NEWS.md

In gerda: German Election Database (GERDA)

gerda 0.4.0

Bug Fixes and Improvements

• Improved error messages for deprecated federal_muni_harm dataset with clear migration guidance
• Enhanced fuzzy matching to prioritize prefix matches (e.g., federal_muni_harm now correctly suggests federal_muni_harm_21 and federal_muni_harm_25)
• Added references to gerda_data_list() in all error messages to help users discover available datasets
• Updated README and vignette to reflect current data coverage (1990-2025)
• Fixed function references in documentation (gerda_covariates and gerda_covariates_codebook)

gerda 0.3.0

New Features

• Added county-level covariates functionality: Easy access to socioeconomic and demographic indicators (1995-2022)
• New function: add_gerda_covariates() - One-step helper to merge covariates with election data
• New function: gerda_covariates() - Access raw covariate data (400 counties, 20 variables)
• New function: gerda_covariates_codebook() - View data dictionary with variable descriptions
• Works with both county-level and municipal-level election data
• 400 German counties with covariates from INKAR
• Includes demographics, economy, labor market, education, and income variables
• Data source: Bundesinstitut für Bau-, Stadt- und Raumforschung (BBSR)
• Function-based API prevents namespace pollution and merge errors

Other Changes

• Updated R dependency to >= 3.5.0 (required for internal data serialization)

gerda 0.2.1

Bug Fixes and Improvements

• Improved error message clarity for file extensions
• Changed message from "Format ignored" to "File extension (.rds or .csv) not required - adding it is optional"
• Simplified user messages by removing redundant information about data format independence
• Updated tests to match improved message format

gerda 0.2.0

New Features

• Added support for 2025 German federal election data
• New datasets available:
• federal_muni_harm_21: Federal elections harmonized to 2021 boundaries (1990-2025)
• federal_muni_harm_25: Federal elections harmonized to 2025 boundaries (1990-2025)

Breaking Changes

• Removed federal_muni_harm dataset (replaced by boundary-specific versions)
• Users should now use federal_muni_harm_21 or federal_muni_harm_25 depending on their boundary harmonization needs

Improvements

• Updated data coverage to include 2025 federal election results
• Improved dataset descriptions to clarify boundary harmonization
• Enhanced error messages with helpful suggestions for deprecated dataset names

Bug Fixes

• Updated all URLs to reflect new repository structure
• Fixed dataset count in documentation and tests

gerda 0.1.0

• Initial CRAN submission
• Access to German election data from 1990-2021
• Support for municipal, state, and federal election data
• Geographically harmonized datasets
• Cross-walk tables for boundary changes

gerda documentation built on Nov. 13, 2025, 1:07 a.m.