Polling Place Demographics

FairVote2020 has developed an interactive map showing over 50,000 geocoded polling places in 440 counties in 26 states. The default map shows the percent of the population (all ages) that is minority, i.e. not non-Hispanic white. An overlay on this map displays polling places as bright green markers.

The polling place information was obtained in the autumn of 2004 by volunteers working on a poll monitoring project with the Verified Voting Foundation.

Polling places are constantly changing, so locations displayed on this interactive map should now be considered historical.

Additional maps include census data on income, housing, language, and education. Change maps by clicking the drop-down menu under "Compare Maps" to the left of the map window.

This is not a polling place finder. There are too many locational inaccuracies associated with geocoding to use it for that purpose

Of the 59,000 polling places compiled so far by the volunteers, about 85% were address-matched. Of the sites successfully geocoded -- 65% are likely to have a high degree of precision, 33% are less precise, and 2% are imprecise because they are geocoded to the center point of the zipcode. Note, however, that locational errors can occur in the high precision "strict" category, while the less precise "not strict" category in many instances can be very accurate.

More extensive polling place information (with the complete list of polling places, including those not geocoded) may be found online at the Election Incident Reporting System (EIRS).

New 10/06: -- Added a Find menu item to the Google base map (also available via the FairData pop-up FIND form -- refresh search form window if not displayed).This is a fast way to search for current polling place locations, with clickable links back to the FairData map for demographic analysis. Click here to view the map and form.. See GMap Help for additional details.

NOT COMPATIBLE WITH FIREFOX 1.5 (click for details)

Partial Display of Polling Places in 440 counties

To maximize the viewable area, toggle off the history folder. Map links can be e-mailed or bookmarked for future reference. Use the arrow buttons on your browser to compare previously viewed maps. Try Windows NetMeeting for group sessions. Click the HELP icon for additional assistance.

Map 1 (default map) -- Percent Minority Population and Polling Places

At a scale of about 5 miles, the name of the polling place is displayed. Select the INFO tool and then click on the map for additional information about the polling place and estimated demographics based on the census block group where it is located. You can see the level of geocoding accuracy -- "strict, "not strict", or "zipcode" -- in the INFO pop-up window. Additional demographic detail can be viewed by selecting "Block Group" from the INFO pop-up.

Select the ZOOM TO button and click on the map to display median income and poverty data at the block group level in a table below the map image.

You may be able to manually locate polling places that were not address-matched during the automated geocoding using the FIND tool. You can also use the FIND tool to correctly locate polling places that were misallocated by the automated process.

Because block groups and precinct lines almost never follow the same boundaries, the demographics for precincts corresponding to the polling places may differ substantially from the block group level estimates. Also, some polling places cover more than one precinct and, in some cases, there are two or more polling places for a single precinct.

Sources: Census 2000, Verified Voting Foundation

Maps 2 thru 18 -- Block-Group Socio-Economic Detail Maps

See SocioEcon mapper for map details.

Note: Polling place markers cannot be displayed in Maps 2 thru 19.

Map 19 -- Sec. 203 Language Map -- Voting Rights Act language minority analysis

This thematic map shows voting age non-English speakers who do not speak English "very well". This category includes all non-English speakers 18 and over who speak English "well", "not well", or "not at all".

At a scale of about 5 miles , the number (by block group) of 18+ non-English speaking persons who do not speak English "very well" is displayed in purple boxes.

Note: The limited English thematic Map 13 above is not directly comparable to Map 19. Map 13 shows English proficiency for Spanish speakers as a percentage of the Spanish-speaking population, rather than the overall population. It also employ a more restrictive definition for limited English -- "speak English not well" or "not at all".

Map 20 -- Population Ages 21-64 with a disability

Sources: Census 2000 Summary File 1 (SF 1) 100-Percent Data and SF 3 Sample Data

Map 21 -- Bush-Kerry by County (Head-to-Head Contest) (new 12/04)

At a scale of about 200 miles, green labels show votes cast for the two major party candidates by county. For total votes cast and votes by candidate (all parties), click the INFO button and then on a county. The election data can be accessed from the pop-up window under "County (Elections)".

This map does not display election returns below the county level.

Note that boundaries for Texas congressional districts change in this map to reflect the new boundaries in place for the 109th Congress.

Source: Dave Leip's Atlas of US Presidential Elections, 12/03/04.

FairPlan FairData