Methodology

This page is the documentation and research section of the Rhode Island Elections Project. If you are simply trying to find your district, see who is on your ballot, or inspect a map, the easier voter-facing pages are Find My Precinct, Who's Running?, and Map.

The Rhode Island Elections Project combines Rhode Island election returns, district boundary files, and public geographic data into a single public-facing guide with downloadable supporting files. The goal is to make legislative election outcomes and turnout patterns easier to explore across chambers, districts, municipalities, and precincts while also preserving a clear research trail for users who want to inspect the underlying data.

Displayed indicators are derived from public source materials. Legislative results are based on certified election returns. Turnout estimates currently shown in the map are based on Rhode Island 2024 turnout data used on this site, which reports ballots cast, eligible voters, and voting method splits at the precinct and municipality level.

What Are JSON and GeoJSON?

Several downloadable files on this site are provided in JSON or GeoJSON format. These are plain-text data formats that are widely used in research, public data work, and web mapping.

JSON stands for JavaScript Object Notation. In practice, it is simply a structured text file that stores rows, fields, and values in a machine-readable way. It can be opened in R, Python, Stata workflows, spreadsheets after conversion, database tools, and many data-cleaning platforms.
GeoJSON is a geographic version of JSON. It stores both the data fields and the map geometry together. For example, a GeoJSON file can contain a precinct name, turnout fields, and the polygon that draws that precinct on the map.
Why these formats are used here: they are lightweight, portable, and well-suited for an interactive public website because the browser can read them directly.

If you are more comfortable working with tables than map files, the JSON and GeoJSON files can also be converted into CSV, Excel, shapefiles, or database tables for downstream analysis.

Election Results

House and Senate results were compiled from official Rhode Island general election files and standardized into a common district-level structure. For each district, the project records the winner, party, vote totals, vote shares, the runner-up where applicable, and the district margin in both votes and percentage points.

Winner party: the party of the district winner.
Margin: winner votes minus runner-up votes, plus the corresponding percentage-point difference.
Uncontested: a race is treated as uncontested when there is only one named candidate and any remaining votes are write-ins only.
Competitiveness: districts are classified by winner margin in percentage points.

How Turnout Was Calculated

The House and Senate turnout rates now displayed for 2024 were not taken from a pre-made district turnout file. Instead, they were derived from Rhode Island precinct turnout data used on this site. Those turnout figures are based on voter history data and include, for each precinct, the total number of ballots cast, the number of eligible voters, and the corresponding State House and State Senate district assignments.

For each precinct, the turnout dataset used on this site reports VOTED, ELIGIBLE, StHouse, and StSenate.
To estimate House turnout, all precincts assigned to the same House district were grouped together.
To estimate Senate turnout, all precincts assigned to the same Senate district were grouped together.
Within each district, VOTED was summed across precincts and ELIGIBLE was summed across precincts.
District turnout was then calculated as VOTED / ELIGIBLE * 100.

This means the legislative turnout values shown on the site are derived district aggregates from precinct-level turnout data, rather than separate district turnout tables published by the state.

2024 Turnout Source

The current turnout map is based on Rhode Island 2024 turnout data used on this site. Those public layers provide turnout at the precinct and municipality level and include additional voting-method fields such as mail, early, and Election Day ballots.

How the Website and Maps Are Built

The public website is a static web project. The map views are rendered in the browser using downloadable data files rather than a live database query. In practical terms, that means the website loads district and precinct geometry, attaches election or turnout fields to those geographies, and then draws the map interactively for the user.

Map rendering: the interactive maps are displayed with Leaflet, a browser-based mapping library.
Results layer: legislative race summaries are stored in a structured JSON file and joined to House and Senate district boundary files.
Turnout layer: turnout files are stored at the precinct and municipality level and then displayed directly on the map or aggregated into district summaries.
Why this matters for research: the downloadable files on this page are the same core files the website uses to generate its public map views.

Replication Data

Researchers who want to reproduce, extend, or audit the site can begin with the following files. These are the main structured data assets used to power the public map and turnout views.

How You Can Use These Data in Research

You do not need to use R to work with the files provided here. The project data can be used in several different research workflows depending on what software you prefer.

Python: JSON and GeoJSON can be read directly with common packages such as pandas and geopandas.
QGIS or ArcGIS: GeoJSON files can be loaded directly as map layers for spatial analysis or export.
Excel or CSV-based workflows: JSON files can be converted into CSV tables if you prefer spreadsheet analysis or want to import the data into other statistical packages.
Stata, SPSS, or other statistics software: the structured files can be converted into flat tables for district-level or precinct-level modeling.
Database workflows: JSON and GeoJSON can be imported into SQL or document-oriented databases for larger-scale querying.

In research terms, the files on this page can support district-level electoral analysis, turnout comparisons, spatial visualization, classroom demos, replication exercises, and custom merges with outside demographic, municipal, or legislative datasets.

Current Limitations

The turnout module is currently fully wired for 2024 only.
Older election cycles from 2012–2022 will require additional municipality and precinct turnout recovery from official Rhode Island publications and data layers.
District boundaries changed over time, especially around the 2022 redistricting cycle, so cross-year comparisons must be interpreted carefully.
Some public state sources provide results directly by legislative district, while turnout is more often published by precinct or municipality and must be aggregated.