County-level election returns for U.S. presidential and House of Representatives races from 1840 to 1972. The collection includes vote percentages for major and significant minor party candidates, total votes, and estimates of voter turnout for presidential elections. It was compiled by Jerome M. Clubb of the University of Michigan–Ann Arbor.
Use Cases
- Analyzing historical party vote share trends based on county-level percentages for presidential candidates.
- Modeling voter turnout patterns based on the estimated turnout variables for presidential elections.
- Studying the relationship between presidential and congressional voting behavior based on party-level returns for House races.
- Mapping the geographic distribution of political support over time based on county-level returns.
Strengths
- Covers a long historical time range of 132 years (1840-1972).
- Includes data for two major election types: presidential and U.S. House of Representatives.
- Provides multiple derived metrics such as vote percentages and estimated turnout.
Limitations
- Row count and file size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.
Provenance
- Source
- Jerome M. Clubb, University of Michigan–Ann Arbor
- Time Range
- 1840-1972
- Geography
- United States (county-level)