[OC] Die relative Schwierigkeit, in den restriktivsten, zugänglichsten und am stärksten umkämpften Staaten zu wählen. Index der Wahlkosten, erste Rankings im Zeitverlauf, 1996–2024.

The Cost of Voting Index (COVI) examines election laws and policies and calculates a single measure of the relative difficulty of voting for each state. States with smaller values make voting more accessible than states with larger values. These three plots trace the Initial COVI rankings from 1996 to 2024. Initial values and rankings are calculated in the months preceding an election. Additionally, Final values and rankings are calculated in the months following an election, incorporating evaluation of actual election practices. For data and more information about COVI, visit: [https://costofvotingindex.com](https://costofvotingindex.com)

A summary of the methodology is available on a Wikipedia page:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cost_of_Voting_Index](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cost_of_Voting_Index)

A chart of the current (2024, initial) rankings can be viewed here:
[https://drive.google.com/file/d/16gF2AsIgg1s_5OPM60TY7AjwVWuy87oM/view?usp=sharing](https://drive.google.com/file/d/16gF2AsIgg1s_5OPM60TY7AjwVWuy87oM/view?usp=sharing)

Data was structured in R and outputs generated via ggplot (geom_line), then plotted to SVG for import to Adobe Illustrator for annotations and final assembly.

Is the source info just ranking or is it a distinct numerical value per state? It might be a better visual if it was clear that there are clusters and outliers that ranking removes.