Here is a slightly different approach using plyr and reshape packages by hadley.
This is how I handle multiple imports. I hope my example suits your needs. What you do is you read all the filenames in the directory, import each file as a list element and rbind the whole list into one data.frame.
I assume your files begin with voting_results_*.
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.