Above is my recreation of the map. Below is the original version published by the New York Times.
A Critique of the New York Times Map:
Overall, I think the map is a good one. I enjoyed the interactive features on the website, where you could compare electoral results from past elections. That being said, there is area for improvement. For one thing, the Times' labeling is inconsistent, which is visually unpleasant. Some states have their whole name, others have initials in all capital letters and most of the upper East coast is unlabeled. I think that each state should simply be identified by its two letter abbreviation for consistency's sake. Also, the map key is unneeded at this point in time, since the map shows final returns. Therefore the legend seems redundant to me. An additional way to improve the map would be to show the popular vote by county level, and use a gradation of colors rather than just red and blue. This would provide the viewer with a more nuanced view of how people voted, and overall create a more informative map.
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