Dynamic Cartogram Visualization of Presidential Election Results

Despite dramatic increases in the availability and cartographic processing capabilities of Geographic technologies, state delimited red and blue maps remain the dominant form of electoral result visualization disseminated by the mainstream media. While scaling the human voting process to physical geographic space and spatial aggregation are inherent weaknesses of red and blue state mapping, the power of such maps in affecting political perceptions is undeniable. Cartograms are familiar to most geographers but largely unknown to the voting public, and can produce intuitive electoral maps that overcome the limitations and biases of this traditional format. In addition, animated time series cartogram electoral visualizations can further understanding of the population shifts and demographic changes that underlie the continual realignment of national electoral constituencies. Application of these techniques provides the basis for a new paradigm in presidential election visualization that may reverse the popular misconceptions associated with traditional election maps. Animated cartograms can overcome the spatial mismatch inherent in projecting political space onto geographic place, and may prove invaluable to researchers and the voting public alike.