This election map is a lie. So we made new ones

Maps lie because they simplify. They lie in different ways, to show certain realities, and electoral maps are no different. In places where there are few people, hundreds of square miles turn red or blue (but usually red) because those voters cast their ballots in a certain way. The map above lies to you by implying that Washington is a red state with some blue areas. There’s some truth to this. East of the Cascade curtain, every county but one voted for Donald Trump. That is a huge swath of land, which Republicans dominate. But consider this: More people crowd into Husky Stadium on game day than voted in most of those counties. Here’s a more accurate map of Washington state’s presidential election results:

It also lies, of course: That deep blue blob in the center is not really what King County looks like. This is a type of map known as a cartogram, which distorts a normal map to show a set of data. In this case, it changes the size of each county to reflect how many people voted for president there. (Nerds: It was generated using this software package, based on this algorithm). Why is this better than a traditional map? It more directly captures why we look at electoral maps. When you look at that first map, you’re looking at something designed to show county administrative boundaries, so the geographic accuracy matters.