pro electoral college _Discover_ article

[Mike Ossipoff]

There was a Scientific American article, in the Mathematical Games
column, I believe, in 1980, it seems to me, about the electoral
college, and that article also said that there was empirical evidence
that voters in large states have more power per voter (at least in
some sense).

It seems to me that what they said was that more campaign money per
person is spent in large states, meaning that the astute campaign
planners consider big state voters to have more power per person.

If it costs a certain amount to reach each voter with an ad, then
of course it's in the samll states that a given amount of money will
reach voters controlling more electoral votes, since small states have
more electoral person. But here are 3 possible reasons for spending
more money per person in big states:

1. The biggest state just happens to also be a state that's more
on-the-fence, having strong Demorcrat & Republican elements. 
States that could go either way are obviously the important ones
to campaign in. This fact alone, about California, could account
for the seemingly paradoxical result.

2. Maybe there are economic efficiencies, in terms of people reached
per dollar, when campaigning in a big state, versus lots of small states.

3. Even ignoring California's balance between the 2 big parties, 
a big state is more likely to be on the fence, at any given time,
than is a whole set of small states--well maybe. I haven't checked
that out mathematically. Maybe it's just because of California's
mixed composition.

But, in any case, as Steve said, the important thing is that
whether it's the small state who are advantaged, or whether
it's the big state voters, it's undesirable to advantge some
voters over others. Being disenfranchised because your state
isn't on the fence, and you're on the losing side there, is
like being disenfranchised because your on the losing side
in your House district.

Besides, if small states are disadvantaged by the electoral college,
then would they be willing to give up their disproportionate
electoral votes per person and discard the electoral college?
There's a case for objecting to disparities in electoral votes per
person regardless of empirical evidence.


Mike






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