Event Details

Mathematical Interventions in Fair Voting 

On one level, redistricting is “just a math problem” — how to divide up population into districts in a way that secures a desired kind of result. But there are many other levels as well: politics, racial fairness, community structure, and so on. We will take a look at data-intensive interventions in the study of gerrymandering, and try to convince you of the ways that redistricting both is, and is not, a math problem

Moon Duchin is an Associate Professor of Mathematics Tufts University where she is director of the interdisciplinary program in Science, Technology, and Society and faculty in the Department of Race, Colonialism, and Diaspora Studies. Trained in geometry, topology, group theory, and dynamical systems, her current research is in the study of electoral redistricting in the U.S., using randomized algorithms to understand relationships between community, partisanship, race, and representation. She runs the MGGG Redistricting Lab at Tufts, which engages in research, consulting, and outreach around gerrymandering and reform efforts.

Karen Saxe is Director of Government Relations for the American Mathematical Society. She is also DeWitt Wallace Professor of Mathematics, Emerita at Macalester. She has been awarded a Distinguished Teaching Award by the Mathematical Association of America and the Macalester College Excellence in Teaching Award. Karen has been a resource in Minnesota on redistricting, consulting with city governments, is currently part of the Common Cause Redistricting Leadership Circle, and served on the Minnesota Citizens’ Redistricting Commission, created to draw congressional districts following the 2010 census.