We are thrilled to announce the winners of our first ever Election Mapping Challenge! The challenge, which ran from September through November 30th, encouraged users of all skill levels to create an interactive map, data visualization, or application on an election-related topic. Participants submitted both a map and a description of their project for a chance to win one of our three prize categories: Best Untold Story, Best Practical Tool, and Best Data Mashup.
First place winners
Best untold story: Diary of a Georgia Voter by Sarah Lashinsky
Using the storytelling template and cute custom icons, Sarah turned a frustratingly slow voting experience into an engaging map version of a diary entry. Read about the project.
“I took Mapbox’s Election Mapping Challenge as my invitation to make my static map into something interactive and to level up my rookie engineer skills. I also thought it would be interesting to interpret a singular, personal story on a map." Sarah Lashinsky
Best practical tool: Ballot Drop Locator by the Bay Area Community team
The team of volunteers at unBox recognized a need for accurate and accessible information on safe early voting options in the Bay Area, spinning up a team effort to map every official ballot drop-off location across nine counties - including translating information into five languages! Read about the project.
“Ultimately, we built this map to further advocate for accessibility: essential information should be available to everyone, in a format that meets them where they are at." Charlie Hoffs
Best data mashup: Populated Area Voteshare map by Ollie Ballinger
Combining election results data with nighttime light detection data, Ollie explores an alternative visualization technique to overcome the visual bias created by coloring administrative areas without accounting for population distribution. Read about the project.
“There have been many attempts to correct maps for population size using dots, bubbles, and arrows, but the resulting maps are either highly abstract or lose important spatial information in the process." Ollie Ballinger
Second place & Honorable mentions
