Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

US Presidential Election $25k Database Bounty Review

dolthub.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 38 posts

Re: US Presidential Election $25k Database Bounty Review

#11

Post by zachmu »

Mister_Snuggles wrote: post #8

This is interesting, but why isn't this data easily available by default? I understand that the Presidential Election is actually a separate election in each state, but why wouldn't each state's election authority make that data readily available by default? This really feels like data that should just be out there for anyone to download and analyze. In Canada, the equivalent data is readily available from Elections…

The data is easily available in most places. The issue is that every place uses a different reporting format, including using slightly different names for the same candidates. The value of the bounty is getting this data into a single schema recording all the votes for every precinct in the country, with all names normalized.

Re: US Presidential Election $25k Database Bounty Review

#13

Post by Mister_Snuggles »

zachmu wrote: post #11
Mister_Snuggles wrote: post #8

This is interesting, but why isn't this data easily available by default? I understand that the Presidential Election is actually a separate election in each state, but why wouldn't each state's election authority make that data readily available by default? This really feels like data that should just be out there for anyone to download and analyze. In Canada, the equivalent data is readily available from Elections…

The data is easily available in most places. The issue is that every place uses a different reporting format, including using slightly different names for the same candidates. The value of the bounty is getting this data into a single schema recording all the votes for every precinct in the country, with all names normalized.

What level are the differences at? I can see each state having a different reporting format. Do the differences go down to the electoral district or county or something?

In Canada it's nice and easy - federal elections are handled by Elections Canada, provincial elections are handled by each province's election authority, and we don't have cases where an election at one level results in a person at a higher level getting into office. Well, except for Alberta's senate elections which are somewhat farcical anyway (senators are appointed by the Prime Minister, so the results of this particular election are basically vague suggestions that the PM sometimes follows).

Re: US Presidential Election $25k Database Bounty Review

#14

Post by zachmu »

Mister_Snuggles wrote: post #13
zachmu wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The data is easily available in most places. The issue is that every place uses a different reporting format, including using slightly different names for the same candidates. The value of the bounty is getting this data into a single schema recording all the votes for every precinct in the country, with all names normalized.

What level are the differences at? I can see each state having a different reporting format. Do the differences go down to the electoral district or county or something? In Canada it's nice and easy - federal elections are handled by Elections Canada, provincial elections are handled by each province's election authority, and we don't have cases where an election at one level results in a person at a higher level get…

Differences are down to reporting entity. In the US this is usually the state, but is often the county. I don't think I saw any state with congressional district level differences.

Re: US Presidential Election $25k Database Bounty Review

#15

Post by timsehn »

faitswulff wrote: post #12

This bounty model for data is really interesting. What's dolthub's business model? Clearly the data must be worth more than the bounty.

CEO of DoltHub here.

The data created by bounties is free and open.

Our business model is to sell database licenses. We're a database start up. Bounties are the thing that shows off our capabilities the best, so we consider it marketing. It could be more in the future, ie. a two-sided marketplace, but right now, we're just getting started.

Re: US Presidential Election $25k Database Bounty Review

#17

Post by mjangle1985 »

Mister_Snuggles wrote: post #13
zachmu wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The data is easily available in most places. The issue is that every place uses a different reporting format, including using slightly different names for the same candidates. The value of the bounty is getting this data into a single schema recording all the votes for every precinct in the country, with all names normalized.

What level are the differences at? I can see each state having a different reporting format. Do the differences go down to the electoral district or county or something? In Canada it's nice and easy - federal elections are handled by Elections Canada, provincial elections are handled by each province's election authority, and we don't have cases where an election at one level results in a person at a higher level get…

New York is a great example of weirdness.

New York allows candidates to be the nominees even if the candidates aren't in that party. So you had Joe Biden as the nominee for the Democratic Party and then Joe Biden also listed as the nominee for the Working Families party.

Just weirdness like that abounds in the data in almost every state.

In addition a lot of the reporting for precincts was county level, so states wouldn't have a csv that contained all precinct level voting data so you have to go to each county to get that data. Some states have a lot of counties. PA for example has 67 and each county publishes data in a different format with different values.

It's tedious and honestly impossible to automate (at least in the case of PA).

Re: US Presidential Election $25k Database Bounty Review

#18

Post by zachmu »

CivBase wrote: post #16

How is this not already a public resource offered by the US federal government? Surely it would be trivial to require states to collect and report their election data to the fed using a standardized schema.

How much do you want to be taxed for this service? We got it from strangers for $25,000 in 2 months. I'm guessing it would be slightly more if dictated by statute.

Re: US Presidential Election $25k Database Bounty Review

#19

Post by Mister_Snuggles »

mjangle1985 wrote: post #17
Mister_Snuggles wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What level are the differences at? I can see each state having a different reporting format. Do the differences go down to the electoral district or county or something? In Canada it's nice and easy - federal elections are handled by Elections Canada, provincial elections are handled by each province's election authority, and we don't have cases where an election at one level results in a person at a higher level get…

New York is a great example of weirdness. New York allows candidates to be the nominees even if the candidates aren't in that party. So you had Joe Biden as the nominee for the Democratic Party and then Joe Biden also listed as the nominee for the Working Families party. Just weirdness like that abounds in the data in almost every state. In addition a lot of the reporting for precincts was county level, so states wou…

That's fascinating! Thank you for the explanation!

Our elections in Canada are a lot simpler - it's interesting to see how our neighbour does things!

Re: US Presidential Election $25k Database Bounty Review

#20

Post by nojito »

CivBase wrote: post #16

How is this not already a public resource offered by the US federal government? Surely it would be trivial to require states to collect and report their election data to the fed using a standardized schema.

>How is this not already a public resource offered by the US federal government?

Because the Constitution protects how States run their elections from federal restrictions/requirements.

Post reply on HN