How to get ward/district information?

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mrstevegross

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Sep 4, 2011, 2:31:56 PM9/4/11
to Google Elections Center API Users
Ok, I'm learning the ropes of this API. I see that based on an address
it will return one-or-more polling locations. That's cool. But an
address usually corresponds to a few different polling jurisdictions,
including:
* municipal ward
* state house district
* state senate district
* US house district
* US senate district (well, just the state, anyway)

It looks like the API does NOT currently provide this information.
Could we add this functionality?

Thanks,
-Steve

Chetan Sabnis

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Sep 6, 2011, 10:33:41 AM9/6/11
to election-cen...@googlegroups.com
Hi Steve,

Thanks for asking about this.  The API is currently election-oriented.  That is for a specific election, where do I vote and who/what will be on the ballot.  What you're asking about is about more general information about an address, independent of any specific election.  We're looking for ways to provide this sort of information, but are not able to do so at this time.

Chetan

Stephen Gross

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Sep 6, 2011, 3:11:27 PM9/6/11
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Hmm... But surely the API knows this information under the hood, right? I mean, how else would it know where your polling place is? 

Thanks,
--Steve (via iPhone carrier pigeon)

Daniel Berlin

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Sep 6, 2011, 3:14:18 PM9/6/11
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On Tue, Sep 6, 2011 at 3:11 PM, Stephen Gross <mrstev...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hmm... But surely the API knows this information under the hood, right?

Yes, it does, but some of it is not kept all the way through the data
pipeline because it was never necessary on the API side.

> I mean, how else would it know where your polling place is?

pollingplaceid = Rand(1,324000).

Dan Ancona

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Sep 6, 2011, 3:23:21 PM9/6/11
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Steve and everyone -

We're considering offering exactly this sort of data via an API out of Democracy Dashboard. There's also other APIs, including one from TargetSmart (my day job), that might offer some or all of what you're looking for. If anyone has any questions about either of these, feel free to send me questions and maybe let me know a little more about what you're building. I'd be happy to help out if I can.

Best,
Dan

Dan Ancona
Founder
Democracy Dashboard
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