoming and balance things out. As it’s 11:30 PM, though, I will leave those as exercises for the reader.
Edit to add: backup link.
