Tuesday, November 6 is midterm election day in the U.S., and it’s your chance to have a say in who calls the shots in government— and on your wallet.

With the population of the U.S. eligible to vote estimated at over 227,000,000, it’s easy to wonder how much your individual vote counts. Although the U.S. gives all citizens age 18 or older the right to vote (aside from felons in most states), ballots carry different weights based on the state in which one lives. Take California, for instance. Its estimated population is nearly 66 times greater than Wyoming’s, yet each state has two seats in the Senate. In this case, less is more: California’s votes are weakened exponentially because each of its senators must represent tens of millions more residents.

However, the House of Representatives apportions its seats by population, so California has 53 while Wyoming has just one. When it comes to presidential elections, too, California has 55 electoral votes while Wyoming has three. Even in all these cases, though, an individual Wyoming voter still has a bit more influence than a California voter.

As Americans head to the polls, WalletHub has identified the states with the most and least influential voters in the country. We did so by calculating the number of elected officials in the federal government per adult population in each state for the most recent election years. We also conducted year-over-year comparisons of the same calculations. With the results of our study, we hope to engage the public in a lively discussion about the current voting system.

Overall Rankings

Voting Power by State

Rank* State Vote Power Rank* State Vote Power 1 Wyoming 3.01 26 Colorado 0.98 2 Vermont 2.63 27 New Jersey 0.96 3 North Dakota 2.59 28 Virginia 0.95 4 Alaska 2.25 29 North Carolina 0.91 5 Rhode Island 1.96 30 New York 0.91 6 South Dakota 1.91 31 Oklahoma 0.90 7 Montana 1.83 32 California 0.89 8 Delaware 1.76 33 Alabama 0.88 9 West Virginia 1.56 34 Nevada 0.86 10 Hawaii 1.49 35 South Carolina 0.85 11 Maine 1.48 36 Louisiana 0.84 12 New Mexico 1.41 37 Pennsylvania 0.81 13 Nebraska 1.38 38 Ohio 0.80 14 New Hampshire 1.38 39 Connecticut 0.79 15 Idaho 1.31 40 Maryland 0.78 16 Utah 1.26 41 Texas 0.74 17 Kansas 1.09 42 Massachusetts 0.73 18 Kentucky 1.09 43 Oregon 0.69 19 Mississippi 1.03 44 Indiana 0.69 20 Arkansas 1.02 45 Missouri 0.69 21 Washington 1.00 46 Tennessee 0.67 22 Michigan 1.00 47 Arizona 0.65 23 Iowa 0.99 48 Wisconsin 0.62 24 Illinois 0.98 49 Florida 0.60 25 Minnesota 0.98 50 Georgia 0.57

*1=Most Powerful

Note: The Overall Vote Power was calculated using the formula:

Overall Vote Power= Full *Senate Vote Power + Full* House Vote Power + Full* Gubernatorial Vote Power

We also gave double weight to those particular races where a tossup is anticipated (regardless if they were for senate, house or gubernatorial).



Senate Rankings

Senate Elections - States with the Most and Least Powerful Voters (No. 1 = Most Powerful)

Rank State Vote Power Rank State Vote Power 1 North Dakota 6.90 26 Tennessee 0.77 2 Montana 4.87 27 Arizona 0.74 3 Wyoming 4.52 28 Connecticut 0.70 4 Vermont 3.95 29 Oklahoma 0.67 5 Alaska 3.60 30 Oregon 0.61 6 South Dakota 3.05 31 Kentucky 0.58 7 Delaware 2.64 32 Louisiana 0.56 8 Rhode Island 2.35 33 Alabama 0.53 9 Maine 1.85 34 South Carolina 0.51 10 New Hampshire 1.84 35 Colorado 0.46 11 Hawaii 1.78 36 Maryland 0.43 12 Nevada 1.73 37 Pennsylvania 0.39 13 Idaho 1.57 38 Massachusetts 0.36 14 Nebraska 1.38 39 Washington 0.35 15 West Virginia 1.38 40 Virginia 0.30 16 New Mexico 1.25 41 New Jersey 0.28 17 Minnesota 0.94 42 Michigan 0.26 18 Utah 0.92 43 Georgia 0.25 19 Kansas 0.91 44 North Carolina 0.25 20 Wisconsin 0.89 45 Florida 0.24 21 Mississippi 0.88 46 Ohio 0.22 22 Arkansas 0.87 47 Illinois 0.20 23 Missouri 0.85 48 Texas 0.19 24 Iowa 0.83 49 New York 0.13 25 Indiana 0.79 50 California 0.07

Senate – Gap between the Most and Least Powerful Voters

Note: Tossup races were not scored differently for the purpose of this graph.

House Rankings

House Elections - States with the Most and Least Powerful Voters (No. 1 = Most Powerful)

Rank State Vote Power Rank State Vote Power 1 West Virginia 4.15 26 Alabama 1.85 2 New Mexico 3.75 27 New Hampshire 1.84 3 Minnesota 3.74 28 Alaska 1.80 4 Maine 3.69 29 South Carolina 1.79 5 Utah 3.68 30 Hawaii 1.78 6 Kansas 3.64 31 Wisconsin 1.77 7 Illinois 3.63 32 Georgia 1.77 8 Michigan 3.60 33 Indiana 1.77 9 Pennsylvania 3.55 34 Mississippi 1.76 10 Ohio 3.53 35 Connecticut 1.76 11 Kentucky 3.48 36 Arkansas 1.74 12 California 3.48 37 Nevada 1.73 13 Washington 3.47 38 Tennessee 1.73 14 New York 3.44 39 North Dakota 1.73 15 Texas 3.44 40 Maryland 1.70 16 New Jersey 3.42 41 Missouri 1.69 17 Virginia 3.33 42 Oklahoma 1.68 18 Iowa 3.31 43 Louisiana 1.68 19 North Carolina 3.26 44 Arizona 1.67 20 Colorado 3.22 45 Massachusetts 1.64 21 Florida 3.22 46 Idaho 1.57 22 Rhode Island 2.35 47 Oregon 1.53 23 Wyoming 2.26 48 South Dakota 1.53 24 Nebraska 2.08 49 Delaware 1.32 25 Vermont 1.97 50 Montana 1.22

House – Gap between the Most and Least Powerful Voters

Note: Tossup races were not scored differently for the purpose of this graph.

Gubernatorial Rankings

Gubernatorial Elections - States with the Most and Least Powerful Voters (No. 1 = Most Powerful)

Rank State Vote Power Rank State Vote Power 1 Alaska 3.60 26 Kentucky 0.29 2 South Dakota 3.05 27 Louisiana 0.28 3 Wyoming 2.26 28 Alabama 0.26 4 Vermont 1.97 29 South Carolina 0.26 5 Maine 1.85 30 Georgia 0.25 6 New Hampshire 1.84 31 Minnesota 0.23 7 North Dakota 1.73 32 Colorado 0.23 8 Delaware 1.32 33 Ohio 0.22 9 Montana 1.22 34 Maryland 0.21 10 Rhode Island 1.17 35 Missouri 0.21 11 Kansas 0.91 36 Indiana 0.20 12 Hawaii 0.89 37 Tennessee 0.19 13 Nevada 0.86 38 Arizona 0.19 14 Iowa 0.83 39 Massachusetts 0.18 15 Idaho 0.79 40 Washington 0.17 16 Connecticut 0.70 41 Virginia 0.15 17 Nebraska 0.69 42 New Jersey 0.14 18 West Virginia 0.69 43 Michigan 0.13 19 New Mexico 0.63 44 North Carolina 0.13 20 Oregon 0.61 45 Florida 0.12 21 Utah 0.46 46 Illinois 0.10 22 Wisconsin 0.44 47 Pennsylvania 0.10 23 Mississippi 0.44 48 New York 0.06 24 Arkansas 0.44 49 Texas 0.05 25 Oklahoma 0.34 50 California 0.03

Blue vs. Red States

Ask The Experts

Time and again, the American voting system has been a target of criticism both domestically and overseas. In order to expand the discussion, we asked a panel of experts to weigh in on the problems with the current voting structures and procedures. Click on the experts’ profiles to read their bios and responses to the following key questions:

Do you think it’s fair that all states are represented by only 2 senators, regardless of population? What are the consequences of having so many gerrymandered, uncompetitive House districts? How does this impact governance? Should we reform the Electoral College system? If so, how? Should we reform how votes are apportioned in Congress (both the House and the Senate)? If so, how? What reforms should be considered to make elections fairer? Should there be a non-partisan Federal Commission that would organize and supervise the voting process or should voting procedures be left to the states?

Methodology

To find the states with the most and least influential voters, WalletHub calculated the number of elected officials in the federal government per total number of adult residents in each state during the current midterm election year. The calculation methods we used for this study resulted in three key metrics, which are described below, along with their corresponding weights. The higher the ratio for each, the more powerful the voters were or will be in the elections. We also gave double weight to those particular races where a tossup is anticipated (regardless if they were for senate, house or gubernatorial).

For this particular study, we counted only the population aged 18 or older. While elected state officials represent everyone in their states, the purpose of this study is to rank the relative influence of voters across states. However, our data was not able to account for the limited number of state laws that allow 17-year-old residents to vote and/or bar prisoners or felons from doing so.

- Senate Elections – Full Weight: Number of Senators in Each State/Projected Population Aged 18 or Older in 2018

- House Elections – Full Weight: Number of Representatives in Each State/Projected Population Aged 18 or Older in 2018

- Gubernatorial Elections – Full Weight: Governor /Projected Population Aged 18 or Older in 2018





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Sources: Data used to create these rankings is courtesy of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Image: Andrea Izzotti / Shutterstock.com

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