Phoebe Palit
Research Mentor: Kenneth Kollman
Mentor Department: Center for Political Studies, ISR
Author(s): Phoebe Palit, Ken Kollman, Julia Lippman
Session: Session 5 (2:00 PM – 2:50 PM)
Presentation Type: Poster 26
Abstract
Election data plays a critical role in many different types of research, especially in fields such as political science, history, public policy, and law. Reliable, large-scale datasets allow researchers to conduct analyses that inform both academic research and public understanding of democratic processes. However, raw election data is often fragmented, inconsistent across sources, and difficult to access. As a result, the creation and maintenance of consistent, standardized, and verifiable datasets is an essential aspect of election research. This project details my time spent working as a Research Assistant for The Elections Archive (THEA). Rather than addressing a specific research question, this work focuses on the transformation of raw election data into structured Excel spreadsheets suitable for eventual inclusion in the THEA database and long-term archival use. Drawing on official election records, I formatted data according to project guidelines, ensuring accuracy and consistency across variables. The THEA database format includes many different parameters used to classify the available data, including candidate vote total and vote share, party vote total and vote share, valid and invalid votes, and seats won. Additionally, first and second round votes and elections are coded. The result of this work is the creation of election datasets for incorporation into THEA and use in future research projects. By contributing to the organization and accessibility of election data, this project supports a wide range of potential research questions and highlights the importance of data organization and accessibility for election research.
