Hex Maps are Terrible

They are ugly and unnecessary

Look at this map of the 2020 American Presidential Election. It shows you who won - Biden received 306 electoral votes, versus Donald Trump’s 232. Except, maybe it doesn’t. If this is all you had to go by, you might think Trump won - after all, most of the map is red. Of course, he didn’t, and the reason he didn’t is because Republicans do disproportionately well in rural, sparsely populated states, which are large geographically, but irrelevant electorally. For instance, Montana is larger geographically than New York but has less than one-ninth of the electoral college votes (3 versus 29 in 2020).

Therefore, the traditional geographic map use we use to show elections is bad, and should be replaced, say many. Instead of a geographically accurate map, we should use a hex map, where each state is shown in a size proportional to its electoral map - so rural Wyoming is far smaller than densely populated Massachusetts.

Better - right? Expect, no. The hex map fails its first contact with reality - it’s far more ugly than the normal map, and it’s harder to see geographic trends. You also probably know the shape of the state you wish to see the result of, for instance, Maryland has a distinct shape that is easy to locate on the normal map, but it takes a bit longer on the hex map.

However, the central claim that the geographically accurate map is misleading lacks a consideration of when you actually see them. On every news website, paper and TV channel, a map will always be accompanied by the figures of the actual result, so you will always know who, or what, won, and by how much. The map is there as a reference to see how a particular state or area voted, and with the map of the US being so recognisable, it takes seconds for you to find this information out. The hex map is only useful if it’s the only thing you see - which is never the case. And even if networks were constantly displaying maps without providing numbers or any context, the hex map will not really help you if the result is close - can you tell the difference between 51% of hexagons being red versus 49% out of 538?

In Britain, the hex map is even worse. With 650 constituencies, you will have no way of locating yours or perhaps even the broad region. The situation is made worse by the fact that you can’t label anything because otherwise, the map would be a cluttered mess.

Look at the hex map on the left - you miss out on regional patterns you see on the geographic map - for instance, you don’t know that Labour’s support tails off outside London as it isn’t clear where London ends on the map. How did Manchester or Birmingham vote? You have no idea because it’s hard to see much beyond the South West, Northern Ireland or Scotland.

Thank you for reading - and I may bring the Substack back for more regular posts. Let me know in the comments if there is anything you would like me to cover.