Four of Five States are Ignored in the Current System
The current state-based, winner-take-all method of awarding electoral votes makes the voters in a handful of battlegrounds states the only relevant voters in presidential elections.
In the current system, presidential candidates have no incentive to campaign in states in which they are either comfortably ahead or hopelessly behind. This gives all of the electoral power in every election to a just a handful of tightly contested battleground states.
There will be an estimated 12 battleground states in the upcoming election, leaving 38 states (including Colorado) out of the race. (1) Nearly four out of five Americans will effectively be ignored by presidential candidates.
In 2016, 94% of campaign events by either candidate occurred in just 12 states. 24 states received no events at all. (2)
In 2012, all campaign events occurred in just 12 states. (3)
In 2008, 97.7% of campaign events occurred in just 14 states. Maine, Minnesota, West Virginia, Tennessee and the District of Columbia received the remaining 2.3%. The rest of the country was ignored. (4)
Between 1988 and 2008, two-thirds of states were ignored by presidential campaigns. (5)
This is not the electoral method that the Founding Fathers envisioned. The winner-take-all method was not designed, anticipated or favored by the Founding Fathers. It is, instead, the product of decades of change stemming from the emergence of political parties in 1796 and the later adoption of winner-take-all statutes in most states. (6)
States have the constitutional right to allocate electoral votes as they wish. (7) Now, as the voices of a majority of Americans are being ignored, is the time for the states to exercise this right.
The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact would make every citizen’s vote equal, no matter their political affiliation or state of residence. It would redistribute accountability of presidential candidates from a handful of states to the country as a whole.
References
(1) “Identifying the 2020 Battleground States.” Electoral Vote Map, 3 Dec. 2018. electoralvotemap.com, https://electoralvotemap.com/2020-battleground-states/.
(2) “Agreement Among the States to Elect the President by National Popular Vote.” National Popular Vote, March 8, 2020. https://www.nationalpopularvote.com/written-explanation.
(3) Koza, John R., et al. Every Vote Equal: A State Based Plan for Electing the President by National Popular Vote, 4th ed., National Popular Vote Press, 2013, pp. 33. http://www.every-vote-equal.com/
(4) Koza, John R., et al. Every Vote Equal: A State Based Plan for Electing the President by National Popular Vote, 4th ed., National Popular Vote Press, 2013, pp. 20-22. http://www.every-vote-equal.com/
(5) Koza, John R., et al. Every Vote Equal: A State Based Plan for Electing the President by National Popular Vote, 4th ed., National Popular Vote Press, 2013, p. 11. http://www.every-vote-equal.com/
(6) Koza, John R., et al. Every Vote Equal: A State Based Plan for Electing the President by National Popular Vote, 4th ed., National Popular Vote Press, 2013, p. 78. http://www.every-vote-equal.com/
(7) U.S. Constitution, Article II, section I, clauses 1 and 2. https://www.archives.gov/electoral-college/provisions