All votes are equal--but some are more equal than others.

A lot has been made lately of the "every vote is equal" prinicple, mostly to argue that Florida and Michigan must be accorded their full delegate tally in the interest of fairness.  What such arguments ignore is the fact that even in "enfranchised" states, not every vote is equal; for instance, a single delegate from Utah represents far fewer votes than a single delegate from Wisconsin.

So which states are the most "enfranchised"?  Here's a full list of all states which held primaries so far this year and their vpd (votes per delegate, calculated by dividing the total number of votes cast in a state by that state's number of pledged delegates) ratios.  I included Florida and Michigan twice--once with a full delegate slate, and once with delegates halved.  Feel free to draw your own conclusions, I just think that vpd ratios are a relevant data point which ought to be taken into account in the Michigan/Florida debates.

Michigan (full)--4643.5

Utah--5713 vpd

Delaware--6425 vpd

Louisiana--6743 vpd

Connecticut--7386 vpd

New York--8028 vpd

Arizona--8136 vpd

Arkansas--8480.5 vpd

Rhode Island--8878 vpd

Tennessee--9187.5 vpd

Michigan (halved)--9361 vpd

Florida (full)--9459 vpd

Vermont--10,310 vpd

Alabama--10,320 vpd

New Jersey--10,665.5 vpd

Oklahoma--10,979 vpd

Missouri--11,459 vpd

Oregon--11,788.5 vpd

South Carolina--11,827 vpd

Virginia--11,882 vpd

Georgia--12,193 vpd

Maryland--12,545 vpd

West Virginia--12,742.5 vpd

New Hampshire--13,070 vpd

Mississippi--13,155 vpd

Illinois--13,324 vpd

Massachusetts--13,501.5 vpd

California--13,694.5 vpd

Kentucky--13,748 vpd

North Carolina--13,773 vpd

Pennsylvania--14,599 vpd

Texas--14,862.5 vpd

Wisconsin--15,044.5 vpd

Ohio--15,779.5 vpd

Indiana--17,570 vpd

Florida (halved)--18,918 vpd



Display:


Even with halved delegates... (2.00 / 1)

the votes of Alegre's much-vaunted family in Michigan would still count more than mine!  Go figure.


Wouldn't it be nice if there were no rhetorical questions?
by Elsinora on Fri May 23, 2008 at 07:45:31 PM EST

Thanks. This is eye-opening. (none / 0)


by edg1 on Fri May 23, 2008 at 09:43:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Thanks. (none / 0)

Thanks for taking the time to do the math.  I do this every years for the electoral college, but never considered it for delegate purposes.


John McCain: He flunked ECON 101.
by Shem on Fri May 23, 2008 at 08:33:37 PM EST

Re: All votes are equal--but some are more equal t (none / 0)

Democratic Republic > Democracy.


by mattw on Fri May 23, 2008 at 08:56:23 PM EST

Re: All votes are equal--but some are more equal t (none / 0)

Interesting diary.  I didn't realize the discrepancies in this respect were so large.  It seems to mostly be a factor of how much states lean democratic, whether primaries are open or closed, and whether turnout is especially high in any given primary due to it being the focus of a specific campaign date.

With respect to the primary process, in the larger picture there is an even bigger factor, which is the schedule itself.  Clearly the votes of somebody in Iowa are not equal to the votes of someone in Montana in terms of influence in the primary process.


John McCain: Extending SCHIP would be an "unfunded liability."
by Fuzzy Dunlop on Fri May 23, 2008 at 10:35:05 PM EST


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