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| titletext = Use your mouse or fingers to pan + zoom. To edit the map, submit your ballot on November 6th.
 
| titletext = Use your mouse or fingers to pan + zoom. To edit the map, submit your ballot on November 6th.
 
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}}
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{{TOC}}
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To see the full zoomable picture go to the [https://xkcd.com/2067/ original] comic page.
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*To experience the interactivity of the game, visit the {{xkcd|2067|original comic}}.
 
  
 
==Explanation==
 
==Explanation==
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[[File:challengers_loading_screen.png|thumb|300px|Loading screen]]
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{{incomplete|We should figure out what source is behind all that 13,339 landmarks in gray, there are 2596 U.S. National Historic Landmarks, but Randall claims those other more than 10,000 are also from Wikipedia. So let's identify that sources. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
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Regarding the {{w|United States elections, 2018|midterm elections}} held in the United States on November 6, 2018, this comic shows probably all challengers, which are candidates running against the current officeholder, as well as those running in open seats where a change of the major party from the previous election could occur. It is the second of three consecutive comics that deal with this election.
 
  
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[[Randall]] states on top that "The bigger the candidate's name is,"
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[[File:challengers_loading_screen.png|thumb|200px|Loading screen]]
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*the higher the office is in command structure, and
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This comic shows probably all challengers to the {{w|United States elections, 2018|midterm elections}} hold on November 6, 2018, which are candidates running against the current office-holder, as well as those running in open seats where a change of the major party from the previous election could occur.
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*the better their chances of success as a challenger are
 
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While an office can be subclassified by order from state down to county, the guesses on ''better chances to success'' can be only based on surveys before the elections.
 
  
 
All names provide an indirect link to the first {{w|Google Search}} result on that specific person and position. As common, {{w|Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic}} candidates are shown in blue text, {{w|Republican Party (United States)|Republican}} candidates in red, and independent candidates are in green.
 
All names provide an indirect link to the first {{w|Google Search}} result on that specific person and position. As common, {{w|Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic}} candidates are shown in blue text, {{w|Republican Party (United States)|Republican}} candidates in red, and independent candidates are in green.
  
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The landmarks shown in gray are essentially links to Wikipedia pages containing coordinates pointing to the US in their body (both visible on the site and hidden in the wiki source) that point to places in the US. If they contain more than one coordinate then the first one is used, for example the {{w|List of the major 3000-meter summits of the United States}} page is shown in Alaska, and the {{w|xkcd}} page is linked near Boston, Massachusetts. This list seems to be auto generated from a Wikipedia dump made possibly before 2017. There doesn't seem to be any other criteria as the list also contains orphaned wikipedia pages that only contain hidden coordinates in their sources pointing to the US, {{w|Murder of Yangjie Li|for example this one}}.  Wikipedia pages containing these coordinates can be {{w|Special:WhatLinksHere/Template:Coord|easily enumerated on the site}} in blocks of 500 at a time.
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The landmarks shown in gray are essentially links to Wikipedia pages containing coordinates. If they contain more than one coordinate then the first one is used, for example the {{w|List of the major 3000-meter summits of the United States}} page is shown in Alaska, and the {{w|xkcd}} page is linked near Boston, Massachussets.
  
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Since the map is large there's also a [https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/challengers.png loading screen] present that can be seen while the map is loading. There are a total of nine comics embedded into the map at various locations. They are showed when zooming into the map at the appropriate section.
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Since the map is large there's also a [https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/challengers.png loading screen] present that can be seen while the map is loading.
  
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The title text shows the hint that the reader can zoom in and move over all fifty states to reveal details which can't be easily seen in the overall view. Furthermore, while a typical opensource and interactive mapping project might provide on-site means to edit the data to render, here [[Randall]] called upon Americans to use their vote as the official method of changing how the picture ought to look.<!-- But, without checking, I assume this one wasn't updated at all from the outcome. If it was, someone should say so. -->
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There are a total of nine comics embedded into the map at various locations. They are showed when zooming into the map at the appropriate section.
  
 
===Attack Ads===
 
===Attack Ads===
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: Cueball: Isn't the election on November 6th?
 
: Cueball: Isn't the election on November 6th?
 
: Black Hat: Yeah, the advertising rates go way down after that.
 
: Black Hat: Yeah, the advertising rates go way down after that.
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{{w|Attack ads}} are campaign advertising that usually attack the opponents' campaign instead of promoting one's own. The comic also refers to the fact that media outlets usually spike their advertising prices during the campaign, and it becomes cheaper afterwards. However, there's usually no point in advertising afterwards for a campaign as the polling has already taken place. This may also be a callback to [[1130: Poll Watching]].
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{{w|Attack ads}} are campaign advertising that usually attack the opponents' campaign instead of promoting one's own. The comic also refers to the fact that media outlets usually spike their advertising prices during the campaign, and it becomes cheaper afterwards. However there's usually no point in advertising afterwards for a campaign as the polling has already taken place. This may also be a callback to [[1130: Poll Watching]].
  
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Lubbock was the place where some [https://www.texastribune.org/2018/08/03/cruz-orourke-attack-ad-reelection-texas/ attack ads were shown] few months before the election. Texas is also notable as in 2008 during the Democratic Party primary Hillary Clinton [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/01/us/politics/01campaign.html started running attack ads] aimed at Barack Obama, who later became President, causing controversy.
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Lubbock was the place where some [https://www.texastribune.org/2018/08/03/cruz-orourke-attack-ad-reelection-texas/ attack ads were shown] few months before the election. Texas is also notable as in 2008 during the Democratic Party primary one of the major candidates [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/01/us/politics/01campaign.html started featuring attack ads] aimed at the other major candidate Barack Obama, who later became President, causing controversy.
 
<br clear=all>
 
<br clear=all>
  
 
===Ballot Measures===
 
===Ballot Measures===
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[[File:challengers_subcomic_weed_california.png|thumb|350px|Ballot Measures]]
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[[File:challengers_subcomic_weed_california.png|thumb|200px|Ballot Measures]]
  
 
Location: '''Weed, California'''
 
Location: '''Weed, California'''
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: Megan: I'm leaving these all blank and voting against whoever approves ballot measures.
 
: Megan: I'm leaving these all blank and voting against whoever approves ballot measures.
  
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Ballot measures are proposed laws that are approved and rejected by voters. In California, apart from the elections to Congressional and state offices, there will also be [https://ballotpedia.org/California_2018_ballot_propositions 12 extra propositions] for the voters in this election. Sometimes propositions also include changing how voting should be done in subsequent elections. [https://www.vox.com/2016/6/23/11979522/brexit-ballot There are people] who believe proposals on US ballots are asked in a very convoluted way and could be made simpler.
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In California during this election apart from the nationwide election there will be also be [https://ballotpedia.org/California_2018_ballot_propositions 12 extra propositions] for the voters to vote on. Sometimes propositions also include changing how voting should be done in subsequent elections. [https://www.vox.com/2016/6/23/11979522/brexit-ballot There are people] who believe proposals on US ballots are asked in a very convoluted way, and could be made simpler.
  
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In this comic a lot of the proposals sound complex and self-referential as well, therefore Megan just says that she doesn't wish to vote to any of them and would actually like to ban people creating ballot papers like this. Not voting might also refer to the scenario where people believe none of the choices during an election are good, and instead vote to no-one or deface their ballot papers in protest.
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In this comic a lot of the proposals sound complex and self-referential as well, therefore Megan just says that she doesn't wish to vote to any of them, and would actually like to ban people creating ballot papers like this. Not voting might also refer to the scenario where people believe none of the choices during an election are good, and instead vote to no-one or deface their ballot papers in protest.
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The name of the town chosen, Weed, California, may be a pun on how marijuana is legal in California. However, Weed is a real town in Northern California.
 
 
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===Carlymandering===
 
===Carlymandering===
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[[File:challengers_subcomic_seattle_washington.png|thumb|270px|Carlymandering]]
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[[File:challengers_subcomic_seattle_washington.png|thumb|200px|Carlymandering]]
  
 
Location: '''Bellingham, Washington'''
 
Location: '''Bellingham, Washington'''
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: Hairbun: That seems fair.
 
: Hairbun: That seems fair.
  
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This refers to {{w|gerrymandering}}, a tactic used to re-shape voting district boundaries to make sure one candidate prevails over the other. "Carlymandering" is a [[739: Malamanteau|malamanteau]] which combines gerrymandering with {{w|Carly Rae Jepsen}}, a Canadian singer, whose single "{{w|Party for One}}" was released the day before the comic's publication. Although the song is about partying (e.g., going out) alone, the joke is that it could also mean a one-person political party, and she would have a full gerrymandered district to herself.
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This refers to {{w|gerrymandering}}, a tactic used to re-shape voting district boundaries to make sure one candidate prevails over the other. "Carlymandering" is a malamanteau which combines gerrymandering with {{w|Carly Rae Jepsen}}, a Canadian singer, whose single "{{w|Party for One}}" was released the day before the comic's publication. Although the song is about partying (e.g. going out) alone,{{Citation needed}}<!-- Isn't the song about "making love to myself"? --> the joke is that it could also mean a one-person political party, and she would have a full gerrymandered district to herself.
  
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Jepsen lives in Vancouver, which is just on the other side of the US border in Canada. The comic is placed in Whatcom County, which is notable for {{w|Point Roberts}}, a peninsula which, although part of Washington state, is actually an exclave of the US, as it's surrounded by sea on three sides, and has its only land border with Vancouver to the north. The comic might refer to the fact that Jepsen could solely live in this exclave. However, since she is not a US citizen, she can neither vote nor be elected in US elections.
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Jepsen lives in Vancouver, which is just on the other side of the US border in Canada. The comic is placed in Whatcom County, which is notable for {{w|Point Roberts}}, a peninsula which, although part of Washington state, is actually an exclave of the US, as it's surrounded by sea on three sides, and has only a land border with Vancouver to the north. The comic might refer to the fact that Jepsen could solely live in this exclave. However, since she is not a US citizen, she can neither vote nor be elected in US elections.
 
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===House===
 
===House===
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[[File:challengers_subcomic_washington_dc.png|thumb|100px|House]]
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[[File:challengers_subcomic_washington_dc.png|thumb|200px|House]]
  
 
Location: '''Washington, DC'''
 
Location: '''Washington, DC'''
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===Polls===
 
===Polls===
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[[File:challengers_subcomic_primm_nevada.png|thumb|230px|Polls]]
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[[File:challengers_subcomic_primm_nevada.png|thumb|200px|Polls]]
  
 
Location: '''Primm, Nevada'''
 
Location: '''Primm, Nevada'''
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: Blondie: Remember: The only poll that counts is the one on Election Day. And the ones that help campaigns allocate resources. And the ones that drive media coverage and the ones that inform us all about what our fellow members of the public believe. And the ones that...
 
: Blondie: Remember: The only poll that counts is the one on Election Day. And the ones that help campaigns allocate resources. And the ones that drive media coverage and the ones that inform us all about what our fellow members of the public believe. And the ones that...
  
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The word "poll" has two distinct meanings in regard to elections -- the place where you go to cast your official vote is called a poll, as are the unofficial surveys done to try to gauge how people are likely to vote.
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During campaign there are usually polling done by survey companies to determine each candidate's chances of winning. This comic refers to the fact that usually the candidate that is behind in the polls usually tells their electorate that these polls don't matter, as they are just surveys and not the actual final result. This is usually to encourage their voter base that it's still worth voting for them. The joke here is that Blondie doesn't finish here but tells the electorate that other polls are actually also important.
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During campaign there is usually polling done by survey companies to determine each candidate's chances of winning. This comic refers to the fact that often the candidate that is behind in the unofficial polls tells their electorate that these polls don't matter, as they are just surveys and not the actual final result. This is usually to encourage their voter base that it's still worth voting for them. The joke here is that Blondie doesn't finish here but tells the electorate that other polls are actually also important.
 
  
 
Nevada is one of the states where there is [https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign-polls/414083-poll-dems-hold-slim-leads-in-arizona-and-nevada-senate-races only a slim difference] between the candidates based on polls hence the need for each candidate to rally their supporters and make sure everyone is voting.
 
Nevada is one of the states where there is [https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign-polls/414083-poll-dems-hold-slim-leads-in-arizona-and-nevada-senate-races only a slim difference] between the candidates based on polls hence the need for each candidate to rally their supporters and make sure everyone is voting.
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===Punish===
 
===Punish===
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[[File:challengers_subcomic_chadron_nebraska.png|thumb|150px|Punish]]
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[[File:challengers_subcomic_chadron_nebraska.png|thumb|200px|Punish]]
  
 
Location: '''Chadron, Nebraska'''
 
Location: '''Chadron, Nebraska'''
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: Megan: If elected, I vow to find and punish the voters responsible.
 
: Megan: If elected, I vow to find and punish the voters responsible.
  
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Often candidates make promises of things they will do when they are elected. Vowing to find and punishing people responsible for a certain action, oftentimes criminals, is also common. However, [https://imgur.com/r/misc/d4jbdEV certain performance artists aside,] these two things are generally not conflated, as they are here, to ludicrous effect.
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Often candidates make promises of things they will do when they are elected. Vowing to find and punishing people responsible for a certain action, oftentimes criminals, is also common. However, these two things are conflated here to ludicrous effect.
  
 
Putting this comic into Nebraska might refer to the fact that in [https://ballotpedia.org/Nebraska_Death_Penalty_Repeal,_Referendum_426_(2016) 2016 Nebraska voted to repeal the death penalty ban], allowing the reinstatement of the death penalty, also called capital punishment, in the state.
 
Putting this comic into Nebraska might refer to the fact that in [https://ballotpedia.org/Nebraska_Death_Penalty_Repeal,_Referendum_426_(2016) 2016 Nebraska voted to repeal the death penalty ban], allowing the reinstatement of the death penalty, also called capital punishment, in the state.
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===Scholten===
 
===Scholten===
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[[File:challengers_subcomic_storm_lake_iowa.png|thumb|400px|Scholten]]
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[[File:challengers_subcomic_storm_lake_iowa.png|thumb|200px|Scholten]]
  
 
Location: '''Storm Lake, Iowa'''
 
Location: '''Storm Lake, Iowa'''
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: Cueball: Yikes.
 
: Cueball: Yikes.
  
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{{w|United_States_House_of_Representatives_elections_in_Iowa,_2018#District_4|J.D. Scholten}} is a Democratic candidate for Iowa's 4th Congressional District. {{w|Steve King}} is a Republican representative who has stirred controversy due his endorsement of candidates, in other countries, who were members of parties with white supremacist ties, and he has explicitly and frequently stated concern with the American society being destroyed by [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/12/us/steve-king-white-nationalism-racism.html "other people's babies"].
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J.D. Scholten is a Democratic candidate for Iowa's 4th Congressional District. {{w|Steve King}} is a Republican representative who has stirred controversy due his endorsement of candidates, in other countries, who were members of parties with white supremacist ties.
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<br clear=all> King would go on to win re-election by a narrow margin.
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===Spanberger===
 
===Spanberger===
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[[File:challengers_subcomic_richmond_virginia.png|thumb|150px|Spanberger]]
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[[File:challengers_subcomic_richmond_virginia.png|thumb|200px|Spanberger]]
  
 
Location: '''Richmond, Virginia'''
 
Location: '''Richmond, Virginia'''
 
: [Cueball is holding a sign that says: Abigail Spanberger for Congress]
 
: [Cueball is holding a sign that says: Abigail Spanberger for Congress]
  
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Abigail Spanberger was a candidate running for Congress in Virginia's 7th district, which includes Richmond. Based on polls she had a chance to beat her opponent, and she then became the first Democrat in her district after 50 years of Republican control, beating out Republican incumbent David Brat by 2 percentage points. Cueball probably was trying to encourage people to vote for her on election day.
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Abigail Spanberger is a candidate running for Congress in Virginia's 7th district, which includes Richmond. Based on polls she has a chance to beat her opponent, and could be the first Democrat in her district after 50 years of Republican control. Cueball probably tries to encourage people to vote for her on election day.
 
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===St Louis===
 
===St Louis===
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[[File:challengers_subcomic_saint_louis_missouri.png|thumb|300px|St Louis]]
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[[File:challengers_subcomic_saint_louis_missouri.png|thumb|200px|St Louis]]
  
 
Location: '''Saint Louis, Missouri'''
 
Location: '''Saint Louis, Missouri'''
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The area surrounding the Arch was known as Jefferson National Expansion Memorial until February 2018, when it was renamed to Gateway Arch National Park.
 
The area surrounding the Arch was known as Jefferson National Expansion Memorial until February 2018, when it was renamed to Gateway Arch National Park.
 
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===Title text===
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The title text shows the hint that the reader can zoom in and move over all US-States revealing many details can't be seen at the overall view. Furthermore [[Randall]] does a call to vote: he requests people to take an active part in the elections to change that picture.
  
 
==Transcript==
 
==Transcript==
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:[In a frame a zoomable map shows all US-States (Alaska and Hawaii are shown in the left lower corner.) The candidates are shown colored mainly in red and blue at different sizes. Each state has many landmarks shown in gray. There are also many comics embedded into the picture.]
 
:[In a frame a zoomable map shows all US-States (Alaska and Hawaii are shown in the left lower corner.) The candidates are shown colored mainly in red and blue at different sizes. Each state has many landmarks shown in gray. There are also many comics embedded into the picture.]
  
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:By Randall Munroe, Kelsey Harris, and Max Goodman
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:By Randall Monroe, Kelsey Harris, and Max Goodman
  
 
:Landmarks from Wikipedia. Success odds estimated from district voting history, special election
 
:Landmarks from Wikipedia. Success odds estimated from district voting history, special election
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==Trivia==
 
==Trivia==
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*When this comic was released the [[Design_of_xkcd.com#Header_text|Header text]] changed to help people on how to vote in the upcoming election. See this [[2068:_Election_Night#Election_related_header_texts|trivia]] from the [[2068: Election Night]] comic, released after this one.
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*The comic [[Design_of_xkcd.com#Header|header]] had changed to:
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:''Find out where to vote: [https://www.vote.org/ Vote.org]''
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:''See what's on your ballot: [https://www.ballotready.org/ BallotReady.org]''
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:This happened on the day this comic came out, as it up till [http://web.archive.org/web/20181101081612/https://xkcd.com/ the day before], had been a different reminder of the election only with the vote.org link.
 
*The interactive picture did not work in many browsers when using the link ''[https://www.xkcd.com www.xkcd.com]'', only the short ''[https://xkcd.com xkcd.com]'' worked properly because the page used an absolute link to a file ''[https://xkcd.com/2067/asset/map-data.json map-data.json]'' at the domain ''<nowiki>xkcd.com</nowiki>'' which is not allowed from ''<nowiki>www.xkcd.com</nowiki>'' according to {{w|Cross-origin resource sharing}}. This was later fixed by using a relative link only working inside the called domain.
 
*The interactive picture did not work in many browsers when using the link ''[https://www.xkcd.com www.xkcd.com]'', only the short ''[https://xkcd.com xkcd.com]'' worked properly because the page used an absolute link to a file ''[https://xkcd.com/2067/asset/map-data.json map-data.json]'' at the domain ''<nowiki>xkcd.com</nowiki>'' which is not allowed from ''<nowiki>www.xkcd.com</nowiki>'' according to {{w|Cross-origin resource sharing}}. This was later fixed by using a relative link only working inside the called domain.
 
* The internal comics have a kind of "comic" inside the [https://xkcd.com/2067/asset/map-data.json map-data.json] file that contains all of the details shown on the map. All other locations, including politicians and landmarks inside the map-data.json have a kind of "label"
 
* The internal comics have a kind of "comic" inside the [https://xkcd.com/2067/asset/map-data.json map-data.json] file that contains all of the details shown on the map. All other locations, including politicians and landmarks inside the map-data.json have a kind of "label"
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[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Blondie]]
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Blondie]]
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[[Category:Politics]]
 
[[Category:Elections]]
 
[[Category:Elections]]
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[[Category:US maps]]
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[[Category:Maps]]
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[[Category:Dynamic comics]]
 

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