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Friday, December 4, 2009

City That Mayor's Race Data... Now With Pie!

Posted by Eli Sanders on Fri, Dec 4, 2009 at 5:03 PM

Perhaps it's easier to see the relative increase in voting among different age groups in the Seattle mayor's race by using pie charts. Because everything's better with pie, right?

Here, with the age breaks adjusted slightly to reflect more traditional demographic groupings, is the Seattle mayor's race electorate of 2005 and 2009. Notice how the blue share (the 18 to 34 year old voters) grows a bit to make the 2009 pie a little more like a—well, like a peace sign I guess.

Click to enlarge:

The Stranger

But it's still kind of hard to see the increase in younger voters that way because the equally large increase in older voters muffles the visual effect. So here's another pie chart, this one just showing younger voters (18 to 34) compared with middle-aged voters (35 to 54).

Again, click to enlarge:

The Stranger

Comparing the mayor's races of 2005 and 2009, it seems that younger voters (often dismissed as unreliable and disinterested) became relatively more interested and reliable than—well, than people who were old enough to be their parents.

Comments (16) RSS

Oldest First Unregistered On Registered On Add a comment

Yes, but could you compare the totality of eligible population in the city by age with the registered voters by age?

The question is: do we have more young people now than then, less old people now than then, have older voters slacked off, and have younger voters turned out more?

Everything's better with cake, actually. I'll take the part with frosting.

Posted by Will in Seattle

on December 4, 2009 at 5:13 PM

Everything's not better with pie. If you insist on using a graph as opposed to a simple table, a bar graph with the three groups across the bottom with a pair of 2 adjacent bars (1 for each year) would show the increases better.

Posted by Graphy McGraph on December 4, 2009 at 6:17 PM

Eli, it would be nice to have numbers. It is hard to assess your assumptions without numbers. For instance, did the increase in votes simply correspond to an increase in population?

Posted by grapher mcfly on December 4, 2009 at 6:22 PM

@3: Click through to the earlier post to see some numbers. (And then, for more numbers, see the paper next week.)

Posted by Eli Sanders

on December 4, 2009 at 6:29 PM

Another thing: did these magical young voters turn out for McGinn, or for Ref. 71? I'm guessing the latter.

Posted by Fnarf

on December 4, 2009 at 7:23 PM

You new-media-excited kids with your fancy ballots get off my lawn.

Posted by gloomy gus on December 4, 2009 at 8:24 PM

I'm guessing both.

As I was saying to Joe Mallahan tonight at the Red Door, I'm glad he ran, and he's a good man. Regardless of how it turned out, the total turnout for R-71 and 1033 was increased by having two strong candidates running in Seattle.

Posted by Will in Seattle

on December 4, 2009 at 9:19 PM

As a young voter, I was super excited to vote on a new mayor after all these years of reading the Stranger and seeing the effects of the Nickles administration on my nightlife.

Posted by SandyD on December 4, 2009 at 9:59 PM

Every time these "young voters" get off the XBox and move their baggy pantsed asses to mail in their ballot we end up with a President Odumbus. Please -- Game On, Millenials!

Posted by Stay Home Young-Uns on December 4, 2009 at 10:24 PM

The only thing a pie chart is good for is showing how much pie you have left. For this data, stick with the bar graph.

Posted by pie is for eating on December 4, 2009 at 10:34 PM

Middle-aged? 35? 54's not even middle-aged now.

Posted by sarah68 on December 4, 2009 at 11:43 PM

election's over...move on.

Posted by michael strangeways

on December 5, 2009 at 9:15 AM

@11: "54's not even middle-aged now."

Actually, if you chart by age of mortality, 10 (ten) is middle aged for humans according to the actuaries.

The body starts to decay at 25.

For 99.9 percent of human history, the average age of death was 20.

Posted by Supreme Ruler Of The Universe

on December 5, 2009 at 10:07 AM

@8: And your education, apparently.

Posted by Baconcat on December 5, 2009 at 10:17 AM

hay babies, it's not "dismissing" youth to say they don'[t vote much, it's a fact. And it still is.

Try to grow up, okay?

Because this is a fact we all want to change, so pointing it out being dismissive...well, wow, youngsters are very touchy....

"How'd it go at the school dance, Junior?"

"FINE. [rolls eyes, slams door to bedroom...]"

Posted by And did you know we used to be young, too? no, really... on December 5, 2009 at 12:08 PM

Wow are you telling me that McGinn one. I had no idea! It isn't like the SLOG has posted EVERY POSSIBLE WAY TO DICE THE RESULTS. Stop it already, he won. And we know, the Stranger had everything to do with. In fact the rest of the country is looking to Seattle and the Stranger for ideas on this countries next President and major newspapers. Such trend setters.

McGInn Won! How many ways does the SLOG or Eli Sanders have of putting it? I am afraid this will never end. lol.

Posted by mrbombit on December 5, 2009 at 3:16 PM