GIS for Get-out-the-Vote Campaigns
eospatial Solutions features an article on using GIS for get-out-the-vote campaigns for the 2004 presidential campaigns - realizing the integral role that technology can play in locating underrepresented communities with low voter registration and cost-efficiently allocating resources and personnel.
San Mateo County, just south of San Francisco, was charged with implementing and monitoring a countywide voter outreach program targeting underrepresented ethnic communities. Its goal was to distribute language-appropriate voter registration materials and send out culturally trained personnel. The cost-benefit challenge for San Mateo was to specifically identify and target areas that have high-population concentrations of ethnic communities but low voter registration.
The article describes how Farallon Geographics was able to use an existing parcel assessment GIS database and Web portal to determine precinct information and merge and map it with prepared Census 2000 information. The resulting GIS solution produces on-the-fly-generated interactive maps that visually highlight areas with dense concentrations of ethnic communities that also have low voter registration.
Identifying these areas manually traditionally takes several employees several weeks to sort through census numbers and charts, and try to match them to maps of streets and neighborhood jurisdictions. It now takes just a few hours to recognize communities for outreach. With the integrated GIS solution, County personnel can, at a glance, determine where to direct efforts—whether in specific neighborhoods or even specific households.
To support this voter outreach effort, flyers and pamphlets written in the communities’ first language were produced in the exact quantities needed and distributed to the precise locations required. Potential voters use these flyers and pamphlets to access such essential information as the voting process, poll locations, and candidate platforms.
The highly targeted visual representation also made it feasible for language and culturally trained individuals to visit local community venues and even go door to door.
These technology streamlined efforts have reduced costs as well as increased efficiency and effectiveness.
San Mateo and Farallon will continue the GIS analysis after the election by correlating voter turnout with the areas where election outreach efforts were concentrated. Using visual map representations, impact and trends will be immediately analyzed and easily presented for future funding drives.
The article discusses other applications of integrating GIS with demographic data smarter, faster, and more cost-efficient targeting of resources for political campaigns, health care, and consumer marketing