Ipsos, the global research firm, in conjunction with the University of Virginia Center for Politics, has unveiled its Political Atlas for the 2020 presidential election. With just weeks to go until Election Day, this tool will offer countless journalists, commentators, political operatives, fundraisers, and others invaluable insights into the state of the American electorate.
“It’s more important than ever to provide as much context as possible to political polling numbers,” said Clifford Young, President of U.S. Public Affairs at Ipsos. “On-the-ground analysis of what issues are being discussed on the internet and in the media, what people are seeing on their social media feeds, how many new cases of COVID-19 there are in a given state, how bad unemployment has gotten—these factors all matter a great deal, and we ensured they were a major feature in our platform.”
The Ipsos/UVA Center for Politics Political Atlas compiles valuable information on how former Vice President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump are performing on a state-by-state, and even county-by-county, level, combining up-to-date polling with analysis from UVA Center for Politics Director Larry J. Sabato’s industry-leading Crystal Ball tool. From there, it goes deeper, allowing users to see fundraising totals, voting methods and Facebook ad spends, social media sentiment, and even the frequency of discussions on key, top-of-mind issues, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, racial justice, and public trust in government.
“Election polling coverage can be misleading—it makes for a great headline to say Biden is up by ten points nationally, but over the last few years most elections have come down to a few key states,” said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics. “Understanding those states—what issues matter to them, what’s being discussed in their local papers and nightly news, and how much the candidates are spending there—could not be more important for this election.”
The 2020 Political Atlas can be accessed for free at political-atlas.com.