There are more Trump voters in California than Texas, more Biden voters in Texas than New York, more Trump voters in New York than Ohio, more Biden voters in Ohio than Massachusetts, more Trump voters in Massachusetts than Mississippi, and more Biden voters in Mississippi than Vermont.
This is a sequel to an earlier comic, 1939: 2016 Election Map. The United States elects its president not directly by popular vote but by an Electoral College composed of a number of electors, partially proportional to population, from each state. Presently, a "winner-take-all" system is used in most states: the winner of the popular vote in each state receives all of the electoral votes for that state. Though, strictly speaking, the electors are not required to cast their ballots according to this system, many states impose penalties on them if they don't. Technically, the popular vote in each state is to elect a slate of electors who in turn elect the President.
During the election season, news outlets and other political trackers tend to color-code each state with the party which won the state (or which is projected or speculated to win). Since the 2000 election it's become common practice to code Republican victories as red and Democratic victories as blue. Other parties have less consistent colors, but are commonly green. These colors have become embedded in popular vernacular, as states that are heavily Republican are known as "red states" and those that are heavily Democratic are known as "blue states".
These graphics can be misleading as to the realities on the ground, though. Because each state is colored solidly red or blue, it gives the impression that each state belongs entirely to one party or the other, when the color could represent a very slender minority, or an overwhelming advantage. In addition, such a graphical view means that larger states translate to more area of a given color, giving the impression of party strength, even though that may not represent many voters. In the US, large cities trend largely Democratic, while rural areas trend largely Republican. This means that many Democratic voters are concentrated in relatively small urban areas, so a large "red" state may represent fewer voters than a small "blue" state.
Randall's solution to this is to represent the Republican and Democratic voters in each state with Cueball icons, each icon representing 250,000 voters. He has made some attempt to distribute the Cueball icons within a state in a manner similar to how the actual votes were distributed. This has the advantage of giving a decent impression of how popular each candidate was, how their popularity varied across the country, and how the votes were distributed by both state and region. It also gives at least a basic indication of population patterns in the US, with large regions that are sparsely inhabited, and populations clustered in urban centers.
The title text compares different voter pools in terms of absolute size. These facts are frequently counter-intuitive. California is generally thought of as a "blue state", and Texas as a "red state" (Although that may be changing), so it's surprising to realize that, in 2020, Donald Trump received more votes in California than he did in Texas. The reason for this is not complex, California has a huge population, nearly 40 million people, of whom 17.5 million voted in 2020. Even though Joe Biden won the state easily, Trump received 6 million of those votes. Texas, by contrast, has 27.7 million residents and 11.3 million voters in the 2020 election. Trump received 5.9 million of those votes, which was enough to win the state. Because of the huge variation in population among US states, and the political divisions within each state, there are multiple "blue" states which have more Republican voters that at least some "red" states, and vice versa. This underscores the importance of not viewing any state as politically uniform. Even if a state trends heavily toward one party, there is always a substantial population of the other party, and in large states, which means enough people that they'd be a formidable political force anywhere else.
Biden/Harris Trump/Pence Total Votes
State Votes Perc Votes Perc California 11,110,250 63.48% 6,006,429 34.32% 17,500,881 Texas 5,259,126 46.48% 5,890,347 52.06% 11,315,056 New York 5,230,985 60.86% 3,244,798 37.75% 8,594,826 Ohio 2,679,165 45.24% 3,154,834 53.27% 5,922,202 Massachusetts 2,382,202 65.60% 1,167,202 32.14% 3,631,402 Mississippi 539,508 41.06% 756,789 57.60% 1,313,894 Vermont 242,820 66.09% 112,704 30.67% 367,428 The following table lists the number of 250,000-vote markers in the map by candidate and state, and compares this with the actual number of votes. Source
Biden/Harris Trump/Pence Others Total State Markers Votes Actual votes Markers Votes Actual votes Markers Votes Actual votes Markers Votes Actual votes Alabama (AL) 3 750,000 849,624 6 1,500,000 1,441,170 0 0 32,488 9 2,250,000 2,323,282 Alaska (AK) 1 250,000 153,778 1 250,000 189,951 0 0 15,801 2 500,000 359,530 Arizona (AZ) 7 1,750,000 1,672,143 7 1,750,000 1,661,686 0 0 53,497 14 3,500,000 3,387,326 Arkansas (AR) 2 500,000 423,932 3 750,000 760,647 0 0 34490 5 1,250,000 1,219,069 California (CA) 44 11,000,000 11,110,250 24 6,000,000 6,006,429 2 500,000 384,202 70 17,500,000 17,500,881 Colorado (CO) 7 1,750,000 1,804,352 5 1,250,000 1,364,607 1 250,000 88,021 13 3,250,000 3,256,980 Connecticut (CT) 4.5 1,125,000 1,080,680 3 750,000 715,291 0.5 125,000 28,309 8 2,000,000 1,824,280 Delaware (DE) 1 250,000 296,268 1 250,000 200,603 0 0 7,475 2 500,000 504,346 District of Columbia (DC) 1 250,000 317,323 0 0 18,586 0 0 8,447 1 250,000 344,356 Florida (FL) 21 5,250,000 5,297,045 23 5,750,000 5,668,731 1 250,000 101,680 45 11,250,000 11,067,456 Georgia (GA) 10 2,500,000 2,473,633 10 2,500,000 2,461,854 0 0 62,229 20 5,000,000 4,997,716 Hawaii (HI) 2 500,000 366,130 1 250,000 196,864 0 0 11,475 3 750,000 574,469 Idaho (ID) 1 250,000 287,021 2 500,000 554,119 0 0 26,874 3 750,000 868,014 Illinois (IL) 14 3,500,000 3,471,915 10 2,500,000 2,446,891 1 250,000 114,938 25 6,250,000 6,033,744 Indiana (IN) 5 1,250,000 1,242,416 7 1,750,000 1,729,519 0 0 61,183 12 3,000,000 3,033,118 Iowa (IA) 3 750,000 759,061 4 1,000,000 897,672 0 0 34,138 7 1,750,000 1,690,871 Kansas (KS) 2 500,000 570,323 3 750,000 771,406 0 0 30,574 5 1,250,000 1,372,303 Kentucky (KY) 3 750,000 772,474 6 1,500,000 1,326,646 0 0 37,648 9 2,250,000 2,136,768 Louisiana (LA) 4 1,000,000 856,034 5 1,250,000 1,255,776 0 0 36,252 9 2,250,000 2,148,062 Maine (ME) 2 500,000 435,072 1 250,000 360,737 0 0 23,652 3 750,000 819,461 Maryland (MD) 8 2,000,000 1,985,023 4 1,000,000 976,414 0 0 75,593 12 3,000,000 3,037,030 Massachusetts (MA) 10 2,500,000 2,382,202 4 1,000,000 1,167,202 1 250,000 81,998 15 3,750,000 3,631,402 Michigan (MI) 11 2,750,000 2,804,040 9 2,250,000 2,649,852 1 250,000 85,410 21 5,250,000 5,539,302 Minnesota (MN) 7 1,750,000 1,717,077 6 1,500,000 1,484,065 0 0 76,029 13 3,250,000 3,277,171 Mississippi (MS) 2 500,000 539,508 3 750,000 756,789 0 0 17,597 5 1,250,000 1,313,894 Missouri (MO) 5 1,250,000 1,253,014 7 1,750,000 1,718,736 0 0 54,212 12 3,000,000 3,025,962 Montana (MT) 1 250,000 244,786 1 250,000 343,602 0 0 15,286 2 500,000 603,674 Nebraska (NE) 1 250,000 374,583 2 500,000 556,846 0 0 25,044 3 750,000 956,383 Nevada (NV) 3 750,000 703,486 3 750,000 669,890 0 0 32,000 6 1,500,000 1,405,376 New Hampshire (NH) 2 500,000 424,937 1 250,000 365,660 0 0 13,236 3 750,000 790,597 New Jersey (NJ) 9 2,250,000 2,608,335 7 1,750,000 1,833,274 0 0 57,744 16 4,000,000 4,549,353 New Mexico (NM) 2 500,000 501,614 2 500,000 401,894 0 0 20,457 4 1,000,000 923,965 New York (NY) 20.5 5,125,000 5,230,985 13 3,250,000 3,244,798 0.5 125,000 119,043 34 8,500,000 8,594,826 North Carolina (NC) 11 2,750,000 2,684,292 11 2,750,000 2,758,775 0 0 81,737 22 5,500,000 5,524,804 North Dakota (ND) 0 0 114,902 1 250,000 235,595 0 0 11,322 1 250,000 361,819 Ohio (OH) 11 2,750,000 2,679,165 12 3,000,000 3,154,834 1 250,000 88,203 24 6,000,000 5,922,202 Oklahoma (OK) 2 500,000 503,890 4 1,000,000 1,020,280 0 0 36,529 6 1,500,000 1,560,699 Oregon (OR) 5 1,250,000 1,340,383 4 1,000,000 958,448 1 250,000 75,490 10 2,500,000 2,374,321 Pennsylvania (PA) 15 3,750,000 3,458,229 14 3,500,000 3,377,674 0 0 79,380 29 7,250,000 6,915,283 Rhode Island (RI) 1 250,000 307,486 1 250,000 199,922 0 0 10,349 2 500,000 517,757 South Carolina (SC) 4 1,000,000 1,091,541 6 1,500,000 1,385,103 0 0 36,685 10 2,500,000 2,513,329 South Dakota (SD) 1 250,000 150,471 1 250,000 261,043 0 0 11,095 2 500,000 422,609 Tennessee (TN) 5 1,250,000 1,143,711 7 1,750,000 1,852,475 0 0 57,665 12 3,000,000 3,053,851 Texas (TX) 21 5,250,000 5,259,126 24 6,000,000 5,890,347 1 250,000 165,583 46 11,500,000 11,315,056 Utah (UT) 2 500,000 560,282 4 1,000,000 865,140 0 0 62,867 6 1,500,000 1,488,289 Vermont (VT) 1 250,000 242,820 0 0 112,704 0 0 3,608 1 250,000 367,428 Virginia (VA) 10 2,500,000 2,413,568 8 2,000,000 1,962,430 0 0 84,526 18 4,500,000 4,460,524 Washington (WA) 9 2,250,000 2,369,612 6 1,500,000 1,584,651 1 250,000 133,368 16 4,000,000 4,087,631 West Virginia (WV) 1 250,000 235,984 2 500,000 545,382 0 0 13,365 3 750,000 794,731 Wisconsin (WI) 7 1,750,000 1,630,866 6 1,500,000 1,610,184 0 0 56,991 13 3,250,000 3,298,041 Wyoming (WY) 0 0 73,491 1 250,000 193,559 0 0 9,715 1 250,000 276,765 Total 325 81,250,000 81,268,867 296 74,000,000 74,216,747 12 3,000,000 2,896,077 633 158,250,000 158,381,691