DemLabs blog

Campaign planning after redistricting goes better with a Coke and a SMART MAP

Political districts shuffled by redistricting? Plan your campaign better with a Smart Map.

Andrea Miller is the founder of Center of Common Ground, a Coke drinker and veteran organizer based in Virginia. Andrea uses Smart Maps created with ArcGIS Online with data from VPAP and other sources to:
- Make it easier for voters to find out which VA House of Delegates and State Senate district they should vote in
- Who are the incumbents and challengers in their district
- What were the 2021 precinct results for their district
- Which localities are in their districts?
- What is the racial composition of the district?
- How many people voted early in the past election?
- Were are the early voting locations (when info is available)?
- What are acceptable forms of Voter IDs in Virginia?
- Who are the National Women Political Caucus of Virginia (NWPC-VA) candidates?

What is a 'Smart Map'? A interactive map to lets you selectively display and analyze information. A map that's easy to share, update information on can be used on a laptop, tablet or smartphone. Here is Andrea's Smart Map. You have to get your own Coke.

Campaign planning for the 2023 Virginia Election

Center for Common Ground and National Women Political Caucus of Virgnia use Smart Maps to plan for the 2023 election in Virginia

Make information more usable with a Smart Map

This map includes details on Virginia's 11 Congressional districts, 100 State House of Delegates and 40 State Senate districts. Details on the incumbent and the challenger(s) appear in a pop up box when you click on a district. This information is organized in 'Data Layers' so you can selectively choose what to display. Zooming into the map reveals more details.

Center For Common Ground (CFCG) plans to add more information such as early voting locations, donation links to candidates, phone bank locations for volunteers to the map.

Virginia 2023 Campaign planning smart map with NWPC-VA endorsed candidates

How to use the Virginia 2023 Campaign Planning Smart Map

National Women’s Political Caucus - Virginia (NWPC-VA)

The National Women’s Political Caucus-Virginia is a chapter of the National Women’s Political Caucus (NWPC), a national, pro-choice, multi-partisan, grassroots membership organization dedicated to identifying, recruiting, training and supporting women candidates for elected and appointed office. 

  • - Increase women's participation in the political process
  • - Increase the number of women in elected and appointed positions
  • - Support candidates who support women
  • - Draft legislation that centers on equality and the needs of women

NWPC-VA Policy Goals

  • Making the Equal Rights Amendment the 28th Amendment to the Constitution
  • Giving all Virginia women the freedom to control their own bodies, including accessing abortion care
  • Bringing child care and health care equity to all Virginians
  • Bringing environmental justice to our most vulnerable neighborhoods
  • Developing real and lasting criminal justice reform
  • Education equity for all Virginia children, no matter their zip code

NWPC-VA endorsed candidates

National Womens' Political Caucus endorsed candidates for Virginia 2023.

Center For Common Ground

Center for Common Ground was founded in 2018 to educate and empower under-represented voters in voter suppression states to engage in elections and advocate for their right to vote. Together, we can build a democracy that prioritizes the voices of ALL people. It works with local partners across the country, we run campaigns to increase voter turnout and defend voting rights on the local, state, and national levels. Together with the help of our volunteers, we are educating, mobilizing, and empowering Black and Brown voters in voter suppression states across the South to engage in local issues and make their voices heard at the ballot box.

Republicans deny minorities their voting power

VoteRiders

A favorite tactic of MAGA extremists is to create unnecessary obstacles to voting, including limiting the number of types of identification that can be used to register or vote. In many states, voters can use a government-issued driver’s license or a gun permit to vote but cannot use student IDs or government benefits cards. A non-partisan organization whose sole mission is to help voters navigate rules regarding voter ID and obtain an acceptable ID for voting is VoteRiders. Its report Millions of Americans Lack ID Required to Vote highlights:

  • Nearly 29 million voting-age U.S. citizens (as of 2020) did not have a non-expired driver’s license, one of the two types of IDs accepted by all 36 states with voter ID laws as of 2023.
  • More than 11 million young people (18-29) did not have a current driver’s license.
  • Members of underrepresented racial and ethnic groups (Black non-Hispanic Americans and Hispanic Americans in particular) were less likely to have a current driver’s license or other government-issued photo ID.
  • The analysis found a strong relationship between income and lack of a driver’s license, with adult Americans earning less than $30,000 lacking a driver’s license

So, when states pass voter ID laws requiring driver’s licenses to vote, those legislatures target young, diverse, poor voters by creating obstacles that disproportionately affect them. - Robert Hubbel

TakeAway: Use Smart Maps to plan campaigns that get more women elected to office. Help voters get valid Voter IDs so their voices can be heard.

Deepak
DemLabs

Image Credit: Coca Cola Co. Ltd.

DISCLAIMER: ALTHOUGH THE DATA FOUND IN THIS BLOG AND INFOGRAPHIC HAS BEEN PRODUCED AND PROCESSED FROM SOURCES BELIEVED TO BE RELIABLE, NO WARRANTY EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED CAN BE MADE REGARDING THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, LEGALITY OR RELIABILITY OF ANY SUCH INFORMATION. THIS DISCLAIMER APPLIES TO ANY USES OF THE INFORMATION WHETHER ISOLATED OR AGGREGATE USES THEREOF.

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DemLabs applies innovative technology and storytelling tools in service of democratic values. It lowers the barrier of funding for worthy candidates and non-profits by applying existing free/affordable solutions.