Why are municipality maps generally used for Massachusetts statewide results?

[I’m not Stu]

Why is it common to use a municipality map instead of a county map for statewide results in Massachusetts? I frequently make county maps for Massachusetts on Wikipedia.

[Strudelcutie4427]

Why is it common to use a municipality map instead of a county map for statewide results in Massachusetts? I frequently make county maps for Massachusetts on Wikipedia.

The counties are really meaningless in New England. And the entire state is incorporated towns that conduct their own elections and record the results. Plus there are many “small towns” in MA that are larger in population than most counties in the country. Also the way New England towns are run, think of them as their own counties. So in Massachusetts there are 351 autonomous municipalities running their own shït. The counties in New England really only run prisons and stuff

[cinyc]

Because the results are reported that way, and it's more granular than a country map, anyway.

[I’m not Stu]

I just added the 2018 MA US Senate GOP primary county map to Wikipedia.

[Senator Incitatus]

This is somewhat awkward; I'm the one who makes most of the municipal maps.

The other comments in this thread pretty much describe why, but I'll also note that MA makes municipal election results readily available through a centralized service (PD43+).

[muon2]

As has been posted, in MA and the rest of New England the town is the primary unit of government below the state, and towns handle election data. Counties are primarily used for judicial matters. In the 1980's I lived in Waltham MA and it provided all local government services except when I went to jury duty I was called by Middlesex county. I didn't really pay any attention to the Middlesex county board since their only function seemed to be to run the court.

In the late 1990's Middlesex county effectively went bankrupt. The state took over its functions and dissolved the elected board, and many of the other counties took advantage of the same law to dissolve. My daughter lives in Somerville MA so when she reports for jury duty she fills out a questionnaire for the Commonweath of MA, not the county, but reports to the Middlesex court house in Cambridge.

Even when there is no government, New England counties still are used for statistical purposes, which is why one sees them in election maps and Census figures.