Election results maps show persistent geographic divide

Keith Ivey has created an interactive map of DC’s April 23 special election results. The maps seem to back up the notion that there are ongoing geographic and racial divisions in our politics, though except for east of the Anacostia (which is a big “except”), Elissa Silverman’s appeal was far broader, geographically, than citywide candidates in other recent elections.

Ivey also maps which candidate won the most votes in each precinct.

Ivey also notes that looking at the overall amount of ink for each candidate doesn’t necessarily reflect reality. The peripheral areas where Bonds was strongest, for instance, are also less densely-populated areas of the city. He says,

The map can be misleading in the same way typical U.S. presidential election maps are, since the area of a precinct is not proportional to the number of voters there. A candidate who wins in densely populated, high-turnout areas will often look worse on the map than a candidate who wins in less dense or low-turnout areas.

One observation is that you can’t really detect Rock Creek Park on the Silverman map. Rock Creek forms a bright line on the other maps, but not Silverman’s. On the other hand, the Anacostia River is a bright line on everyone’s map.