This cartogram of Washington is the best way to understand elections

We've been talking a bunch about cartograms lately, so here are a couple of cool new ones for two ballot measures that went before voters in November, from former Obama campaign analytics staffer Amos Budde. The first shows the results for New Jersey's measure to hike the minimum wage and tying future increases to inflation (which passed, 61-39); what's most notable is that New Jersey still looks like New Jersey, thanks to the state's relatively uniform population density.
But the second, featuring Washington's measure to require labeling for genetically modified foods, is crazy nuts:

That distortion, though, shows you just how big King County (home of Seattle) is, relative to the rest of the state. However, the initiative failed, 52-48, due to the intensity of the opposition in the more conservative western part of the state. That comes through thanks to Budde's graduated color scheme, explained in the legend at right: There's a lot of dark orange (strong opposition) but almost no corresponding deep purple (strong support). It's those two factors, Budde says—accurately showing population density with cartograms, and accurately showing depth of support via a graded color scheme—that makes these kinds of maps so useful. Given that much of the nation's population, and most Democrats, live in dense urban areas, I'd even call them essential for a proper understanding of elections. So just bear that in mind the next time you see a map with a giant sea of red. Odds are, there's a lot more blue than you think.