Is the US leaning more red or blue? Well, it depends on what map you look at. Self-described “cartonerd” Ken Field made a gallery of alternative maps from the 2016 election that show markedly different stories about the state of US politics 👀 1/ wired.trib.al/Xufbgnw 
This dasymetric dot density map accounts for population density in a given area. Instead of filling an entire state or county with the color red or blue to indicate which party won, Field uses red and blue dots to represent every vote that was cast 2/ wired.trib.al/Xufbgnw
The value-by-alpha map uses color and opacity to indicate vote share and population in an area. Bright and vibrant colors show a high vote share in a densely populated area and a light color indicates high vote share in a sparsely populated area 3/ wired.trib.al/Xufbgnw
The choropleth highlights map may be the most insightful of them all. It shows vote share in counties that flipped political parties between the 2012 and 2016 elections. Bright colors convey big margin of victory and lighter shades indicate a narrow one 4/ wired.trib.al/Xufbgnw
This map shows where the vote was the closest. Called the Blended America Map, it uses the Zip Code Tabulation Areas of counties where the 2016 vote came down to + or - 5 percentage points 5/ wired.trib.al/Xufbgnw
You can find out more about Field’s maps and what they say about the 2016 election here: 6/ wired.trib.al/Xufbgnw
