[hdctambien]

Of those that voted. I think fixxer is saying that there are alot of people that don't vote (about half of the voting population) because they are an X in a Y state so they don't think their vote will change that. But if the electoral college went poof, a lot more of the missing 50% would vote and that could change the expected value of a popular vote.

[dllthomas]

This isn't so much directed at you, but this seems a great place to note that there are races on the ballot other than president, usually your local elections will have a bigger impact on your day-to-day life than the national ones, and your vote carries orders of magnitude more weight. Pay attention down-ballot!

[_ea1k]

In my district, the margins on those were even larger than the presidential margins. I still voted, but the outcomes were all very predictable here.

[dllthomas]

Are you actually saying the difference - in number of votes - for President for your state was smaller than the difference - in number of votes - for every local judge, school board member, etc?

I mean, not impossible, but surprising. Where are you located?

[_ea1k]

The number of votes was only wider in one or two of them (statewide races). The local races were mostly uncontested (or lightly contested).

[dllthomas]

Gotcha.

[matwood]

Exactly. As long as we are in an electoral system, discussing the popular vote as anything more than a novelty is a waste of time.