Excerpt from Popular Science:  “The problem is that [political/election] maps are designed to be geographically accurate. They’re great at that, especially if they account for the curvature of the Earth with a proper projection that doesn’t stretch out the northern states. But as Alberto Cairo, a data visualization designer, [IDSC Director of Information Design], and Professor of Visual Journalism at the University of Miami, has pointed out: acres don’t vote, people do.

Read the entire story (with lots of illustrations) at Popular Science: “Election graphics can be deceiving. Here’s how to see through their tricks.“