DRA 2012 and 2016 Prez Data

[catographer]

538 crunched 2012 and 2016 presidential election data for voting blocks in their Atlas of Redistricting, gave it to Dave Bradlee of DRA, who then imputed them into the app. That's why we can see the PVI of custom drawn districts now. But that means that the 2012 and 2016 data is still in there; any way you guys could think of to get that so we can see how 2012 and 2016 played out under our own maps?

[America Needs a 13-6 Progressive SCOTUS]

Send an email asking for it.

We should all send an email; that way, they will know that a lot of people care.

This thread is now a discussion of how the email should look.

Side note: Some of the 2008 data often end up being a few hundred votes off from the real totals, and I would suspect that it is probably that there might be similar flaws with the 2012 and 2016 data.

[America Needs a 13-6 Progressive SCOTUS]

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I sent this email to

redistricting@gardow.com

[Adam Griffin]

He may have some agreement not to release more detailed data based on 538 giving it to him. Through the export features (both by CD and VTD), all of the data-points visible in DRA are in the spreadsheet - except the PVI column.

[America Needs a 13-6 Progressive SCOTUS]

I also really want them to add data to DC and the other 7 states that still do not have it. It is very annoying how this data is not present.

[America Needs a 13-6 Progressive SCOTUS]

He may have some agreement not to release more detailed data based on 538 giving it to him. Through the export features (both by CD and VTD), all of the data-points visible in DRA are in the spreadsheet - except the PVI column.

It is far more likely that the reason for the lack of this data is that the feature implementation was done in a hurry, and they only put in the effort necessary to get basic PVI numbers visible in a tab inside the application.

[catographer]

He may have some agreement not to release more detailed data based on 538 giving it to him. Through the export features (both by CD and VTD), all of the data-points visible in DRA are in the spreadsheet - except the PVI column.

Good point, I'll check in there.

[America Needs a 13-6 Progressive SCOTUS]

It makes absolutely no sense as to why we have more detailed data for 2008 than we do 2012 or 2016.

[Nyvin]

It makes absolutely no sense as to why we have more detailed data for 2008 than we do 2012 or 2016.

The app was designed around 2009-2010, when the census was released.   They never did any update for future data since it was so much work to do what they did already.

[America Needs a 13-6 Progressive SCOTUS]

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Ugh so frustrating.

[Adam Griffin]

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Ugh so frustrating.

Again, not too surprising. As we discussed wrt KY hoarding its shapefiles, all sorts of agencies, firms and even governmental bodies are very anal about their ownership of political data (in large part because of how well it can be monetized).

[catographer]

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Ugh so frustrating.

Again, not too surprising. As we discussed wrt KY hoarding its shapefiles, all sorts of agencies, firms and even governmental bodies are very anal about their ownership of political data (in large part because of how well it can be monetized).

I cant imagine what a con would be about providing 2012/2016 prez data. It should be publicly available since it's an election after all. I wonder if we could mathematically extrapolate the results based on the 2012/2016 PVI... probably not lol.

[America Needs a 13-6 Progressive SCOTUS]

Another issue with the PVI functions in the app is that the formula used to calculate the values is flawed, potentially having small errors in some cases even if the correct vote counts are recorded.

[muon2]

The DRA was a volunteer project. It wasn't the only free redistricting software available in 2011, but Dave Bradlee was able to keep its server space up through the decade, unlike other sources. The original 2009 release had population estimates and no voting age population. I emailed him back then and said that VAPs would be needed to look at serious redistricting plans, and they were added in v2.0 IIRC.

AFAIK it is still done primarily with volunteer assistance, so one can't expect every feature to become reality. 538 wanted a specific PVI feature and we're willing to invest the time to get the data in a format DRA could use. Other significant features probably also need significant help from other people. It's not unlike the many features posters have requested over the years on Atals, but only became reality when Virginia was willing to donate time to work out the coding.

[catographer]

The DRA was a volunteer project. It wasn't the only free redistricting software available in 2011, but Dave Bradlee was able to keep its server space up through the decade, unlike other sources. The original 2009 release had population estimates and no voting age population. I emailed him back then and said that VAPs would be needed to look at serious redistricting plans, and they were added in v2.0 IIRC.

AFAIK it is still done primarily with volunteer assistance, so one can't expect every feature to become reality. 538 wanted a specific PVI feature and we're willing to invest the time to get the data in a format DRA could use. Other significant features probably also need significant help from other people. It's not unlike the many features posters have requested over the years on Atals, but only became reality when Virginia was willing to donate time to work out the coding.

This is why I'd love to learn coding! Imagine making the maps we want without limitations ^^

[America Needs a 13-6 Progressive SCOTUS]

I have a somewhat substantial knowledge of coding, though I am unsure if it is anything that could be of use in applications like this.

I did, however, manage to download the required files to get a completely functioning version of DRA saved onto files on this computer, no longer needing to visit the website to use the app. It was a somewhat complex process, but it worked. Of course my main goal in doing so was to them be able to use a decompiler/editor to change code to modify the app coding slightly, I could not figure out how to do, mainly because the file types used by DRA seem to lack easily obtainable decomplier/editor programs.

[Libertas Vel Mors]

I noticed Kansas now has 2012 data

[Adam Griffin]

Georgia now has 2016 Presidential & Senatorial results in lieu of the 2012/16 PVI ratings. They show up when using 2010 VTDs, but only the 2008 presidential data appears when using 2016 block groups.

Haven't checked other states.

[lfromnj]

Georgia now has 2016 Presidential & Senatorial results in lieu of the 2012/16 PVI ratings. They show up when using 2010 VTDs, but only the 2008 presidential data appears when using 2016 block groups.

Haven't checked other states.

Actually all of DRA just updated for states to show 2016 colors yesterday. Most states now have 2016 data too.

[Oryxslayer]

Georgia now has 2016 Presidential & Senatorial results in lieu of the 2012/16 PVI ratings. They show up when using 2010 VTDs, but only the 2008 presidential data appears when using 2016 block groups.

Haven't checked other states.

Actually all of DRA just updated for states to show 2016 colors yesterday. Most states now have 2016 data too.

[lfromnj]

Georgia now has 2016 Presidential & Senatorial results in lieu of the 2012/16 PVI ratings. They show up when using 2010 VTDs, but only the 2008 presidential data appears when using 2016 block groups.

Haven't checked other states.

Actually all of DRA just updated for states to show 2016 colors yesterday. Most states now have 2016 data too.

Obviously only states with 2016 data show 2016 colors , just to mention that to anyone.

[lfromnj]

Washington 2016 added. Weird bug because attorney general shows GOP when it's actually a libertarian.