In 2008, one lucky state—Ohio—received more attention than the 25 smallest states* combined.

Rather than boost small states, current Electoral College rules marginalize nearly all of them.

* The 25 smallest states are: Wyoming, North Dakota, Alaska, South Dakota, Montana, Vermont, District of Columbia, Delaware, Hawaii, Rhode Island, Maine, New Hampshire, Idaho, Nebraska, West Virginia, Utah, New Mexico, Nevada, Arkansas, Kansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Iowa, Connecticut, Oregon.

12525

Smallest States

25 Smallest

States

25 Smallest

StatesOhio

Ohio Ohio

Share of Population, 2008 Estimates

Share of Post-Convention Campaign Visits, 2008

Share of Post-Convention Campaign Money, 2008

Defenders of the Electoral College’s rules claim battleground states* change, eventually giving each state its moment in the political spotlight.

But the people of Utah know better. Their state hasn’t been a battleground since 1912.

* A "battleground state " is defined as a state that was won by less than six percentage points.

UT 99consecutive

years of irrelevancy

Defenders of the Electoral College’s rules claim swing states* change, eventually giving each state its moment in the political spotlight.

But the people of Rhode Island know better. Their state hasn’t been a swing state since 1956.

* A "swing state " is defined as a state with a partisanship rating between 47% and 53%, meaning that if a presidential election were highly competitive nationally, the outcome in the state might determine who wins the White House.

55consecutive

years of irrelevancy

RI

With National Popular Vote, candidates will not ignore small states. In 2004, seven rural Western states* yielded a bigger margin for George Bush than California did for John Kerry—despite California's population being three times larger.

You needn't be big in order to generate attractive vote margins. NPV would place this unexplored electoral frontier back on the map.

•The seven states included are: Idaho (228,137 margin for Bush in 2004), Montana (92,353), Nebraska (258,486), North Dakota (85,599), South Dakota (83,340), Utah (422,543), Wyoming (96,853).

1.27million

Bush margin

1.24million

Kerry margin

WY, UT, MT, NE, ID, ND, SD CA