Come election season, candidates for the state legislature in West Virginia will knock on every door they can.

From McDowell County to Wood County, from Charleston to Morgantown, the formula is the same — get the most votes in every single part of your district.

In fact, there is only one election that actually encourages the opposite — the election of the president of the United States.

Are you surprised? We were.

After all, to represent the entire country, you would think a candidate for president would have to campaign in all 50 states.

But the reality is different. Under the current system, there are states that matter, and states that don't.

The problem is not the Electoral College or the Constitution.

The problem is the winner-take-all state law West Virginia and most states have adopted to award electoral votes.

Because of the winner-take-all rule, West Virginia is considered a "safe state," and neither party pays any attention to us.

John McCain didn't bother to come here because he knew he was going to win, and Barack Obama didn't come because he knew he was going to lose.

Instead, Republicans and Democrats alike concentrate their efforts on a small group of "swing states." Two-thirds of all states get no attention whatsoever, including almost every small state.

Of all the campaign spending in 2008, a whopping 98 percent of it went to just 15 states.

This isn't about campaign ads. There is no local engagement, grassroots organizing or discussion of the issues in the states presidential candidates have written off. Campaigns don't even conduct polls in West Virginia to find out what issues we care about.

Once the election is over and it's time to govern, the problem gets worse. The values, needs and concerns of our state just don't influence national policy the way a "swing state" does.

This legislative session, we are both sponsors of the National Popular Vote bill, and are proud to say it is truly a bipartisan effort.

The bill would have West Virginia join an agreement with other states to award our electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote in all 50 states. The agreement would only take effect when enough other states equaling a majority in the Electoral College signed on, too.

With a national popular vote, a vote in Mineral County would be as valuable as a vote in Philadelphia. Candidates would compete in West Virginia, and both parties would pay attention to what matters here.

The Founders got it right. They refused to give the power to award electoral votes to the Congress or the president.

They left that to the states, which over time have used many different methods.

But the principle is the same: Nobody but West Virginia can decide what to do with our electoral votes.

The bill we support preserves the Electoral College. We keep our five electoral votes, but leverage them to give West Virginia a stronger voice.

When every vote counts the same, candidates will have to come here and look us in the eye during their campaigns — just as a candidate for governor has to go to all 55 counties and look us in the eye.

Candidates for president shouldn't ignore the interests of West Virginia just because campaign strategists in Washington, D.C., decide our votes are irrelevant.

We agree with what we have heard from voters in our districts — that every vote should count, no matter where it is cast. That's how we run elections here in West Virginia.

It's time we did the same thing for the president.

Delegate Moore is a Democrat from McDowell County. Delegate Ellem is a Republican from Wood County. (More information on the National Popular Vote can be found at: http://www.nationalpopularvote.com/)