Benford's Law w/ VA Election Data

benford.py

#!/usr/bin/env python3

import json
import requests


url = "https://results.elections.virginia.gov/vaelections/2019%20November%20General/Json/GeneralAssembly.json"
results = {}
for i in range(1, 10):
    results[str(i)] = 0

data = requests.get(url).json()

for race in data['Races']:
    for candidate in race['Candidates']:
        # This forces the data to an integer (just in case we got some weird floating point
        # number), and ensures that if the first digit is 0, the number itself is 0
        first = str(int(candidate['Votes']))[0]
        if first == '0':
            continue

        results[first] += 1

print(json.dumps(results, indent=4))