News

Public Mapping Project Awarded Brown Democracy Medal

posted Nov 9, 2018, 2:04 PM by Micah Altman

We are honored that the McCourtney Institute for Democracy at Penn State University announced the Public Mapping Project will be awarded the 2018 Brown Democracy Medal.

Sloan Foundation Support

posted Nov 9, 2018, 2:03 PM by Micah Altman

The Sloan Foundation has generously provided $124,999 in support to update the DistrictBuilder app and to support continued data collection to prepare for the 2020 redistricting cycle.

2020 Data Collection Underway

posted Nov 9, 2018, 2:01 PM by Micah Altman

We are collaborating with  MIT Election Science and Data Lab and OpenElections.net on the collection and processing of precinct election results in preparation for the 2020 redistricting. We encourage persons interested in volunteering to get involved with this effort.

A more difficult data collection is precinct boundaries, which we augment with election results and overlay onto census geography so that we can assess the political effects of redistricting plans. Many states and localities simply to do publish these important boundaries. We have received two small grants from the MIT Election Science and Data Lab and the Colorado Secretary of State's office to explore the feasibility of fabricating precinct boundaries from geocoded voter files, which have voters' addresses and precinct identifiers.

Preparing for Redistricting 2020

posted Nov 9, 2018, 2:00 PM by Micah Altman

We are preparing for the post-2020 census redistricting in the United States, with a goal to deploy web accessible software using cloud computing infrastructure for all U.S. congressional and state legislative districts. We will be updating this website with exciting updates as to our preparations and progress.

In the intervening years since the last U.S redistricting, we collaborated with colleagues at ITAM to deploy our DistrictBuilder software in Mexico. College students with no English fluency used our software to draw districts to the Mexican House of Deputies, using DistrictBuilder's internationalization features. 

Sloan Foundation Support

posted Oct 20, 2017, 11:13 AM by Michael McDonald

The Sloan Foundation has generously provided $124,999 in support to update the DistrictBuilder app and to support continued data collection to prepare for the 2020 redistricting cycle.

METRIC GEOMETRY AND GERRYMANDERING GROUP

posted Aug 14, 2017, 7:06 AM by Michael McDonald

We were pleased to participate at the 2017 Metric Geometry and Gerrymandering Group's Boston meeting. The level of interest and energy from participants is well beyond what we experienced in public mapping this time a decade ago!

Draw Marion County Launched

posted Jun 7, 2012, 2:22 PM by Michael McDonald   [ updated Jun 7, 2012, 2:22 PM ]

Common Cause/Indiana has launched Draw Marion County, which allows Marion County voters to give direct input into the redistricting process for the City-County Council by drawing their own version of district maps using our DistrictBuilder software.

New York Redistricting Competion Open

posted Oct 22, 2011, 11:00 AM by Micah Altman

To foster awareness of the new opportunities available to become involved in the redistricting process, the Center for Electoral Politics at Fordham University and the Public Mapping Project have launched the “2012 New York Redistricting Project.” The initiative is generously funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. See http://redistrictny.org

Minnesota Supreme Court Will Consider Public Submissions

posted Sep 22, 2011, 12:56 PM by Michael McDonald

The Minnesota Supreme Court has issued an order that they will consider redistricting plans generated by the Public Mapping software, which is being used in the Minnesota redistricting competition. To our knowledge, this is the first time a court has stated they will consider public plans.

Minnesota Launches Redistricting Competition

posted Sep 19, 2011, 9:01 AM by Michael McDonald

Draw Our Minnesota is an effort to improve the redistricting process in Minnesota by ensuring that the process is fair, transparent and that there is meaningful citizen input.  Past redistricting attempts in Minnesota have been driven by partisan influences and lacked active citizen participation in the process.


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