Votes on the MAX

What fun! We just got back from a night riding the MAX (above-ground subway) back and forth, into and out of Portland, registering people to vote. The responses to "Would you like to register to vote?" ranged from a shake of the head to "I'm already registered" to "You're getting paid to do this, right?" There were also plenty of the nods of the head, most often from people with earphones in both ears, which was their (confusing) response to what they interpreted as a slightly different question - "Yes? Oh, you already are? Great." Moving on. Interestingly, I've never been so disappointed by so many people being registered already! But we got three people who had moved recently, a couple of riders who were too young to vote last time around, and a handful of people who were really excited because it's been on their list of things to do, but who really knows where to get a voter registration card?

Now, the question of the evening: Are presidential votes counted as a popular vote in each state, or are they measured by district and then added/averaged, and/or does it vary by state? Stand by....

And the answer is: State votes appear to be counted as a popular vote. (Therefore, us getting on the train in one of the bluest cities in the country really is making a difference. Whew.) But interestingly, the weight of each voter in different states is different. An Alaskan vote, for example, is worth roughly 2.5 times that of an Oregon vote. On the other hand, Alaska gives only three electoral votes, while Oregon gives seven. Ignoring the fact that it is somewhat embarrassing to not have had a grasp on the electoral college system until now, I just found a pretty nice site that lays it all out in nice crisp clarity: "Does my vote count? Understanding the electoral college." (If you're short on time or interest I'd recommend skipping right down to section IV.)