State & Local Government Policy, Business and Technology

Map of the Month: Who Votes for Mayor?

Data-Smart City Solutions: What percentage of eligible residents would you guess voted in the most recent Dallas mayoral race? 50 percent? Maybe 40?

In fact, the number is 6.1 percent. This problem of poor turnout in mayoral races is not specific to Dallas, but affects many cities across the country. In State College, PA, turnout in the last election was 9 percent, in Palm Beach, FL it was 10 percent, and in New York City it was 14 percent. Across the 30 largest cities in the United States, the average turnout was around 20 percent.

Persistently abysmal voter turnout was the impetus for the “Who Votes for Mayor?” mapping project out of Portland State University, the most recent winner of Harvard’s Map of the Month. “About eight out of ten Americans live in metropolitan areas,” explained Assistant Professor of Urban Studies and Planning Jason Jurjevich, which means mayoral elections affect a huge proportion of Americans. And yet, “very few people are voting in local elections,” he said. The map greatly enhances understanding of this critical policy issue via rigorous data collection and a sleek UX, and for that reason was chosen as Map of the Month.

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