Study: Texans have weaker voting power than majority of voters in other states
As Americans participate in early voting ahead of Election Day on Nov. 6, a new study shows just how much power those voters have — and how it varies depending on where they live.
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.
WalletHub identified the states with the most and least influential voters in the country by calculating the number of elected officials in the federal government per adult population in each state for the most recent election years.
So it isn’t a surprise to those with knowledge of the workings of the U.S. political structure that the study puts Texas in the bottom 10 for the most powerful voters in the U.S.
Densely populated states benefit in the House of Representatives, because the number of congressmen and congresswomen is relative to the population. But the tables turn on those states in the Senate, which is made up of two senators from each state regardless of population.
A breakdown shows that Texas has some of the least powerful voters for the Senate, ranking 48 out of 50 states. But when voting for representatives in the House, Texas voters regain their power, putting the state at 15.
In New Mexico, voters have plenty of strength, coming in second for House elections and #16 in the Senate.
Andrew Bennett, a Georgetown University professor, told WalletHub that he doesn’t think it’s fair that all states are represented by two senators, regardless of population.
“Defenders only argue ‘that is just the way the Constitution is’ but this is an intellectual cop-out — the Constitution also continued slavery, counted slaves as 3/5ths of a person, and denied women the right to vote,” said Andrew Bennett, a Georgetown University professor interviewed by WalletHub.
“This is an example of what political scientists call ‘institutional drift,'” continued Bennett. “A rule gets made, but then circumstances change over time so the rule has very different consequences from its original intent.”
But the founders wanted to make sure that states are fairly represented as states and as population, pointed out Laura Merrifield Albright, an assistant professor at the University of Indianapolis.
“If you consider representation from both of these two means, having a bicameral legislature that represents both states and people is actually remarkably fair,” Albright told WalletHub.
However you feel, it goes to show that voting is important, and votes matter.
Early voting ends in Texas on Nov. 2 and on Nov. 3 in New Mexico.
Election Day is Nov. 6.
