ONE CONTEST, CLEAR CONTEXT
Election Vote API
Read one contest without losing its context.
A single-contest election feed should make a precise promise: these records describe this office or question, in this jurisdiction, for this election. Even a small results panel needs clear source and status labels. This page explores how to plan that information model. It offers no live election results, official affiliation, or mechanism for casting a ballot through VoteAPI.com.
Identify the contest before listing totals
Use an election identifier, contest identifier, jurisdiction, office or ballot question, and relevant district. Candidate names belong in readable labels, but stable identifiers should drive matching. Preserve distinctions between a candidate, a party label, and a choice on a particular ballot. For a proposed feed, document whether its scope covers one reporting unit or the entire contest. A total without that scope can be mistaken for a complete result when it actually describes only a subset of the available geography.
Keep reporting status beside the number
The U.S. Election Assistance Commission distinguishes election-night reporting from later canvass and certification processes. Carry the source's actual status into the display and explain any normalized label. Do not infer certification from a high reporting percentage or a quiet update stream. If a publisher provides a projection, keep that editorial conclusion separate from official totals. A proposed results card should let someone read the count, its status, and its source together, including when the information was last observed by the application.
Make corrections traceable and comparisons fair
Plan how a changed source record replaces an earlier observation. Keep a revision reference or collection timestamp so maintainers can investigate what the page showed previously. Before adding totals, verify that the records have compatible scopes and do not overlap. Before comparing percentages, identify the denominator used by each provider. Test a corrected candidate label, an unavailable reporting unit, and a delayed update. A small reconciliation process is more valuable than a dashboard that assumes every incoming row can be appended without interpretation.
COMMON QUESTIONS
A clearer
starting point.
How is this different from the Elections Vote API topic?
This page concentrates on records for one defined contest and how to interpret its results. The Elections Vote API topic addresses an index across election events, jurisdictions, and calendar entries. An application may need both models, but a calendar record should not be treated as a contest result.
Can an empty result field be shown as zero?
Only when the source explicitly reports a zero for the same field and scope. An empty field may mean unpublished, unavailable, omitted, or not applicable. Give those conditions distinct labels in the proposed contract so a reader does not mistake a lack of information for an observed count.
CONTINUE EXPLORING
Connect the ideas.
All 18 topic guides15 / 18
Elections Vote API
An elections index helps readers find the right event and jurisdiction before inspecting individual contests. Its central questions are coverage, calendar meaning.
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04 / 18
Presidential Vote API
Presidential elections do not share one universal data model. A page must identify the country, election event, geographic scope, and process represented.
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18 / 18
Political Vote API
A political information interface should help readers understand who a record describes, which office or event it relates to, and where the.
EXPLORE THE GUIDE