Breaking down the NC Amendment 1 vote: interesting graphic

[mnhtnbb]

This is NOT an excuse, but being a resident of NC--Orange County where the vote AGAINST was almost 79%--it is interesting
to see via this graphic how many counties voted in the 40-50% AGAINST range. Higher turnout just MIGHT have made a difference.
We've seen the numbers: only about 20+% of eligible voters were able to successfully change the NC Constitution to incorporate
bigotry and a declaration of unequal rights that will, eventually, be overturned. It probably will take a decision from the US Supreme Court.

[IMG][/IMG]

Narrative from the creator of the map:

I created this graphic showing the 2012 vote results against Amendment One because I wanted to understand this beautiful and strange state of North Carolina.

One can easily observe that all of the major centers of education and economic development reflect an awareness of the immoral nature of this amendment and the potentially dire consequences.

I live on an island in Orange County, the only county with over 75% against Amendment 1. I'm personally surprised by the strong showing in Watauga and also Eastern NC. Dare County is the lone coastal county to bust 50%, though New Hanover County was close.

As an activist, a graphic artist and programmer (among other activities) I was compelled to share this information. I saw Jason Baker's original graphic, and utilized my research, statistics, and visual skills to dig a bit more deeply into the details. My additions include county lines and a couple more notations to denote counties that were close to the 40 and 50% lines.

Please share this and extend the Creative Commons license. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 444 Castro Street, Suite 900, Mountain View, California, 94041, USA.
— with Kirk Ross, Ruby Sinreich and Jason Baker.

[xchrom]

1. du rec. nt

[mmonk]

2. A higher turnout would have made a difference.

That is why the legislature chose the primary rather than general election. To those too lazy to go vote in the primary, shame on you.

[jerseyjack]

3. Yes, they chose the primary.

Dems wouldn't bother to vote. That decision is foregone. So the yahoo's, ridge-runners, moonshiners, dirtbag fundies and others of their ilk would likely vote their prejudice while at the polls to support Noot or Santorum.

Remember the decision to place the referendum on the ballot was made while there was still a contest.

[struggle4progress]

6. There may also be a demographic component. On average:

primary voters are older, and older citizens are more conservative on these issues

[mmonk]

8. Correct.

[HockeyMom]

4. Republican Primary Day

Did that have a effect also?

[Doctor_J]

5. Another win for hate radio

if you want the country back, think of how to get rid of these tumors.

[Mira]

7. Yes!

[NC_Nurse]

9. Watauga has Appalachian State University - I'm sure that's how that happened. Also,

Blowing Rock is kind of a resort community with some retirees and transplants.

I miss Chapel Hill. What a great place!

[yardwork]

10. I think you may be misreading the map. Very few counties voted in the 40-50% range.

That sea of lilac are the counties where people voted against in the 26-40% range.

I count only 3 counties showing the 40-50% range.

Thanks for posting this map, though. Very interesting.