Voter turnout in US and the world

[mercybenzaquen]

My pitch was (use the number): #86

• [x] My pitch has been approved (see PITCHING.md)
• [x] My story issue links to my pitch issue
• [x] I link to my finalized (ish) data source(s)
• [x] I've included a brief summary of my story
• [x] I've included some possible headlines or findings
• [x] I've included some links or images as inspiration (if you have any)
• [x] I have received two comments of peer feedback
• [x] I've included an update of my visualization/story in a comment
• [x] I have received two comments of peer feedback after posting an update
• [x] I have received editorial feedback

[mercybenzaquen]

I have decided to work on the voter turnout idea! I have already found and cleaned two data sets. And I am looking for a better version of the third one.

The first dataset is from data of voter turnout for every country in the OECD. I got the data used in this article from pewresearch: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/08/02/u-s-voter-turnout-trails-most-developed-countries/ Data_voter_turnout.xlsx

I manually added additional information to their dataset. I added information of which of the OECD countries enforce compulsory voting. This extra info is interesting because we can take a look at how countries with compulsory voting do in comparison with the US and the difference in turnout in this countries depending on the type of fine they implement for non-voters. I got that information from:http://www.idea.int/vt/compulsory_voting.cfm

Countries_voter_turnout.xlsx

I also found data for the voter turnout in US election throughout the years. This data only had info for the voting-registered population turnout rates. And with the other datasets I am working with both the voting-registered populatio and the voting-age population turnout rates. I think it is important to have both rates.

From the pewresearch article: "Turnout comparisons based only on registered voters may not be very meaningful. For instance, U.S. turnout in 2012 was 84.3% of registered voters, a relatively lofty seventh among OECD countries. But registered voters here are a much more self-selected group, already more likely to vote because they took the trouble to register themselves."

http://www.electproject.org/national-1789-present

Possible headlines U.S voter-turnout is notoriously low compared to other developed countries. U.S ranks __ in voter-turnout among ___ countries Countries with mandatory voting have better voter-turnout than the U.S

Inspiration image

[skkandrach]

I think this is a great idea for a story! You can definitely explore this data since it takes a lot into account. I think through your exploration you will be able to identify a direction you wish to take this, but this is really interesting!

[kbennion]

This is a great topic and I am impressed by how you've added to the dataset. If you're interested in the U.S. voter turnout specifically, I would compare it to just a few similar countries instead of so many (less other factors to take into account). Australia I know is often compared to us (I think voting is mandatory there?) to us to see how their policies affect voter turnout. Comparing it to a country such as Spain where you don't need to specifically register to vote might be interesting too?

If you wanted to just chart the U.S. voter turnout rate over time, and annotate with historical details, I think that would make an interesting graphic as well.

[oargueso]

I like the historical comparison to see if there is a sustained trend or unexpected changes. I agree with @skkandrach that you could try to explore different aspects of your dataset in different visualizations.

[mercybenzaquen]

http://aceproject.org/epic-en/CDMap?question=VR004&f=

[ghost]

Visualization ideas :) http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/graphics/2016-non-voters/

[playfairbot]

Hi there, I'm the Playfair Bot! Thanks for posting your story issue, but would you mind adding editing the original issue to add the first draft of your image? You have my sincere apologies, but it's easier for dumb robots like me when the comments are only used for updates. Thanks! :pray:

[mercybenzaquen]

Thank you @kromreig !!!

[mercybenzaquen]

This is my first version of my 3-chart voter-turnout story. I had this idea of making the three charts work together and tell the story in 3 parts. I am still working on it, I know it looks very messy at this point. Also working on chart titles. Would be open to any suggestions.

[oargueso]

If you want to add the information about the kind of penalty people get in those countries where voting is compulsory, I would keep it separated from the % of people voting and maybe create a tick box matrix. That way you could use the same information but not mix up the two concepts.

[barjacks]

Really like the why you develop the story with the three graphs. Great job! In the second graph I am confused by the information you have added ot the graphs. It doesn't look like a category but like added values. Maybe try to solve that with check boxes next to the bar graphs. And in the first graph I don't think the little ticks aren't necessary. And I missed your name at first, as it is not listed with the source. I would put your name under every graph.

[jsoma]

Looking really nice!

AXIS LABELS: You might want to think about right-aligning your country names, that way readers will be able to more closely associate the name with the bar. I also agree about the ticks!

DATA POINTS: I'm not sure about this, but it might be good to draw a line between the two points for each country to help connect them to teach other. You could color-code as to whether it's positive or negative? Although it depends on whether it's meaningful, too. Which brings me to...

..BUT THEN: I'm a little unclear about what the percentages are exactly - are you saying that sometimes that a higher % shows up to vote than there are registered voters in the country? Are your total 100%'s different in each case? I think I get it, but it might be good to have a little key showing what it means when one is higher than the other - since they're both on the same chart it looks like you're comparing them to one another (like a male/female pay gap chart).

TITLES/SUBTITLES: Love the summarizing/editorializing!

HIGHLIGHTS: When you're talking about the US, it might make sense to highlight it a little bit more since there are a large number of countries. You did a good job highlighting it on the

I might also differentiate the mandatory vs. universal registration, though - the color scheme implying "more" is definitely great, though, I'd just separate them a liiiitle bit further colorwise.

[playfairbot]

Closing since pull request #195 has been accepted