Two maps of “mid-term”
This is what the outcome of the US election really looks like
11/13/2022 10:57 PM
US midterm elections undecided: Important results still pending in the House of Representatives. Does the US election map really glow almost everywhere in Republican red? ntv.de shows the true majority in the United States.
In US congressional elections, vote counting is still in progress in several states. As it became known over the weekend, the Democrats – the party of incumbent President Joe Biden – were able to Majority in the Senate Difficult defense. On the other hand, the balance of power in the House of Representatives is still open.
And on Sunday evening, 20 of the 435 mandates had yet to be granted. The reason for the delays is, among other things, the special electoral regulations in each individual country. Republicans are ahead in the House of Representatives. Most recently, it was from 211 to 204 for the party, which also includes former President Donald Trump. The majority threshold in the House of Representatives is 218 seats. The opposition Republicans needed only nine more seats—while the Democrats, on the other hand, needed 14.
Note: ntv.de charts are constantly updated.
Traditional US electoral map, electoral districts by district:
Looking at a traditional election map (here: “map view”), due to some peculiarities of US election law, the impression can easily emerge that the residents of the United States are overwhelmingly on the side of the Republicans in this vote. Most of the area glows republican red.
However, familiar geographical charts paint a very distorted picture: In elections to the House of Representatives, deputies are elected by constituencies. To this end, the United States has been divided into 435 congressional districts (“Congressional districts”), approximate size according to population size.
The result: this segmentation results in large differences in size between densely populated areas, for example on the East and West Coast, and rural areas in the Midwest. Much of the United States glows red: the familiar outlines of a traditional election map give the impression of a powerful republican dominance.
Stylized US electoral map, one size fits all constituencies:
They tend to be only sparsely populated rural areas where Republicans are ahead. This makes the party seem stronger than it actually is. Large population centers, where Democrats won in many places, occupy less space on the classic US map. This makes it seem small and almost insignificant.
A skewed impression can be quickly corrected: a look at the stylized election map (here: “tile view”) shows the same data – only here the electoral districts are the same size as the hexagons. Each constituency is represented in a so-called “tilemap” by a regular hexagon. This gives a more balanced picture in terms of the actual election outcome – Republicans will not dominate the House of Representatives in the future either. The majority are very narrow.
In President Biden’s four-year midterm elections, all 435 of the House of Representatives seats and 35 of the 100 Senate seats were up for election. 36 states and other important state offices have also been filled. The distribution of seats in Congress determines the amount of political leeway the incumbent president has during the remaining two years.
