Discuss with maps!: County map requests for 2008 election results

[Alcon]

Okey doke.

So, here's the deal.  I've found an awesome program, MapWindow GIS, that allows me to create maps like this and this really, really fast.

So, I'm willing to do county precinct maps for any worthwhile county in the United States.  All I need is:

1. County precinct results
2. An updated shapefile

I'm willing to do this with any race -- Prez, lower offices, initiative, even local offices (for technical reasons I'd prefer they cover the entire county).  I'm also willing to get precinct results and shapefiles for you, but anyone who can provide them to me goes to the front of the line on this.  I would also much prefer to do final results, as anything else I'd have to re-do to make it useful.

So, any requests?  Just ask for Atlas-style, 1% margin interval shades, or both (doing both is like 10 more seconds, so you might as well ask for that.)

Here's a file of the completed so far (asterisk indicates preliminary results):

Presidential
Atlas shades
* Spokane, WA*

Interval shades
* Snohomish, WA*

[Alcon]

Hold up on those.  That doesn't look right vs. 2004.  I think DC may have screwed up their data format.  I'll try to post the corrected version.

[Alcon]

These make a bit more sense, don't they? 

[Alcon]

Any 100% precincts Alcon?

Nope, although if DC precincts weren't so big there almost certainly would have been.  These were the worst beatings:

Ward 7, Precinct 101: Obama 1137 (99.56%), McCain 3 (0.26%), McKinney 2 (0.18%)

Ward 8, Precinct 118: Obama 1559 (99.68%), McCain 4 (0.26%), McKinney 1 (0.06%)

McCain's best showing:

Ward 3, Precinct 9: Obama 889 (68.60%), McCain 396 (30.56%)

Also easily Bush's best precinct in '04; he got 38.43%.

[Alcon]

Aroostook County

There is no town in Aroostook County with more than one precinct.

For something like Los Angeles County, I'd rather wait for certification because it would be a pain to re-do.  I'm not optimistic about West Virginia having shapefiles set up.  Their state government's technology know-how fits their state's stereotype.  That's going to be a problem with a lot of counties, especially smaller ones -- the county doesn't maintain a GIS file, maybe just an old-fashion map that they scan into the computer.

I'll do my best though.

[Alcon]

Their state government's technology know-how fits their state's stereotype.

Yeah, I know. It would be interesting (it's very diverse) if it's possible, if not... well Allegheny is interesting for much the same reason.

I think I stand a reasonable chance with Kanawha.  It's more the small counties that sometimes don't even have email addresses.  I'll drop Charleston a line.

[Alcon]

OK, I'm going to do the first map that someone can get a shapefile for.  That's a file in .shp format.  You can get it from a county GIS web site, or email them for it.

But someone other than me has to do some work here, c'mon

Get that file and I'll make you a map!  (And precinct data has to be online too, obv.)

[Alcon]

Yep!  That is the right kind of file.  Unfortunately, it looks there's been some drastic redistricting since that shapefile was created.  There are 36 precincts in the shapefile, and 63 in the 2008 election.  Especially considering some of the old precincts were actually deleted, there are maybe 15-20 that remain fully intact, and their boundaries have undoubtedly changed.

I've requested an updated shapefile from Loudoun County GIS and will post the results when (and if) they send it through.

[Alcon]

Umm... Pierce? C'mon Alcon

And do the Executive race if you have a chance

I'd really love to but they charge like $75 and have a five-map minimum, or something (I really hope they didn't mean a minimum $75*5).  I'll probably swallow hard and ask for it as an early Christmas present.

Seriously? Pat McCarthy will be getting an angry phone call.

I'm not sure that Pat has much pull in the GIS office.  Otherwise the elections departments' maps would probably have been updated since 2004.  But if she does, by all means, she should get on their asses.  That kind of thing should be free, especially to adorable high school students like us with graduation projects (which may not exist but STILL.)

This is the most recent file I see, but I'm sure they have 2008 (they redistricted hugely in 2002, but they've added a few small precincts since).  I don't like this "we'll give you an estimate but it might be higher" crap they have up either, that's just stupid for copying a freaking shapefile to CD.

Edit: Maybe I should just contact whoever in the state Dem party owns this and beg them.

[Alcon]

Guys...really, you have to provide at least one:

1. Precinct results for President

2. Shapefile (preferably this!)

Especially if you're gonna do something obscure like your home county.

[Alcon]

GIS = Graphic Information Services

They're the people who maintain the computerized outlines.  It's a separate department from elections, because I doubt anyone in elections has the skills to make a GIS map.

And some of them are little cybernazis

[Alcon]

Guys...really, you have to provide at least one:

1. Precinct results for President

2. Shapefile (preferably this!)

Especially if you're gonna do something obscure like your home county.

My county will have somehting, I'm sure (though it'd be kinda ironic if it didn't). I just don't feel like hunting it up right now.

Santa Clara County actually tried to charge me a ridiculous amount in 2004 for a paper copy and claimed they hadn't gotten an electronic copy they could send out yet.

I thought it was ironic at the time too

[Alcon]

Unfortunately, Loudoun has an unspecified charge.

I'm fine with paying the 25 cents for a shapefile.  Besides, I want to do Travis County.  Where's this 25-cent charge site? I'll get it this afternoon.

[Alcon]

That's it, "Voting Districts."  Thanks Jake.  I'll work on it after I wake up.

[Alcon]

The Allegheney map is formatted in some insanely obscure way that  may take be a bit to crack.  I'm still working on it.

[Alcon]

Sorry Danny, but I can't use a PDF, it has to be a GIS shapefile.

Still working (slowly but surely) on Allegheny.

[Alcon]

Great stuff, realisticidealist.

Verily: That does definitely base itself on a shapefile, but I don't see any download option.  You'd probably have to ask the GIS department for one.

[Alcon]

I am working on a Maricopa County map that is most of the way done and will be posted within the next couple of days. However, I must say that it is single-handedly the most frustrating map I have ever attempted. The file they supplied is the longest >.txt< file ever made (several hundred thousand lines long); it is so large that it crashes my internet every time I open it.

I hate Maricopa's format, but I'd love a map.  You don't happen to know of a way to figure out which precincts are in the city of Phoenix?  The county bounced me off to the local political parties.

[Alcon]

I am working on a Maricopa County map that is most of the way done and will be posted within the next couple of days. However, I must say that it is single-handedly the most frustrating map I have ever attempted. The file they supplied is the longest >.txt< file ever made (several hundred thousand lines long); it is so large that it crashes my internet every time I open it.

I hate Maricopa's format, but I'd love a map.  You don't happen to know of a way to figure out which precincts are in the city of Phoenix?  The county bounced me off to the local political parties.

You can go to the city of Phoenix election site, and pull down the precincts for the 2007 municipal election, which although it will have consolidated precincts, the names of the three or four precincts that were combined will be listed. All you will need to do for the 131 consolidated precincts, is write down three or four names for each of them, and then go to the general election results, and tag the Phoenix precincts on an excel spreadsheet, use the sort function to put them all in one place on the list, and you are then good to go. It should take you more than about 4 hours or so.

That actually gave me a good lead on this -- I didn't realize the City of Phoenix had their own elections department.  I'm annoying them now.  They're infinitely more helpful than the county.  I found an old polling place book for May 2008 (unfortunately the results on the web site truncate precinct names to ambiguous levels like "De"), and they're going to get back to me to try to tell the difference.

So...yeah...four hours and a few more phone calls and I'll probably know if no one involved messes up

this is so not worth it.

[Alcon]

Great job.  Do you happen to know the name of the Obama precinct in the south?  I'm looking at a map and it doesn't look like there's much "there" there

[Alcon]

The populated part of that precinct is Gila Bend Indian Reservation (an outlying bit of Tohono O'odham).

Yep, looks like the village of Kaka.

Weird turnout patterns, was 40-4 Kerry in 2004 with 65 registered voters.  Which actually was not especially bad turnout for a place like that -- wonder what happened this year.  Small sample, o/c, but still a little odd.

[Alcon]

The populated part of that precinct is Gila Bend Indian Reservation (an outlying bit of Tohono O'odham).

Yep, looks like the village of Kaka.

Weird turnout patterns, was 40-4 Kerry in 2004 with 65 registered voters.  Which actually was not especially bad turnout for a place like that -- wonder what happened this year.  Small sample, o/c, but still a little odd.

Maybe they had a reason to like John McCain.

Almost certainly, although it's weird that turnout nearly halved even though their registered voter count increased.  (Phantom registrations?  Mail delivery on reservations is...well, yeah.)

[Alcon]

Realistic,

I have a MapWindow shading file for both Atlas colors and one percent margins.  What I do is then take a spreadsheet of the results, and use Excel sorting to code D50/R70/whatever, and then sort it back to the original.  Then, if the shapefile DBF matches the precinct orders (or can be sorted to), you can just paste them in.  Saves a lot of effort.

Not sure if any of the shapefiles you're using are amiable to that, but with enough clever data-sorting, even the hardest shapefiles are generally "only" a few hours.

[Alcon]

Nicely done   Here's the same with neighborhoods, and comments:

(Dark blue indicates an area was notably pro, otherwise it's light blue)



I may be overestimating the Asian effect, since Asians tend not to vote...

No idea what's going on by the Art Museum (unusually Republican too, seniors?), or at the Portrero Heights Rec Center precinct (not at all Republican).

[Alcon]

Maybe its just me, but I think the fact that San Fran has a neighborhood called "Tenderloin" is just too good. 

I'm also somewhat amazed to discover the that city even has any black people.  I figured they had successfully shoved them all into Oakland, where the rich, white, "tolerance police", liberals could safely look down upon them from a distance without threat to property values.

Sigh, san francisco is not majority latte liberal.

The major city that comes closest to this designation is Seattle.  And it's not majority.