For help in the scramble to provide instant results and analysis -- all while sorting through close decisions on the local and federal level --  check out these resources for adding depth to your election night coverage, the day after stories and long range post-election stories. Also, check out our look at data-driven stories leading up to election day.

What's being done

• The Los Angeles Times site had a presidential map as well as a map of California showing how counties voted on candidate races and ballot measures.
• The Huffington Post also had an election center, complete with map and table ...

If you ever get the urge to feel a chill run down your spine, particularly if you're interested in political journalism, give Sasha Issenberg's new book The Victory Lab a good, close read.

Here's the headline: When it comes to using data to understand politics, journalists are playing checkers while political consultants are playing chess. Just listen to the debate that has surfaced in recent weeks around The New York Times' polling specialist, Nate Silver. The venerable Fourth Estate, whose job it is to hold the political system accountable, often lacks the skills to understand, let alone ...

How has data been used in advance of the election season? We've been looking for good data visualizations and data-driven reporting centered on the upcoming elections. Below is what we've found. Help add to our list by emailing suggestions to tony@ire.org or tweeting us @IRE_NICAR.

The Washington Post
The Post's 2012 election map shows what's still in play for the presidential, senate, house and governor races, along with a breakdown by income, race, urban vs. rural, marriage rigthts and swing states. 

The New York Times
The Times' Election 2012 package includes, among many other ...

There are several ways that political funds can play a role in key states, especially during an election year. In IRE's 2012 election coverage webinar from Derek Willis of The New York Times, you’ll see how to trace money that comes from outside sources to state-based political groups, and how to follow the path of expenditures from the ground game to the air wars.

Click here to view the webinar.

Made possible through a grant from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.

By Doug Haddix
Kiplinger Program director
Kiplinger Program in Public Affairs Journalism, Ohio State University

A new mobile app called Ad Hawk created a buzz this weekend during an IRE Election Watchdog Workshop at The Ohio State University. It’s an amazing new public service offered by the nonpartisan Sunlight Foundation in Washington, D.C.

Here’s how it works: When you hear a campaign commercial on TV, radio or the Web, open the Ad Hawk app and press a button on a retro TV logo that says “Identify this ad.” Using a short digital footprint from the recording, the ...