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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. . . (more…)