CA Election 2020 Data Challenge

Data Science + Civic Engagement

The California Election 2020 Data Challenge was a month-long data science + civic engagement competition designed to leverage public data to help us understand this year’s ballot initiatives.

Read out lessons learned retrospective here.

Participants built data literacy and visualization skills and contributed to informed civic dialogue by applying data science to questions about the November 3rd, 2020 CA ballot initiatives, which covered topics including health care, labor regulation, criminal justice, affirmative action, voting rights, affordable housing, consumer privacy, and tax reform. The outcomes of the Challenge were reproducible research projects culminating in a data visualization exploring an issue pertaining to a specific ballot initiative. This experiential education opportunity helped UC Davis students build their technical portfolios, explore publicly available data, expand their professional networks, and win $$$ prizes!

The Challenge was sponsored by UC Davis DataLab: Data Science and Informatics and the Scholars Strategy Network (SSN). Volunteer mentors and technical advisors contributed project feedback leading up to the challenge’s Virtual Showcase (Oct 5-6). Challenge finalists presented their projects at a public Webinar on October 21 (5-7pm), which featured keynote speakers Mindy Romero (founder and director of the Center for Inclusive Democracy), Jesse Salinas (Yolo County Clerk), and UC Davis Vice Provost of Digital Scholarship and University Librarian MacKenzie Smith. 

Watch the Webinar

LinkedIn

Challenge Results

Twenty teams of UC Davis students, scholars, and alumni submitted projects to the Challenge. The Challenge engaged over 100 participants, with nearly equal participation from graduate and undergraduate students. Several postdoctoral scholars, staff, alumni, and community members also participated in the challenge. Participants' backgrounds reflected the diversity of our campus, hailing from over 18 different domains and departments.

Teams developed a research question focusing on an aspect of a proposition on the California November 2020 ballot and leveraged public datasets to create a reproducible data visualization. While teams worked on 8 of the 12 ballot initiatives, the most popular propositions as selected by the teams were 17 (parolee voting rights), 18 (voting rights for 17 year olds), and 21 (rent control).

Projects were shared via an online asynchronous showcase and reviewed by over a dozen judges including UC Davis faculty, data scientists, and invited external reviewers. The judges were universally impressed with the quality, creativity and thoughtfulness of all projects completed for this short competition. Judges remarks included: “It was a real delight to get to hear about these projects and to explore their data and visualizations,” and “I was impressed by how smart, clever and creatively our UC Davis teams addressed this Challenge.” The Challenge mentors also praised the teams’ efforts to ask relevant, meaningful questions and to help inform civic dialogue. One mentor remarked: “While I know this wasn’t an explicit goal of the Challenge, the data presented by several of the projects even helped me decide how to vote.”

The winning projects most epitomized the Challenge’s goals of promoting data literacy and employed reproducible research methods to make data-driven storytelling accessible. These teams used innovative approaches to investigate thoughtful, civically-relevant questions. The three team finalists will present at the Challenge Finale Webinar on October 21 from 5 to 7 along with keynote speakers MacKenzie Smith (University Librarian and Vice Provost of Digital Scholarship), Mindy Romero (founder and director of the Center for Inclusive Democracy), and Jesse Salinas (Yolo County Clerk).

Winner: install.packages("tidywitches"): Prop 17

Team “Tidywitches” explored Prop 17, which would amend the California constitution to restore voting rights to people who have committed serious or violent crimes, who have been released from state prison but are now under state supervision (parole). Currently voting rights are restored after a person is released from state prison and has served their parole. While California has a huge population, there are many local elections in smaller-population counties where election outcomes are determined by a small number of votes. The team examined how many people are on parole in each county and how the restoration of their voting rights could have potentially influenced elections in five counties with high parolee numbers in 2018. Check out their interactive data visualization here.

Dr. Erica Orcutt received her PhD from the UC Davis Geography Graduate Group in December 2019. Her dissertation was on studying and modeling the habitat dynamics of the Mohave Ground Squirrel, which made her realize the fundamental importance of plants. She has been converted, and now works on remote sensing of plants in the Arctic for her postdoc in the Plant and Environmental Informatics Lab at UC Davis.

Laura Daly is a researcher and data analyst with Advancement Project California. Her research background is in civic engagement, election policy reform, and socioeconomic disparities, and she uses data to advocate for policy changes for more equitable outcomes. Laura earned her MA from the UC Davis Geography Graduate Group in 2017.

Sarah Byer is a Spatial/GIS Analyst with The Nature Conservancy in Nevada, and she specializes in spatial data science,cartography, and environmental remote sensing. Sarah earned her M.A. in Geography from UC Davis, designing a method to use satellite imagery to monitor drought-driven tree mortality in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Winner: MissDemeanors: Prop 20

Team “MissDemeanors” explored Prop 20, which repeals parts of recent legislation to reduce prison overcrowding. Prop 20 would allow certain shoplifting, theft and fraud charges to be charged as felonies rather than misdemeanors and reduces possibilities for parole by re-classifying 51 crimes as ‘violent’ and therefore ineligible for early parole and allowing parole appeals by prosecutors. It also adds DNA collection for some current theft-based misdemeanors. This team focused on the historical relationship between CA legislation and overcrowding in prisons, asking if Prop 20 passes, will there be enough space for prisoners while staying under the supreme courts mandated 137.5% capacity ruling? Check out their interactive data visualization here.

Erin Calfee is a PhD Candidate in the Population Biology Graduate Group. She studies the genomes of honey bees and maize populations that have spread into novel environments to better understand the genetics of adaptation in these agricultural species. She’s passionate about using data and statistics for storytelling and shares the coding skills she’s learned in her PhD by teaching beginner courses in R.

Katherine Corn is a PhD candidate in the Population Biology Graduate Group studying macroevolution and biomechanics in coral reef fishes. Her work integrates macroevolutionary modeling and organismal biology to understand how changes in ecology and behavior over millions of years affect the functional diversity of fishes we have on coral reefs today. She enjoys using statistics to tease apart trends in large datasets as well as hiking, reading, and baking pastries.

Darien Satterfield is a behavioral ecologist, a PhD student in the Population Biology Graduate Group at UC Davis, and is studying functional morphology and behavior in fish. She specializes in the use of video and photography to collect data in the field with minimal disturbance to fish behaviors. Darien’s perspective is that visual media brings data to life and she strives to distribute her data in an accessible way to coastal communities who rely heavily on fish populations.

Winner: Catch-22: Prop 22

The “Catch-22” team explored Prop 22, which is concerned with determining whether app-based transportation (rideshare) and delivery drivers are “employees” or “independent contractors” and proposes that as independent contractors drivers receive certain benefits. As the most expensive proposition in California history this team dug into campaign financing asking who is supporting and funding this proposition and how much money have they raised over time. Check out their interactive data visualization here.

Trisha Ramadoss is a first year PhD student in the Transportation Technology & Policy program at UC Davis. She is working with the Plug-in Hybrid & Electric Vehicle center focusing on EV-grid integration. Trisha graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Electrical Engineering and Physics.

Nitin Ramadoss is a sophomore pursuing a BS in Computer Science at the University of Florida. He has experience in software development, primarily in mobile apps. He plans to go to graduate school to get an MS in computer science.

Honorable Mentions

Two teams were selected for special recognition of their impressive work during the challenge.

Dialysis Analysis (Prop 23)

  • Kate Johnson, Statistics Undergraduate UC Davis
  • Hyunsoo Gloria Kim, Microbiology, PhD Candidate UC Davis
  • Haneya Mustafa, Statistics Alum UC Davis
  • Earl Morales, Statistics Alum UC Davis
  • Andrew Caffrey, Food Science and Technology PhD Candidate UC Davis
  • Jessica Mizzi, Microbiology PhD Candidate UC Davis

Wobbler Costs (Prop 20)

  • Lida Anita To, PhD Candidate, Integrative Genetics & Genomics, UC Davis
  • Sivan Yair, PhD Candidate, Population Biology, UC Davis
  • Fernanda Guizar, PhD Candidate, Population Biology, UC Davis

Collegiality Awards

Two participants were selected for this award which recognizes their engagement, selfless contributions to furthering the research projects of other teams, and for fostering community.

Koral Buch is a PhD student with the Plug-in Hybrid & Electric Vehicle (PH&EV) Research Center at UC Davis, where she studies the adoption barriers of plug-in electric vehicles by the mass market. She is a data-driven researcher, strives to visualize complex quantitative ideas into easily understood results, using statistical languages and software, such as Python, R, and JMP. Koral also serves as the treasurer of the Women in Transportation Studies Student Chapter at UC Davis, where she promotes diversity in the transportation industry by organizing inclusive networking events.

Hyunsoo Gloria Kim is a PhD candidate in Microbiology at UC Davis. She received her Bachelor’s degrees in Molecular & Cellular Biology and Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research spans the fields of synthetic biology, metabolic regulation, tissue engineering, cancer epidemiology, cognitive neuroscience, and science education. Gloria is energized by learning about and advocating for social and environmental justice, and is especially interested in the intersection of STEM with public policy and engagement.

Participating Teams

These teams also successfully completed a project for the Challenge.

ALDUCHWE (Prop 21): Alvin Tang, Christie Ngo, Dustin Nguyen, Wesley Ryan Tat

APCA RDA (Prop 15): Chris Ringewald, Elycia Mulholland-Graves, Jennifer Zhang, Laura Daly, Leila Forouzan, Robert Graham

Arctic Data Monkeys (Prop 18 ): Graham Porter, Anson Justi

bat staRs: Ben Rubinoff, Carina Fish, Esther Kennedy, Marcella Heineke

Data Desperados: Radhika Kulkarni, Sameerah Helal, Yasmeen Itani

Data Detectives: Ambar Mishra, Austin Chen

Databytes: Colton Connor, Shraddha Jhingan

Digital Beavers: Carlos Pereyra, Chenze Li, Evan Roybal

Otter Team 6: Luke Yee, Sai Sriya Mudigonda

Rent Control 21: Koral Buch, Stella Dong, Yinan Feng, Yunan Hou

Superus: Juncheng Pan, Yitian Ren, Zehua Zeng, Zhuoyi Chen

Data Driven: Amila Hidic, Kelley Chu, Yemi Lawrence

Outliers: Annie Tang, Chao Cheng, Xuanbin Chen

TeamVoTeen: Grant Henderson, Carolyn Choi, Nicholas Kwak, Stephanie Kang

TeamToto: Beatrix Lidl, Bruce Lidl

Webinar Keynote Speakers

Mindy RomeroResearch Assistant Professor; Founder and Director of the Center for Inclusive Democracy

Mindy Romero is a research assistant professor and founder and director of the Center for Inclusive Democracy at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy based in Sacramento, California. 

Romero is a political sociologist and holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California, Davis. Her research focuses on political behavior and race/ethnicity, and seeks to explain patterns of voting and political underrepresentation, particularly among youth and communities of color in California and the U.S.

Romero has been invited to speak about civic engagement and political rights in numerous venues, testifying before the National Commission on Voting Rights and the California Legislature, among others. 

Her research has been cited in major news outlets, including The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Sacramento Bee, Politico and the Huffington Post. She has also been a frequent guest on National Public Radio, Capital Public Radio, and several other NPR-affiliated stations in California. She is a regular op-ed contributor to the Sacramento Bee and CalMatters.  

Romero works with a wide array of policymakers, elected officials, voter education groups and community advocates to strengthen political participation and representation. She is currently an adjunct fellow of the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) and former member of their Statewide Survey Advisory Committee. Romero is a member of the California Secretary of State’s Taskforce on the Voter’s Choice Act. She is the former Chair of Mutual Housing California and former Vice-Chair of the Social Services Commission for the City of Davis.

Jesse SalinasAssessor/Clerk-Recorder/Registrar of Voters for Yolo County

Jesse Salinas is the Assessor/Clerk-Recorder/Registrar of Voters for Yolo County, California. Jesse has a bachelor’s degree from U.C. Santa Cruz with a major in Psychology and a minor in Computer Science and a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the Goldman School of Public Policy at U.C. Berkeley.

Jesse has years of experience working in government and nonprofit leadership.

Jesse worked for the California School Boards Association as its first research analyst, providing in-depth and comprehensive analysis on key issues then shaping the state’s education policy discussion, such as the 1992 Voucher Initiative. Jesse worked as a senior consultant on all kindergarten through higher education issues for the State Senate’s President Pro Tem David Roberti. Jesse spent three years working in the Capitol, where he helped balance California’s education budget and, at the request of education committee leadership, led efforts to develop and process emergency education legislation after the Northridge earthquake.

Jesse has also worked in the non-profit sector where he served three years as an Executive Director of a statewide organization, Communities in Schools of California. Due to his strong passion for public policy and public service, he returned to employment in local government.

For 10 years, Jesse served Yolo County as a principal management analyst in both the County Administrator’s Office and the Department of Financial Services. In 2014, as Chair of the Parks and Recreation Commision, he helped lead efforts to pass a City of Woodland ballot measure that extended a quarter cent sales tax. This measure is annually generating $1.2 million in funds for youth and public safety programs. Since 2016 Jesse has served Yolo County as the Assessor/Clerk-Recorder/Registrar of Voters. Jesse also serves on the Election, Recorder and Assessor Associations’ Legislative Committees giving Yolo County a strong voice in shaping California’s public policy.  

In addition to his professional work, Jesse coached youth soccer for 20 years. During his coaching tenure, he received the rare distinction of being elected by his players four times to Who’s Who of America’s Teachers.

Jesse’s innovative outreach efforts to youth and underrepresented communities have been commended at the state and national level.   Local media outlets have highlighted Jesse’s commitment to transparency and youth engagement.  In 2019 his office’s Youth Empowerment Summit was awarded a Guardian Award from the National Election Center for promoting and exemplifying professional principles and standards.   That same year, his office was awarded the United States Election Assistance Commission Clearinghouse Award for outstanding innovations in elections.

MacKenzie SmithUC Davis University Librarian and Vice Provost of Digital Scholarship

MacKenzie Smith creates and leads the strategic vision for the UC Davis libraries and oversees operations for the university’s four main libraries (Shields, Physical Sciences & Engineering, Carlson Health Sciences, and Blaisdell Medical). She leads the library’s efforts to integrate digital resources an information technology to serve the university’s academic community. She has published on information technology and digital knowledge management, and works toward creating and sustaining efforts that enhance efficient and effective access to knowledge. Smith leads the DataLab advisory group.

About the Challenge

Overview

California voters are presented with an average of 10 ballot initiatives each election year. These propositions are an important way for Californians to shape the future of our state.

But, many voters say there are too many of them and that they’re too complicated and confusing to understand. Voters also often worry about their ability to make an informed decision. The CA Election 2020 Data Challenge is designed to leverage public data to help us understand this year’s ballot initiatives.

Participants working in teams of two or more selected one of the November 3rd, 2020 California Ballot Initiatives and, using at least one publicly available dataset, create a project culminating in a data visualization that explores or analyzes an aspect of the issue. Multiple teams could choose to work on the same ballot initiative but each team had to have their own unique research question.

This 2020 Challenge builds upon DataLab’s “PropFest 2018” where successful projects included pursuits that:

  • Analyzed potential impacts of a proposed initiative on specific regions, sectors and/or demographics;
  • Tracked and summarized the historical development of a proposition; and
  • Fact-checked rhetoric or claims on both sides of the debate.

By October 4th all competing teams uploaded a short (< 10 minute) video presentation of their project and data visualization (along with the link to the project’s public GitHub repository) to a Virtual Showcase which ran asynchronously on October 5th-6th. All teams were encouraged to submit their project (even if unfinished), review each other’s visualizations, and offer helpful, supportive, and constructive comments and questions. By observing the progress of the other teams, participants not only grow their network and skill set, but also gain insights to help improve their final project. And remember, the most collegial individuals also win a prize!

Judges reviewed all submissions and selected up to three finalists to win up to $500 and present their project to the broader campus community at the online Webinar on Wednesday, October 21 (5-7pm).

Prizes

Anyone from the UC Davis community and beyond was invited to participate on a team. Only current UC Davis students and postdoctoral scholars were eligible to win monetary prizes. Teams without a lead who is a current student or postdoc were welcome to participate but were not eligible for the prizes. Prizes were only be awarded to teams whose project focused on an issue relating to a single initiative on the November 3rd, 2020 CA ballot.

Team prizes were awarded for projects that are the:

  • Most accessible
  • Most innovative
  • Most data-licious

Individual prizes were also be awarded to the participants who demonstrated great collegiality, perseverance, and high engagement throughout the Challenge. This included providing helpful and supportive feedback and resources to other participants and teams on the Slack workspace, during the Showcase, and during other Challenge-related activities.

Expectations

The goal of this challenge is to support data literacy and explore data visualization applications to promote quantitatively informed civic dialogue. The emphasis of this challenge is on the process of working with data to uncover insights and providing an experience for applying data science to address real-world challenges. Your project and data visualization can encompass anything related to the ballot initiative, but this challenge will not support political agendas.

Full transparency of the data, code, outputs and interpretations is expected from all participants. In addition:

  • Projects must use at least one publicly available dataset.
  • All data visualizations must be reproducible. 

Teams must provide access to all materials used to produce their data visualization through a public GitHub repository. Best practices are expected for the organization of the repository, which should include all data, code, and outputs, along with a detailed readME explaining the files and links to the source datasets. 

For both the Showcase and Webinar presentations, teams should explain their data visualization, and highlight the process used for its development. At a minimum this presentation should include: 

    • Brief overview of the issue (your the research question) and its relevance for the given ballot initiative;
    • Where and how the data were obtained;
    • What tools, technologies, and techniques were used to analyze and visualize the data;
    • How they interpreted those findings;
    • What the data illuminates about a given issue pertaining to the ballot initiative;
    • Limitations of the source data or resulting visualization for understanding the issue

This Challenge provides an opportunity to learn and practice the process of developing a data science project. For the Showcase and Webinar, teams are encouraged to share any challenges they faced developing the project, how they overcame those challenges, and ask for suggestions and advice from others. 

Timeline

Explore here for a run down of the Challenge events.

 

Date Event
Sept. 14, 3-5pm Challenge Virtual Kickoff. We will discuss goals of the challenge, introduce the timeline and resources, provide details about the showcase and symposium, and answer participant questions. We’ll then open up breakout rooms to facilitate team match-making for interested participants. Register now.
Sept. 15
by noon		 Deadline for individuals to submit the registration form in order to receive help getting matched with another individual to form a team.
Sept. 16, 
3-5pm		 Mentor Q&A Office Hour Session 1 (registered teams must RSVP by 10am to receive Zoom access link)
Sept. 18, 3-5pm Mentor Q&A Office Hour Session 2 (registered  teams must RSVP by 10am to receive Zoom access link)
Sept. 21, 
1:30-3pm		 DataLab Technical Drop-in Office Hours
Sept. 28,  1:30-3pm DataLab Technical Drop-in Office Hours
   
Sept. 30,  3-5pm Open office hours with Challenge organizers for final check-in before the virtual showcase. Zoom link will be distributed to all registered teams and posted on the Challenge Slack workspace.
Oct. 4 Deadline for teams to register for the challenge.
Deadline to submit to the Showcase (see Slack workspace for instructions).
Oct. 5-6 Virtual Showcase for registered teams, mentors and judges!
Oct. 12 Judges announce finalists to present at the Webinar. 
Oct. 21, 
5-7pm		 Public Webinar featuring keynote speakers and presentations by Challenge finalists. Free and open to the public but registration required.
   
   
   

Get Help

Domain Mentor Q&A Sessions

On September 16 and 18 from 3-5pm faculty, community, and subject matter experts graciously volunteered their time to provide virtual consultations to support registered teams as they develop their projects. To participate, participants must register for the Q&A session no later than 10am the day of the session to receive the Zoom link.

We strongly encourage participants to attend these sessions. Mentors will offer registered teams general advice on approaching a project on the ballot initiative they have chosen. Mentors can offer participants insight into the ballot initiative content, history of the issue related to the ballot initiative in California or, more broadly, suggest sources of publicly available data and help define a research question.

Meet Our Mentors:

Nick Anderson, Ph.D. (September 18)
Mentor for Health Propositions (Prop 14 and 23)
Associate Professor and Division Chief, Health Informatics
Cardiff Professor of Informatics
University of California, Davis

Shikha Kothari, MBBS (September 16 and 18)
Mentor for Health Propositions (Prop 14 and 23)
Physician/ M.S. Health Informatics Candidate
UC Davis Health Informatics Graduate Group
 
Darien Shanske (September 16)
Mentor for Proposition 15 – Taxes
Professor of Law and Political Science
UC Davis School of Law
 
Dr. Kim L. Nalder (September 18)
Mentor for Proposition 15 – Taxes
Professor of Political Science,
Director of the Project for an Informed Electorate,
Executive Director of CalSpeaks Opinion Poll
 
Zachary Bleemer (September 16)
Mentor for Proposition 16 – Affirmative Action
PhD Candidate in Economics
UC Berkeley
 
Drew Halfmann (September 18)
Mentor for Proposition 18 – Suffrage for 17-year-olds
Associate Professor of Sociology
UC Davis
Leadership Team for Sacramento Chapter of
the Scholars Strategy Network
 
Oliver Ehlinger (September 16 – 3pm to 5pm)
Mentor for Proposition 21 – Rent Control
Managing Attorney
Legal Services of Northern California
 
Mollie D’Agostino (September 16 and 18)
Mentor for Proposition 22 – App-based Drivers
Policy Director, 3 Revolutions Future Mobility Program
Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Davis
Policy Institute for Energy, the Environment, and the Economy
 
Daniel Sperling (September 16 and 18)
Mentor for Proposition 22 – App-based Drivers
Founding Director, Institute of Transportation Studies
Blue Planet Prize Professor of Engineering and Environmental Science & Policy
University of California, Davis
Board member, California Air Resources Board
 
Minming Wu Morri (September 18)
Mentor for Proposition 24 – Consumer Privacy
Associate Campus Counsel
UC Davis Office of Campus Counsel 
Campus Privacy Officer
UC Davis Office of Compliance and Policy
 
Michael Everett (September 16 and 18)
Mentor for Proposition 25 – Criminal Justice
Data Science Fellow,
COVID-19 Behind Bars Data Project
UCLA School of Law

Ethan Evans (September 18)
Mentor for Social Science Research Questions and Data
Research Affiliate, UC Davis, Center for Healthcare Policy and Research
Assistant Professor, CSUS Division of Social Work


The UC Davis Researcher Services, Health Sciences Librarians, and Computational Research Services staff are also available for support with locating data sources and framing research questions:

Bruce Abbott (September 16)
Mentor for Health Research, Blaisdell Medical Library

John Daniels (September 16 and 18)
Mentor for Social Sciences research and data, Computational Research Service

David Michalski (September 16 and 18)
Mentor for Social Sciences, geographic, and demographic data, Shields Library

Christy Navarro (September 16 and 18)
Mentor for Health Data, Blaisdell Medical Library

Megan G. Van Noord (September 16)
Mentor for Health and Social Sciences data, Carlson Health Sciences Library

Technical Mentor Office Hours

DataLab’s data science team hosts weekly drop-in office hours on Mondays from 1:30-3:00pm. They can provide support with developing research questions and approaches, troubleshooting your code, and finding learning resources. To join the virtual office hours see this page for details and the Zoom link. DataLab’s technical experts at these drop-in sessions include:

Wesley Brooks, Research Data Science
Naomi Kalman, Data Specialist
Oliver Kryelos, VR Data Programmer
Arthur Koehl, Data Scientist
Justin Merz, Research Support Engineer for Shields Library
Pamela Reynolds, DataLab Associate Director
Tyler Shoemaker, Postdoctoral Scholar for Web App Development
Michele Tobias, Geospatial Data Specialist

Final Check-In with Challenge Organizers

The final open office hours session is on Wednesday, September 30th from 3-5pm. The Challenge organizers will go over guidelines for project submissions to the virtual showcase and answer questions. Materials and Zoom link will be distributed through the Challenge’s Slack workspace.

Challenge Slack Workspace

All registered individuals and teams are invited to join the Challenge’s Slack workspace. Check out channels #getting_started, #resources, #team_formation and #help_me to ask for and share helpful tips.

Resources

Find a Ballot Initiative

The CA November 3, 2020 CA ballot initiatives cover topics including health care, labor regulation, criminal justice, affirmative action, voting rights, affordable housing, consumer privacy, and tax reform.

Ballot Initiative Number Name of Initiative Topic
Prop 14 California Stem Cell Research Institute Bond Initiative Bond Issues, Stem Cells
Prop 15 California Tax on Commercial and Industrial Properties for Education and Local Government Funding Initiative Taxes
Prop 16 Affirmative Action Amendment Affirmative Action
Prop 17 Voting Rights Restoration for Persons on Parole Amendment Suffrage
Prop 18 Primary Voting for 17-Year-Olds Amendment Suffrage
Prop 19 Property Tax Transfers, Exemptions, and Revenue for Wildfire Agencies and Counties Amendment Taxes
Prop 20 California Criminal Sentencing, Parole, and DNA Collection Initiative Law enforcement
Prop 21 California Local Rent Control Initiative Housing
Prop 22 App-Based Drivers Regulations Initiative Business Regulation, Labor, Unions
Prop 23 Dialysis Clinic Requirements and Consent to Close Initiative Healthcare
Prop 24 Consumer Personal Information Law and Agency Initiative Business Regulation
Prop 25 California Replace Cash Bail with Risk Assessments Referendum Civil and criminal trials

Discover Open Data

Teams are expected to use at least one open data set for their project. Not sure where to start? Check out data made available for California.

CA State Open Data Portal »

Setting up Your Project

Get Started with GitHub »

Documenting your project

How to write a data management plan and tips for readMEs »

DataLab Workshop Archive

Check out the recordings, slides and code repositories from previous DataLab: Data Science and Informatics (DSI) workshops on topics ranging from getting started with git to working in R, Python, SQL, QGIS, and on topics ranging from machine learning and data visualization to Bayesian statistics. Interested in a specific topic?  Send us an email to suggest a topic for a future workshop!

Archive link »

Registration Info

Virtual kickoff and team match-making event

Join us on September 14, 2020 (3-5pm) to learn about the Challenge goals, timeline and resources, and connect with potential teammates. Advanced registration required.
Virtual kickoff registration link »

Register Your Team

Have a team in mind and want to get started? Register by October 4 to be eligible to compete in the Virtual Showcase to win prizes and the chance to present at the Webinar. Don’t have a team but want to participate? Complete the registration form by September 15 and we will provide support with team matching.  Interested but not sure if you qualify to participate? Contact us.

Team registration link »