How the 2024 U.S. election was decided, vote by vote by The Washington Post

Using grains of sand to represent individual votes, The Washington Post created a three-dimensional mapping project that unpacks the 2024 U.S. presidential election. This unusual visual story shows where key votes secured Trump a second term in the White House.

The challenge was to create an innovative representation of the 2024 presidential election results that went beyond traditional approaches. The aim was to not only present the numbers but also depict America in a more realistic and nuanced way—showing a nation that is much more purple and interconnected than the typical red-and-blue maps suggest.

The visualization sought to highlight the power of each vote, recognizing the razor-thin margins that have defined recent elections, including those that put Presidents Trump and Biden in the White House in 2016 and 2020. The concept of representing all 160 million votes as grains of sand was developed to convey both the magnitude of voter participation and the complex patterns within the electorate. This approach transformed the data into a dynamic, topographical story, offering a fresh perspective on the election’s results.

This project presents a straightforward yet compelling look at how votes were distributed across the country. Blender was used to simulate millions of particles, each representing a single vote. QGIS handled the geographic data, ensuring accurate placement of votes. Generative AI played a role in building helper-applications to manage repetitive tasks. The result is a map that goes beyond red and blue to showcase the nuanced geography of the election.