RBH's Maps (Now, Atlas Election Entry Script & County Map Generation)

[Dave Leip]

Error: Geographic type Type for Name is not in database. Please check spelling or email Dave

Check to be sure that the header row has been removed from the data file (data file should only include county, city, and state-level data rows and no column titles)
Errors Encountered. Data not entered. Please correct and resubmit.


I get that error now. I was using OpenOffice before and there was no .txt option, so now I am using Excel and saving it as tab-delimited .txt file and still having trouble.

This error means you have extra "stuff" in your data file.  In the case of WA 1972, you have two issues: the column headers are still in the file (first row) and second, all U.S. Counties are in the file when all you want to enter is Washington.  The data file needs to be just the data you are entering, no more, no less.  In your case, the first piece of data in the file needs to be 53001.

What I do is highlight the data from the state I want and copy it to a new blank spreadsheet then simply choose save as tab-delimited text.

I'll think a bit so see if we can make this more versatile.  I'm also now going to try open office and get back to you on its potential.

Thanks.  and thanks for the patience and help here to make this better.
Dave

[Dave Leip]

Open Office can save as tab-delimited - you  have to choose csv (.txt) and then in the next step, it gives you a choice for delimit character (choose {tab}).  However, it also requires you to choose a text character (" or ').  These would need to be stripped out of the file (I think).

[bgwah]

Thanks, I finally got it to work using Excel. I deleted the top row with the party names and all of the other states. The tables don't work, but I think RBH already mentioned that.

http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?year=1972&off=5&elect=0&fips=53&f=0

The third party button doesn't work either.

For idiots like me using Excel:
-Select all of the data, right-click format cells, and click "number," there is a check-box to turn off automatic commas. You could also try the "general" thing Dave mentioned earlier.
-There is a plus sign to the left of the states that you click to show the counties of that state (Rob )
-Delete all states other than the one you entered data for
-Delete the top row where the party names are.
-Save as, save as type tab-delimited .txt

[Rob]

I made one: Oklahoma Lt. Governor [2006]

Great feature, Dave!

[Shilly]

Created one too.

Here it is: http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?year=2002&off=8&elect=0&fips=17&f=0

[bgwah]

Tried doing the 2004 Washington Democratic Primary for Governor. The page I got after I hit upload showed the map ( http://uselectionatlas.org/SCRIPTS/gen_county_map.php?year=2004&off=5&elect=1&fips=53 ) but the first link to the summary page took me to the 2004 General Election page, and the rest of the links did not work.

[Grad Students are the Worst]

Excellent.  I got it to work, with the tables working too...but the "county data by graphs" function seems to error out.

[Dave Leip]

Most of the linked pages are still a work in progress to get them to look for the data in the new upload table.  I've also disabled the "Primary" election choice for now until I can get a better handle on presenting the data.  It'll be back.

Another suggestion:
Please limit the "Independent" row for true "independent" candidates (typically a strong showing).  Libertarian, Green, US Taxpayers/Constitution, etc. are better in slots 4, 5, etc.

You can also see the most recent list of contributed election content here  These contests will also show up in the state election page, such as: here
Thanks,
Dave  

[Wrecking Ball and Chain]

Wow, I'll probably be addicted all night making Minnesota maps.

[Grad Students are the Worst]

Another minor bug:

Third-party maps are broken (Libertarian broke 10% in Skamania County)

[Rob]

Dave, the green on this initiative map doesn't appear. I don't know if it was my error or a site glitch.

[Wrecking Ball and Chain]

Here's my first shot at it: http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?fips=27&year=2006&f=0&off=9&elect=0

That's the Minnesota AG race this year.

Map works pretty good, so does the tables, but not graphs or individual county data, although appears to be the case with other maps.

[Dave Leip]

Another minor bug:

Third-party maps are broken (Libertarian broke 10% in Skamania County)

This has been fixed.  If a minor party receives > 5%, they get their own map.

[Dave Leip]

Dave, the green on this initiative map doesn't appear. I don't know if it was my error or a site glitch.

This glitch happend while I was fixing Alcon's bug.  Corrected.

[Rob]

Thanks.

[Wrecking Ball and Chain]

As practice, I decided to do an easy race in a state with not many counties. So here's AZ Attorney General this year:

http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?year=2006&off=9&elect=0&fips=4&f=0

[Grad Students are the Worst]

God bless SoS Sam Reed for putting county results for Washington up back to 1970.

I'll be up all night too. 

Thanks again, Dave!

[Dave Leip]

Here's my first shot at it: http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?fips=27&year=2006&f=0&off=9&elect=0

That's the Minnesota AG race this year.

Map works pretty good, so does the tables, but not graphs or individual county data, although appears to be the case with other maps.

Hi,
One error here - the "Write-ins" are listed as being column 10, but the datafile includes them under column 5 - so they don't show up.  I'm going to add a check to the script to catch this.  Also, what is the source of the 633 vote switch?  any idea? a single county data transposed?

[Dave Leip]

Don't forget to take your time with the data.  Quality counts!

[Wrecking Ball and Chain]

Here's my first shot at it: http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?fips=27&year=2006&f=0&off=9&elect=0

That's the Minnesota AG race this year.

Map works pretty good, so does the tables, but not graphs or individual county data, although appears to be the case with other maps.

Hi,
One error here - the "Write-ins" are listed as being column 10, but the datafile includes them under column 5 - so they don't show up.  I'm going to add a check to the script to catch this.  Also, what is the source of the 633 vote switch?  any idea? a single county data transposed?

I'm not sure, the map is the same was one I made earlier so all the counties got the winner's right unless I made an error in the first one. I'll look through it later and try to find the error. And yes, I made that error with the Write-Ins but it appears they just appeared under a blank table. I'll make sure not to do that on any future ones, on the one I'm doing now I have Write-Ins under column 5 with 4 candidates.

[Dave Leip]

As practice, I decided to do an easy race in a state with not many counties. So here's AZ Attorney General this year:

http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?year=2006&off=9&elect=0&fips=4&f=0

Great!
Feedback:
Arizona is very good with regard to source information: in this case, the title should be "State of Arizona Official Canvass 2006 General Election - November 7\, 2006".  I've made this change.
Dave

[Wrecking Ball and Chain]

OK, I found the error, the totals in Becker county are transposed.

[Dave Leip]

OK, I found the error, the totals in Becker county are transposed.

Great.  You should be able to over-write the data with the corrected data.  Thanks for checking!  Quality is important in elections

[RBH]

God bless SoS Sam Reed for putting county results for Washington up back to 1970.

I'll be up all night too. 

Thanks again, Dave!

Washington has an odd format, at least for the 1980 primary results.

[Wrecking Ball and Chain]

OK, new data is up, looks good but a minor error: The default format for the table is not in alphabetical order