Scrape Congressional Redistricting Authorities by State

redistricting-authorities.R

library(dplyr)
library(tibble)
library(rvest)
library(xtable)

url_redist <- "https://ballotpedia.org/State-by-state_redistricting_procedures"
state_df <- read_html(url_redist) %>%
  html_table(fill = TRUE) %>%
  ## Fourth table is the congressional redistricting table, after manual insp.
  .[[4]] %>%
  `colnames<-`(.[1, ]) %>%
  .[-1, ] %>%
  ## Final column is empty
  .[, -dim(.)[2]] %>%
  ## Final row is Source: ... 
  slice(-n()) %>%
  ## For clarity, delete state name from "state legislature"
  rowwise() %>%
  mutate(
    `Who draws the lines?` = trimws(gsub(State, "", `Who draws the lines?`))
  ) %>%
  ## Abbreviate "Alaska is home to only one congressional district." pattern
  mutate(
    Notes = gsub(
      paste0(State, " is home to only one congressional district."),
      "Only one district.", Notes
    )
  ) %>%
  ## In this case, to fit in Beamer, delete one-line districts...
  filter(Notes != "Only one district.") ## %>%
  ## rename(`Gov. veto?` = `Can the governor veto the lines?`)

print(
  xtable(state_df, digits = 0),
  include.rownames = FALSE,
  booktabs = TRUE
)