Help me find a flash map.

July 15, 2008 10:49 PM

Are there any good, preferably open source flash maps available for mapping election data on the national level (with data for each state)?

I've tried this, it's very pretty but doesn't seem to be what I need. But it seems to have problems with linking labels to state names, e.g. for the smaller states it must have an option to place labels outside of the state, and have the label's background color link to the states color. It also must be updateable in real-time, have the ability to drilldown into state data using popups or zooming, and look nice with loads of design customization options etc. Basically what I'm looking for is a thing like these:

NY Times - I know they had a deal with many-eyes for this, but i can't seem to get them on the horn to get something updateable.

WAPO - at the bottom.

CNN

Any leads?

posted by Jeff_Larson to computers & internet (6 comments total)

I can't tell if you are wanting to update this yourself or just looking for instant gratification. electoral-vote.com is pretty awesome for quick info. That may help.
posted by idiotfactory at 11:30 PM on July 15, 2008

Sorry for the confusion. I want to update this myself. That site is pretty great.
posted by Jeff_Larson at 12:09 AM on July 16, 2008

So you want an open source Flash mapping tool with electoral data already programmed in? Might be a tall order.
posted by meta_eli at 5:33 AM on July 16, 2008

I can't really tell what you want, but people have been doing a lot of election stuff with Google Maps, perhaps that'll be useful - here are some examples.
posted by jacalata at 7:03 AM on July 16, 2008

Sorry again. Basically I want a flash map that can accept a feed of data on the state level, and color the state areas by who's winning. It needs to have overlays so that when a user clicks on a state it will show info like num votes for each candidate and percent of total vote. Also it needs labels that are the same color that the associated state is. Finally it needs to constantly check the data file so it updates in real time. Any thoughts?
posted by Jeff_Larson at 9:53 AM on July 16, 2008

I'd consider a Google Maps or Yahoo Maps mashup. Otherwise, I think you'd have to code the Flash yourself from scratch. Or don't use flash.
posted by meta_eli at 5:17 PM on July 16, 2008