ELECTORAL VOTES 4

2012 ELECTION Safe Obama

ABOUT
RHODE ISLAND

2010 Census Reapportionment: As has been the case since 1932, Rhode Island will remain at 4 electoral votes for the 2012, 2016 and 2020 presidential elections.



Rhode Island was the last of the 13 original colonies to ratify the Constitution, entering the Union in May 1790. The state has had four electoral votes since it first participated in 1792, except for the 1910s and 1920s when it had five. Rhode Island has been reliably Democratic since 1928, only voting Republican four times – twice for Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956, for Nixon in 1972, and for Reagan in 1984, when he won every state except Minnesota. In 2008, Barack Obama defeated John McCain by almost 28%. Rhode Island is the 2nd most over-represented state in the electoral college, with one vote per 263,142 residents. The national average is more than double that, at 573,876. It also has the most electoral votes proportional to size -- one for every 303 square miles.