Amos Brian, Gerontakis Steven, McDonald Michael
Wichita State University, Department of Political Science, Wichita, Kansas, 67260, USA.
University of Florida, Department of Political Science, Gainesville, Florida, 32611, USA.
Sci Data. 2024 Oct 29;11(1):1173. doi: 10.1038/s41597-024-04024-2.
We describe the creation and verification of databases of all precinct boundaries used in the United States 2016, 2018, and 2020 November general elections, enhanced with election results for all partisan statewide offices. United States election officials report election results in the smallest geographic reporting known as the precinct. Scholars and practitioners find these election results valuable for numerous use cases. However, these data cannot be augmented with other geographically-bound data, such as U.S. Census data, without precinct boundaries. Here we describe the collection of precinct boundary data from state and local election officials, sometimes provided in GIS formats, images, text descriptions, and - in rare cases - verbally. We describe how we verify boundaries with other election data, such as geocoded voter registration files. Our open-source data has appeared in redistricting litigation argued before the United States Supreme Court; and has been used by state and local redistricting authorities, media organizations, advocacy groups, scholars, and a vibrant community of mapping enthusiasts.
我们描述了用于美国2016年、2018年和2020年11月大选的所有选区边界数据库的创建与验证过程,这些数据库还补充了所有全州范围内党派公职的选举结果。美国选举官员在称为选区的最小地理报告单元中报告选举结果。学者和从业者发现这些选举结果在众多用例中很有价值。然而,在没有选区边界的情况下,这些数据无法与其他地理绑定数据(如美国人口普查数据)合并。在这里,我们描述了从州和地方选举官员那里收集选区边界数据的过程,这些数据有时以GIS格式、图像、文本描述提供,极少数情况下是口头提供。我们描述了如何使用其他选举数据(如地理编码的选民登记文件)来验证边界。我们的开源数据已出现在美国最高法院审理的重新划分选区诉讼中;并且已被州和地方重新划分选区当局、媒体组织、倡导团体、学者以及活跃的地图绘制爱好者社区使用。