Behind the Scenes of Electoral Data Visualization in Ticino
Transparency and accessibility of public information are essential for a healthy and informed democracy. In the heart of Canton Ticino (Switzerland), the development team at Arcaweb, in collaboration with RSI (Swiss Italian-language public broadcasting company), has created a tool to provide the Ticino public with a clear view of the electoral situation in Ticino.
The Project
Viewing the electoral trends in the form of colorful and intuitive graphs before and during elections may seem obvious, but behind the scenes, a lot of work is involved. During our collaboration with RSI, we were able to witness the amount of effort put in to ensure clear, transparent, and comprehensive information for the public.
The challenge lies in aligning the historical election data, the 106 municipalities, and the 5,673 candidates, which change with each election due to municipalities merging, parties forming, and others merging.
Arcaweb played a fundamental role: developing a management software that allows the creation and publication of interactive and intuitive election graphs based on existing data, updated in real-time, ensuring speed, compatibility with mobile devices, security, and continuity of service during peak traffic times.
Present and Future
The collaboration between the RSI team and Arcaweb was crucial for the success of the project, with designers, developers, and editors working together to make the complex electoral dynamics understandable through intuitive graphics and colors.
With the completion of the second version of the software, the team is looking towards the future with the goal of continuing to improve and make this valuable resource even more informative, thus contributing to strengthening democracy and promoting a better understanding of the political dynamics that shape Canton Ticino and beyond.