Skip to content

Instantly share code, notes, and snippets.

View rshorey's full-sized avatar

Rachel Shorey rshorey

  • New York Times
  • United States
View GitHub Profile
@rshorey
rshorey / voterfiles.md
Last active May 12, 2024 19:25
So you want to report using voterfiles

So you want to report using voterfiles

History

In 2002, the Help America Vote Act required (among other things) that states must maintain a "computerized statewide voter registration list". These lists (henceforth "voterfiles") contain information about every registered voter and their voting history.

But what about the secret ballot?

When people who have not worked with voterfile data before hear about voterfiles, their first response is almost always "But in my 8th grade civics class, I learned that a critical component of American democracy is the secret ballot! How can states have a list of how you vote?" Voterfiles do NOT include information about how an individual voted. They report whether an individual voted in a specific election.

What information do voterfiles contain?

The exact format and contents of a publicly available voterfile differ from state to state. At a minimum, a file will contain:

@rshorey
rshorey / instructions.md
Last active July 25, 2020 00:47
description of Lights, Camera, Algorithms session from SRCCON 2018

Lights, Camera, Algorithm

Act out and discuss machine learning algorithms. This activity is from a SRCCON 2018 session led by Jeremy Merrill and Rachel Shorey.

Materials

  • Index cards
  • pens/pencils
  • Dice with varying numbers of faces (several D10 and one D6 for sure)
  • Masking tape to mark floor
  • Paper, easel, marker
  • Stickers in several colors