A Colorado Board of Elections employee gave me the following tasks to complete the election audit of a recent local congressional election.
- Calculate the total number of votes cast.
- Get a complete list of candidates who received votes.
- Calculate the total number of votes each candidate received.
- Calculate the percentage of votes each candidate won.
- Determine the winner of the election based on popular vote.
- Data Source: election_results.csv
- Software: Python 3.10.1, Visual Studio Code, 1.62.2
The analysis of the election show that:
- There were 369,711 votes cast in the election.
- The candidates were:
- Charles Casper Stockham
- Diana DeGette
- Raymon Anthony Doane
- The candidate results were:
- Charles Casper Stockham received 23.0% of the vote and 85,213 number of votes.
- Diana DeGette received 73.8% of the vote 272,892 number of votes.
- Raymon Anthony Doane received 3.1% of the vote 11,606 number of votes.
- The winner of the election was:
- Diana DeGette, who received 73.8% of the vote and 272,892 number of votes.
The analysis of the election show that:
- There were 369,711 votes cast in the election.
- The participating counties were:
- Arapahoe
- Jefferson
- Denver
- The county results were:
- Arapahoe accounted for 6.7% of the vote with 24,801 votes.
- Jefferson accounted for 10.5% of the vote with 38,855 votes.
- Denver accounted for 82.8% of the vote with 306,055 votes.
- The largest county turnout was:
- Denver with 306,055 votes
This script can be used in any election -- with modifications -- to determine important information such as:
- The breakdown of voter preferences by county to determine where certain candidates are most popular.
- This can help to create an ideological map of the electorate.
- Tracking the election race in real time by connecting to relevant polling places and regularly refreshing the program to see ongoing results all the way up until the polls close.