NATIONAL- It’s probably inadvertent, but the national map of broadband need published by the White House on Thursday offers an extra layer of information beyond its detailed look at Internet access in the United States. Those areas that are in greatest need of broadband are displayed in red, accidentally elevating another quality most share: They largely voted for Donald Trump in 2020.

The Census Bureau collects data on technology adoption across the country, releasing assessments of how common computer ownership or Internet access is at the state, county and Census tract level. If we compare the density of households without any type of computer (including smartphones) or broadband access to how a country voted in 2020, we see that Trump-voting counties are overrepresented in both groups.

The reason the White House released its map, of course, is to make the pitch for a broader investment in broadband in those rural areas.

“As we release this important data to the public, it paints a sobering view of the challenges facing far too many Americans as they try to connect to high-speed broadband and participate in our modern economy,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told Axios.

Whether Congress supports an investment meant to close that gap will come down to politics. So it’s worth pointing out the extent to which more Republican areas are disproportionately affected by limited technology.

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