It does have that effect, but it’s still a single contest in those two states, but they have chosen to apportion their electoral votes differently.
he was correct, it is 56 contests.
You are casting votes to elect pre-selected people who are running on slates of electors. In NE and ME each voter casts their vote for a slate of 1 elector to represent their district and also a slate of 2 electors to represent the state.
For Maine and Nebraska, it is actually a contest in each state plus each district. The ObaMao Campaign set up a separate campaign office in Omaha in 2008 to pick off a single Nebraska congressional district successfully even though they knew there was no chance of winning the other two congressional districts or the state.