The document summarizes that Ohio received disproportionate attention from presidential candidates in 2008 compared to smaller states, despite Ohio only making up around 3% of the total US population. It argues that the current Electoral College system marginalizes almost all states except a few battleground states that receive the vast majority of campaign visits and money. While defenders claim battleground states will change over time, some states like Utah and Rhode Island have not been battlegrounds in nearly a century, so the attention does not evenly shift over time as claimed. The document proposes a national popular vote as an alternative that would make every vote equally relevant and not ignore smaller states.

1. In 2008, one lucky state—Ohio—received more
attention than the 25 smallest states* combined.
Share of Population, Share of Post-Convention Share of Post-Convention
2008 Estimates Campaign Visits, 2008 Campaign Money, 2008
25 25 25 25
Smallest
States
Ohio
1 Smallest
States
Ohio Smallest
States
Ohio
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.

2. Defenders of the Electoral College’s rules claim
battleground states* change, eventually giving
each state its moment in the political spotlight.
99
consecutive
UT years of
irrelevancy
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.

3. Defenders of the Electoral College’s rules claim
swing states* change, eventually giving each state
its moment in the political spotlight.
55
consecutive
RI years of
irrelevancy
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.

4. 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.
WY, UT, MT, NE,
ID, ND, SD CA
1.27
million
1.24
million
Bush margin Kerry margin
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).