Here are two clever new uses of Google Maps:

Pollstr uses polling data and the 2004 election results to project seat-by-seat outcomes in the Canadian federal election. The site then creates a map of Canada, showing the results with the icons for the victorious party appearing on each riding.

And then it gives you a chance to play pundit yourself, dialing national party support up and down to test out various scenarios. You can then refresh the map, and see what damage you’ve done. Endless fun.

Next time around, it would be great if users could fine-tune the controls a little; the national numbers mask some very interesting regional and provincial trends. And for real political geeks, the ability to get under the hood and tweak individual ridings (for instance, those where retiring incumbents or changes in candidates from 2004 could make a difference) would provide the opportunity to waste untold hours on end do some fascinating experimentation.

The one real deficiency on the site is a page talking about the talented creators, who don’t seem to be identified anywhere. Very nice work, whoever you are.

The Canadian Election 2006 Mashup offers a different take: instead of polling, it relies on the wisdom of crowds. Visitors to the site click on various ridings and predict a winner. (In an interesting twist, they also get to identify a favourite.)

The site showcases the developer’s Kweschun technology, which I’m pretty much automatically interested in because they have a nice big tagcloud.

Next up: who can figure out how to mash these two sites together?

(Updated to add info about the CE2006 Mashup.)