Zip Code Search produces no results for 80306 (Boulder, CO)

[onezerojeremy]

URL: https://fec-dev-web.18f.gov/elections/

[jmcarp]

Interesting--that zip code isn't in the Census database (https://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/cd_national.html), and it doesn't show up in http://congressional-district.insidegov.com/. But it seems to be in the Colorado 2nd district. We can add that lookup manually, which doesn't seem great, or find a better data source. Is there a more authoritative database than the Census @noahmanger @LindsayYoung?

[PaulClark2]

Similar issue for Miami, FL. I get president and senate but no house races

[PaulClark2]

Look up Alexandria VA 22304 (results as expected)
Next look up Miami, FL 33129 (Map stays focused on Alexandria, VA, no House races displayed)

[jmcarp]

@PaulClark2 @jwchumley: I believe you mentioned that FEC might already have purchased better zip code / congressional district data. Could you check and see whether you have that data? If not, we'll find something else.

[PaulClark2]

@jmcarp I should have updated you. I checked our Data Services tool uses the USPS ZIP files but we don't have access to them.

[jwchumley]

Here is a bit of text I grabbed from
http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/#wrongrep

It is their response when people put in a zipcode on their representative
finder and the wrong person comes up. Clearly it is an issue for them too.

What should I do when I enter my ZIP code information and I get the wrong
elected Representative?
The Find Your Representative service matches the ZIP code information you
provide with a list of congressional districts. If you receive an error
due to a missing ZIP code or incorrect member information, please use the
Contact Webmaster form to report the problem. Select the appropriate error
category (Report an error in the Find Your Representative service.) and
provide as much information as possible to assist us in researching the
problem. Please be sure to include: Your Street Address, City, State and
ZIP code, the member or congressional district information you are trying
to reach and the member or congressional district the service is reporting
that you feel is in error.

From: Paul Clark notifications@github.com
To: 18F/openFEC-web-app openFEC-web-app@noreply.github.com,
Cc: jwchumley jchumley@fec.gov
Date: 09/03/2015 03:25 PM
Subject: Re: [openFEC-web-app] Zip Code Search produces no results
for 80306 (Boulder, CO) (#489)

@jmcarp I should have updated you. I checked our Data Services tool uses
the USPS ZIP files but we don't have access to them.
?
Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub.

[jmcarp]

@leahbannon how would you like to proceed here? A few options:

• Add a "Couldn't find your zip code? Let us know" link when a zip code search returns no results
• Try to cobble together more comprehensive data from other sources
• Buy proprietary data

I think we should do something about this before launch, but ideally something relatively quick. I'm also going to ask in #dev, just in case somebody's encountered this problem before.

CC @LindsayYoung

[jwchumley]

Before Launch I thing the first option is fine. We need to do it anyway.

From: Joshua Carp notifications@github.com
To: 18F/openFEC-web-app openFEC-web-app@noreply.github.com
Cc: jwchumley jchumley@fec.gov
Date: 09/04/2015 01:32 PM
Subject: Re: [openFEC-web-app] Zip Code Search produces no results
for 80306 (Boulder, CO) (#489)

@leahbannon how would you like to proceed here? A few options:
Add a "Couldn't find your zip code? Let us know" link when a zip code
search returns no results
Try to cobble together more comprehensive data from other sources
Buy proprietary data
I think we should do something about this before launch, but ideally
something relatively quick. I'm also going to ask in #dev, just in case
somebody's encountered this problem before.
CC @LindsayYoung
?
Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub.

[LindsayYoung]

I think we should add a let us know link.

In the mocks, we also linked to the House tool. That would be good to add.

I think having a disclaimer that maps are approximate is necessary.

I can augment the zip codes, with sunlight data, and look up Puerto Rico. (I am catching up on my offsite duties, today so I can do the Tuesday.)

We could always do more later, if we need to.

[onezerojeremy]

I like option 1 too for now

On Fri, Sep 4, 2015 at 1:50 PM, Lindsay Young notifications@github.com
wrote:

I think we should add a let us know link.

In the mocks, we also linked to the House tool. That would be good to add.

I think having a disclaimer that maps are approximate is necessary.

I can augment the zip codes, with sunlight data, and look up Puerto Rico.
(I am catching up on my offsite duties, today so I can do the Tuesday.)

We could always do more later, if we need to.

—
Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub
#489 (comment)
.

[jmcarp]

Update: I asked about this in #geo, and @konklone suggested that crawling the House site and using their zip code to district mapping is an option. Something to consider post-launch.

[leahbannon]

This sounds like a good plan. The language I recommend for our pre-launch solution is: "Can't find your zip code? Let us know: email us or open an issue in GitHub."