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One Citizen.
One Vote.

How gerrymandering and the winner-take-all Electoral College cancel American voters — and how we fix it.

The Patriot Test

  • Should every American’s vote count the same?
  • Should the candidate with the most votes win?
  • Should voters pick politicians — not the other way around?

If you said yes, yes, and yes — you already agree with everything in this deck.

The Two Problems

1. Gerrymandering

Politicians draw the maps to lock in their own seats. Cracking and packing turn 60% of votes into 40% of seats — or vice-versa.

2. Winner-Take-All

48 states give 100% of their electoral votes to whoever wins by even one vote. Everyone else’s vote in that state is thrown out.

Gerrymandering: 50 voters, 5 districts

30 Blue voters, 20 Red voters. Same people. Different lines. Different winners.

Fair: B 3 / R 2

B B B B B B R R R R
B B B B B B R R R R
B B B B B B R R R R
B B B B R R R R R R
B B B B R R R R R R

Rigged: R 3 / B 2

B B B B B R R R R R
B B B B B R R R R R
B B B B B R R R R R
B B B B B B B R R R
B B B B B B B R R R

A minority of voters got a majority of seats. That’s the cheat.

This isn’t theory

  • Wisconsin 2018: Democrats won ~53% of the State Assembly vote, got 36 of 99 seats.
  • North Carolina 2018: Republicans won about half the U.S. House vote, got 10 of 13 seats.
  • Brennan Center: Partisan gerrymandering can swing more than a dozen House seats per cycle.

Sources at oneamericanonevote.org/sources

The Electoral College Myth

“The Electoral College protects small states.”

It doesn’t. It protects swing states. There’s a difference.

Where the candidates actually went (2020)

96%of campaign events were in 12 states
38states received almost zero attention
0events in WY, VT, ND, SD, AK, DE, RI, MT, ID

Small states are not protected. They’re skipped.

Your vote, today

  • Republican in California? Your presidential vote doesn’t count.
  • Democrat in Wyoming? Your presidential vote doesn’t count.
  • Tens of millions of Americans live in states with predictable outcomes.

A true patriot can’t defend a system that throws away that many votes.

The Fix: National Popular Vote Interstate Compact

An agreement among states to award their electoral votes to whoever wins the national popular vote — once enough states sign on to total 270 electoral votes.

  • It’s constitutional — the Constitution lets each state choose how to award its electors.
  • It needs no amendment.
  • It is most of the way to the 270 electoral votes needed to take effect.

What changes the day it takes effect

  • Every vote in every state counts the same.
  • Candidates campaign in all 50 states — including the small ones.
  • The candidate with the most votes wins. Always.
  • No more “wasted” votes. No more spectator states.

Founding values, modern fix

“Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
— Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address (1863)

The Founders gave us the tools. The Compact uses them.

One American.
One Vote.

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