In US history, there have been five presidential elections where the winner actually lost the popular vote: 1824, 1876, 1888, 2000, and 2016. This is a quirk of the Electoral College, a system in which each state is allotted and awards electoral votes based on its population (as opposed to a national popular vote). Because every state has a minimum of three electoral votes, and because Electoral College allocation only changes every 10 years, voters in some states have more relative power than others.
To understand each state’s relative voting power, this map compares each state’s share of electoral votes to its share of citizen voting age population. In an equitable system, every person’s vote would have the same power regardless of where they live.
Under the Electoral College, some states, like Maryland, end up very close to this ideal. Maryland has 1.858% of the nation’s electoral votes and 1.853% of the US citizen voting age population. The two values are remarkably close. Conversely, Ohio has only 3.16% of the nation’s electoral votes despite having 3.758% of the US citizen voting age population. This means the Electoral College gives voters in Ohio less relative power than it gives voters in Maryland. In fact, Ohio has less relative voting power than any other state in the US. That said, Ohio is considered a swing state, and some argue that voters in swing states have more influence on presidential elections.
On the map, states with more relative voting power are shaded in purple with outlines of people representing their relative voting power. States with less relative voting power are shown in orange. States that are closer to the average of 1.0 are displayed in white. This analysis shows that the Electoral College tends to empower voters in less populated states.
It’s worth noting that every eligible voter does not vote in every election. Turnout rates fluctuate throughout US history. In the last five presidential elections, turnout has ranged from a low of 54.2% in 2000 to a high of 66.6% in 2020.
More to Explore
- Browse additional maps about citizen voting age population.
- Take a deep dive into the many ways of mapping and visualizing US presidential elections.
- Remember that land doesn’t vote, people do.
