MATH, RACE, AND VOTING RIGHTS MOON DUCHIN @GDBC, JUNE 2020 - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
MATH, RACE, AND VOTING RIGHTS MOON DUCHIN @GDBC, JUNE 2020 WELCOME TO new name GEODATA BOOTCAMP highly welcome! It's 2020 - we're in a global pandemic, and the raised voices of many Americans over police violence against Black people have
MOON DUCHIN @GDBC, JUNE 2020
It's 2020 - we're in a global pandemic, and the raised voices
have been met with fascist and militaristic response. It's a major election year, and voting itself is a battleground across the country. Voting rights work needs DATA. Let me try to set the stage for some of the work we will do together.
new name highly welcome!
Data science meets civil rights
a first-past-the-post electoral system. In principle, 40% of the votes can secure anywhere from 0-80% of the seats.
1 2 3
Many states have a rule to respect "communities of interest"; this is essentially never made precise What kinds of shared interests matter most for a voice in government?
race or party?
Segregation/clustering makes it possible to draw "designer districts" to dilute the vote... ...or by the same token, districts can be drawn to enhance the voting power of a minority.
Flip side: when population is very homogeneous, the lines don't matter.
32% R 34% R
We proved complete R lockout from 2000-2010 (see VRDI paper in Election Law J)
1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018
36.9% R votes
1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018
Maryland 36.7% R votes Massachusetts 28% R reps 0% R reps
BACK TO THE GEOGRAPHY: ONE IS "ELASTIC" AND THE OTHER IS RIGID
32% R 34% R
But data does not make itself.
At our Voting Rights Data Institute 2018, we called all 88 counties in Ohio to ask the simple question, where are your precincts?
☛
Ruth Buck, MGGG Data Wizard
constant
fallen?
redistricting!
2151 precincts and these must be divided into 9, 40, and 160 districts with nearly equal population
very excited to work with you this summer. mggg.org districtr.org