Everything is bigger in Texas, except influence in the Electoral College.
At 38 electoral votes, the Lone Star State has the second most votes in the union, but that still isn’t enough to fairly represent the rapidly-growing population.
The number of electoral votes are supposed to be proportioned by population, being equal to the number of a state’s members of the House of Representatives, plus two for the number of Senators given to each state.
But Congress capped membership to the House at 435 in 1912. That means while Texas’ population has boomed, the number of electoral votes has fallen short of what it should be.
The result? The power of Texas voters is highly diluted, especially compared to the country’s smallest states whose electoral votes are more potent. Even more populous California has a more equitable distribution of electoral votes than Texas does.
Talk about a bum deal.
For more on how this works, see the interactive infographic below: