We've all heard the claims that small states oppose reforming the current system of electing the President, and that the current system gives them increased clout.
Both statements are false. They are harmful because they misidentify the actual problem and the path to reform.
First of all, 5 of the 16 jurisdictions that have enacted the National Popular Vote bill into law are small states (Delaware, Hawaii, Rhode Island, Vermont, and DC). Legislators in small states are very aware that the current state-by-state winner-take-all method of awarding electoral votes extinguishes their state's influence in presidential elections.
Political clout in presidential elections comes from being a closely divided battleground state -- not from the two extra electoral votes each state gets in the Electoral College (corresponding to the state's two U.S. Senators).
Presidential candidates ignore the concerns of voters in the smallest states—not because they are small—but because they are predictably red or blue in presidential elections. Indeed, the eight smallest states (green on the map below) have all voted by large margins for the same party in the last 6 presidential elections (and will do so again this year).
The numbers in the yellow-colored states indicate how many presidential campaign events (out of a total of 76) the state received during the first 6 weeks of the 2020 campaign.
