Without the Electoral College, candidates would focus only on the most populous areas of the country.

• A. National popular vote
• B. Third-party influence would dominate
• C. Candidates would focus only on the most populous areas of the country
• D. It would eliminate swing states

Answer: (C)

When the winner is decided by a national popular vote, candidates are trying to maximize turnout and votes across the entire country rather than winning a small set of states. That makes the population distribution the key factor in strategy. Focusing on the most populous areas is a natural way to secure more votes quickly, since these regions contain many voters in a concentrated space. So the statement describing that shift in emphasis fits the reality of how campaigns would operate under a national popular vote, making it the best answer among the options.

The other ideas describe mechanisms or consequences that aren’t as directly about where campaigns would devote their time and resources. The national popular vote describes how the election is decided rather than where candidates would focus their efforts; third-party dominance and eliminating swing states aren’t as tightly tied to the question of campaign focus in a no-Electoral-College scenario.