Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections is a website that provides tables, infographs, and maps for presidential (1789–present), senatorial (1990 and onwards), and gubernatorial (1990 and onwards) elections. Data include candidates, political parties, popular and electoral vote totals, and voter turnout. U.S. county-level data is available for many years, and all data are compiled from official sources. The website has been positively received, and has been used as an authoritative reference by numerous publications.
History
The website was created in 1993 by electrical engineer David Leip from Massachusetts. Leip began the Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections as a hobby after the 1992 U.S. presidential election while he was attending graduate school at MIT.[1] It provides data and maps for presidential,[2] congressional,[3] and gubernatorial elections.[4] Despite the general media coloring Democrats as blue and Republicans as red (blue and red states), the Atlas website follows international conventions and uses blue for the more right-leaning Republicans and red for the more left-leaning Democrats. This is because the website predates the conventional color scheme, which has only been in place since the 2000 U.S. presidential election. It also sells election data sets.[5][6][7]
The website was significantly amended in 1997, beginning with data from the 1996 U.S. presidential election, acquiring information from the secretary of state offices, which published election data online from 1996 onwards. The website was originally hosted by MIT but moved to its own URL (uselectionatlas.org) in 1998.[1] A part of the website is the Atlas Forum, a debate and discussion chamber on U.S. and international elections and politics, as well as electoral mapmaking. In March 2020, the forum was renamed "Talk Elections" with a user and moderator going by the name Virginia becoming the forum administrator.[8]
^ abLeip, David (November 2002). "About the Atlas". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Elections. Archived from the original on June 1, 2006. Retrieved January 12, 2025.
^"Elections and Voting Data Guide: United States (U.S.) and International". LibGuides. Princeton University. June 4, 2013. Archived from the original on December 4, 2024. Retrieved January 12, 2025. Presidential general election data at the state and county (1916+) and New England town level (1992+) Presidential primary elections data at the state, county, and New England town level (2000+) Voter registration and turnout data for all 50 states, counties, and New England towns (1992+) Data in Excel. In addition the web version contains maps and tables of all this data plus Presidential general results back to 1789.
^"Elections and Voting Data Guide: United States (U.S.) and International". LibGuides. Princeton University. June 4, 2013. Archived from the original on December 4, 2024. Retrieved January 12, 2025. U.S. House of Representative general elections data by state, congressional district, county, and New England towns (1992–present) Senate general elections data at the state and county level (1990–present) Voter registration and turnout data for all 50 states, counties, and New England towns (1992–present) Data in Excel. In addition the web version contains maps and tables of all this data plus Presidential general results back to 1789.
^"Elections and Voting Data Guide: United States (U.S.) and International". LibGuides. Princeton University. June 4, 2013. Archived from the original on December 4, 2024. Retrieved January 12, 2025. Gubernatorial (governor) general elections data at the state and county level (1990–present) Data in Excel. In addition the web version contains maps and tables of this data.
^"Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". UC San Diego Library. University of San Diego. 2012. Archived from the original on January 2, 2015. Retrieved January 12, 2025. National, state and county-level data and maps of presidential primaries and elections 1789–2004. Note: maps are colored red for Democrats and blue for Republicans.
^"U.S. Election Statistics: A Resource Guide". Library of Congress. October 10, 2018. Archived from the original on December 4, 2024. Retrieved January 12, 2025. This site provides general election results and maps for presidential elections from 1789 to the present, as well as presidential primary results from 1992 to the present. In addition, Dave Leip's Atlas sells election data sets, including the 2016 general election results by congressional district and the presidential election results by county from 1912 to the present.
^Taranto, James (July 20, 2015). "Perot Forma". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN1042-9840. Archived from the original on July 20, 2015. Retrieved January 12, 2025.
