Last year, the MIT Election Data and Science Lab (MEDSL) released one of its most extensive datasets, the 2016 Precinct-Level Returns. With information on the elections for President, U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Senate, and State offices, it is one of the most comprehensive election datasets freely available to academics and practitioners, who put it right to work. As they have combed through it, though, these political scientists, geographers, and data scientists have repeatedly asked: Where is the matching shapefile?

Does America’s electoral system know where each voter resides?

Why do we care about research in election science? More specifically: why do we care about supporting and promoting research that’s not our own?