Politics | map_∞

The United States is the only country in the western world to still retain the death penalty. It is also with the minority of the world – just 58 of 198 countries (29%) have used the death penalty in the last 10 years.

The chart below displays the top 25 countries ranked by executions over the past decade. China and Iran ‘lead’ in this category by a large margin. Iran has the distinction of having highest number of execution per capita. Meanwhile in China, the number of executions is officially unknown and regarded as a “state secret” – Estimates range from as high as 2500 to 5000 per year, more than the rest of the world combined!

The United States does not fair very well either – 5th in the world in executions with 350 since 2007.

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The above graphic displays the number of visits by presidential candidates (hand waves) and the amount of money spent (dollars signs) per state during the 2004 election. What is quickly apparent is only a few states are (politically speaking) “important” – these states being the so-called “swing states”.

The map below shows what states were within in +/- 4% margin of victory between the two opposing parties during the 2012 campaign – namely: Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, and Virginia. Florida and Ohio are particularly important as they are both swing states and have large population. Florida has 27 electoral college votes (third most in the US) and Ohio has 20 (seven most). The relative importance of these states and other “swing states” are highlighted above in the amount money and visits by political candidates. Do you still think your vote counts?

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