Our federal government is a collaborative effort among the states not the people . The people do have a lot of power . The biggest problem is not exercising the power in any elections except the presidential election . Its not some all powerful office that drives the entire direction of the country . People attribute way to much power to the president . Half their campaign promises are usually things that are part of Congresses job . Also , the majority of high population states went to Trump so . This isn ' t some disproportionate power coming from the rural states . You should really consider how much power high population areas have locally vs more rural areas . These high population areas already get what they want at the state and local level . They drive the majority of any given states politics . It also wouldn ' t matter how you count the votes . No candidates got a majority . They always win with a minority of votes .