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New Dataset: 2012-2020 Polling place locations

“Center for Public Integrity has updated our polling place dataset with data from the 2020 General Election. The dataset now has standardized polling place information (names, addresses, and other metadata) for the 2012-2020 elections. It’s available here: https://github.com/publicI/us-polling-places. This could be helpful to track polling place closure & movement at the precinct level. In the past, we’ve used this data along with information from state voter files to measure the impact of changes at the individual level <https://publicintegrity.org/politics/elections/ballotboxbarriers/see-how-voters-in-east-baton-rouge-were-affected-by-polling-place-changes-in-2016/. Our latest release could help measure who was affected by COVID-19 related changes <https://publicintegrity.org/politics/elections/ballotboxbarriers/iowa-polling-places-closing-covid-swing-state/>. This data is generally useful to look beyond the aggregate county-level totals available in the EAVS surveys (which is sometimes contradicted by the individual location data). This morning’s release also includes machine-readable metadata for each source file which should make it easier to work with this data. More information about this dataset and other use cases is available here <https://publicintegrity.org/politics/elections/ballotboxbarriers/new-data-tracks-polling-place-locations-for-37-states/> We’ve sent out hundreds of FOIA requests to collect this data and are continuing to expand this dataset to include additional states and election cycles. In addition to this, we do have geocoded versions of some states that we haven’t released publicly but can provide separately…[h/t Pratheek Rebala]

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