/openelections-data-ms

Converted CSVs of Mississippi election results

Primary LanguagePython

Build Status

OpenElections Data Mississippi

Converted CSVs of Mississippi election results.

Precinct Results

year general primary
2023 done not started
2022 done not started
2020 done done
2019 done done
2018 done done
2016 done done
2015 done working
2014 done done
2012 done done
2011 done done
2010 done not started
2008 done working
2007 working not started
2006 not started working

County Results

year general primary
2023 done not started
2022 not started not started
2020 done done
2019 done not started
2018 not started done
2016 done done
2015 done done
2014 done working
2012 done working
2011 done working
2010 done done
2008 done done
2007 done not started
2006 done not started
2004 not started not started
2002 not started not started
2000 not started not started

To contribute, email openelections@gmail.com or find us on Twitter and let us know what counties/elections you'd like to work on. You also can leave a comment on one of the issues in this repository. Volunteers can do as much or as little as they like - one county or all of them.

The Process

TO BE CLEAR: This is data entry work. There is no magic here.

Mississippi stores election results in PDF files at the Secretary of State's site. The files are stored by year, and then either by race (for special elections) or by county (for primary and general elections). The county files contain precinct-level results, organized by office, with precincts labeled vertically across the top. Here's a file from the Nov. 6, 2012 general election in Chickasaw County:

MS county example

File names match the generated_name standard described in our docs. So the CSV file to match the above example would be 20121106__ms__general__chickasaw__precinct.csv.

The OpenElections CSV layout approach is to mirror the results file as much as possible, with one exception: we try to have a single result on each line, rather than multiple candidates or precincts.

MS county CSV example

Where totals are included, leave the precinct column blank and mark the overall winner in each race in the winner column, which takes a boolean value of TRUE for winning candidates:

MS county CSV total example

For elections that have only county-level results, total rows will leave the county blank for races that involve more than one county:

MS multi-county CSV total example

For elections in which two candidates advance to a runoff, both candidates are marked as winner.

Instructions

  • We're only interested in federal, statewide and state legislative offices. No local offices.
  • Don't include precincts which have "X" in the vote totals.
  • Don't include "County" in the county name.
  • Don't include "Precinct" in the name of the precinct.
  • For precincts with numbers in the name, remove any leading zeros (005 becomes 5).
  • Even within the same election, the order of candidates will differ between counties.

How to Contribute

The Git Way
  1. Fork this repository.
  2. Pick an election and add it and your name to the contributors file.
  3. Add CSV results files to your repository.
  4. Submit a pull request when done.
The Non-Git Way
  1. Pick an election.
  2. Email openelections@gmail.com to let us know what you're working on.
  3. Create CSV files.
  4. Email openelections@gmail.com with the files attached or a link to the files.

Questions

If you run into questions about the PDFs or how to enter the results, check out the Issues or file a new one.