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Counting the 2008 Vote

Joe — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 03:57:42 +0000

I finished updating my thesis project “Counting the Vote: An Interactive Study of Electoral College Reform” to include the 2008 election. You can see results by proportional allocation, district allocation, and popular vote.

Number Crunching

Joe — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 04:56:46 +0000

Swing State Project has compiled the results of the 2008 presidential election by Congressional District, listing which candidate won each of the nation’s 435 districts. Having this data along with state-by-state results, I can now fully update my thesis project with the 2008 election. Stay tuned for an update soon!

(Nod: FiveThirtyEight)

The Race That Won’t End

Joe — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 04:36:15 +0000

Election 2008 still isn’t over. At least not for Minnesotans. Incumbent Senator Norm Coleman and Democratic challenger Al Franken are battling each other in a recount that doesn’t seem to end. In question now are absentee ballots that may or may not have been unfairly rejected on election night. The Coleman campaign, citing the Constitution’s Equal Protection clause, says they shouldn’t be counted until there is a uniform process for counting them. I absolutely agree. One county shouldn’t be using a different set of standards to count ballots than another county is using.

Today, we received some more news. From CNN:

Minnesota’s Supreme Court Thursday barred officials from including rejected absentee ballots in the recount of the state’s hotly contested U.S. Senate race unless both of the candidates and elections officials agree the ballot was improperly rejected.

What are the odds both of the candidates agree on which ballot to count and which one not to? And this question begs another. How long will this last? And will there be a victor come 3 January when the new Congress is sworn in? One possibility in this mess: Article I, Section 5, Paragraph 1 of the U.S. Constitution:

Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner, and under such penalties as each House may provide.

Emphasis mine. So the Senate has the power to intervene in the Coleman/Franken race. Will they?

Oh, and as an aside, a recount is one very strong reason why we shouldn’t popularly elect the president. A national recount in a close election would be a nightmare. But this is a discussion topic for a different day.

The ‘O’

Joe — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 05:58:40 +0000

Logo Design Love writes about some of the Obama logo ideas that were part of the development process getting to the final logo.

The three finalists:

Finalist #1:

The masked imagery is interesting, but still weak, and that image reminds me of the default desktop on Windows XP. Clearly, though, the designers smartly realized early on the ‘O’ would go a long way.

Finalist #2:

The bubbles are a very interesting concept but seem wildly out of place in a political campaign. This reminds me of the Charles Schwab “Talk to Chuck” commercials with the big quote balloons. I can imagine these Obama balloons animating in a similar fashion.

One of the problems with #1 and #2 is the lack of the strong symbolism that people can subconsciously buy into like any great marketing brand/logo (Nike’s swish, Apple’s apple, McDonald’s golden arches, etc.). A strong symbol that transcends ordinary design in the field and becomes instantly recognizable without any supporting text. That leads us to…

Finalist #3:

Designer Sol Sender notes:

Originally the stripes were kind of symmetrically expressed across the horizon, and as we went into final refinements we felt that giving it a little bit more dimension, a little bit more motion, ways to enter into it a little bit more for the viewer was a better way to go.

And, of course, the final design:

I can’t imagine an Obama campaign without that logo. Like the campaign itself, the logo and graphic design of the campaign were a successful and remarkable exercise in discipline. The logo skillfully symbolizes his theme (sunrise: a new day), America (flag allusion, rolling hills), and himself (the letter ‘O’). Fantastic.

(Nod: Brand New)

Good Riddance, William Jefferson et al.

Joe — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 11:50:33 +0000

This weekend, New Orleans Representative William Jefferson (D) lost a bid for a tenth term in Congress. About time. I wrote last month he was one of eleven Congressmen running for election while under investigation. He’s now the second name to drop off that list, with Uncle Ted Stevens being the first. Jefferson, of course, was found hiding $90,000 of cash in his freezer.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) list their report of the 20 most corrupt members of Congress. Here they are:

Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL)
Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA)
Rep. John T. Doolittle* (R-CA)
Rep. Tom Feeney* (R-FL)
Rep. Vito J. Fossella* (R-NY)
Rep. William J. Jefferson* (D-LA)
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA)
Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA)
Rep. Daniel Lipinski (D-IL)
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Rep. Gary G. Miller (R-CA)
Rep. Alan B. Mollohan (D-WV)
Rep. Timothy F. Murphy (R-PA)
Rep. John P. Murtha (D-PA)
Rep. Steve Pearce* (R-NM)
Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-NY)
Rep. Rick Renzi* (R-AZ)
Rep. Harold Rogers (R-KY)
Sen. Ted Stevens* (R-AK)
Rep. Don Young (R-AK)

*Doolittle, Fossella, and Renzi retired; Pearce lost a Senate bid; and Feeney, Jefferson, and Stevens were defeated in their reelection bids.

Looks like with these deletions, we’ll be adding some more names to this list (or could it be that these were the only corrupt Congressmembers and there are no more to add to the list? Yeah, right, sadly). I was going to write we can now add NY Rep. Charlie Rangel to the list, but he’s already on there.

Fill In the Bubble

Joe — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 11:36:38 +0000

Check out (and vote on how they should count) these examples of challenged ballots in Minnesota’s senate race recount. I suppose an argument can be made for why can’t people read and follow the directions on how to vote, but perhaps an argument can also be made for why can’t we develop a nationally-standardized, user-proof, and user-friendly ballot. One of the many things wrong with the voting process in this country.

(Nod: FiveThirtyEight.com)

It’s Over for Ted

Joe — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:08:31 +0000

The embattled Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens has conceded the senate race to Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich.

From Pickin’ Cotton to Pickin’ Presidents

Joe — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 06:07:18 +0000

Strange Maps posts this very interesting two-part map. The red and blue are the county-level results from the 2008 presidential election. The overlayed black dots represent where 2,000 bales of cotton were produced in 1860 (larger image):

Design We Can Believe In

Joe — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 05:51:15 +0000

Barack Obama’s campaign spurned some great design work from both the campaign itself and from independent designers/supporters. DesignForObama.org catalogs some of the artwork inspired by the candidate:

(Nod: Alana Taylor)

Obama’s Success

Joe — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 12:04:28 +0000

Marc Ambinder has an outstanding article on the secrets of Obama’s success. One such secret:

Scale / Force Of Numbers: No matter how you measure this election, the Obama campaign was able to do so much because it had so much. What ifs abound. What if they were limited to the federal match? What if they weren’t able to raise as much money? What if they didn’t spend more than $150 million on field? Can this possibly be replicated? Can the Democrats ever again have hundreds of paid staff in states like Ohio weeks before election day? Can they ever find two million active volunteers?