College of

Engineering, Architecture and Technology

Political Districting to Minimize County Splits

When partitioning a state into political districts, a common criterion is that political subdivisions like counties should not be split across multiple districts. This criterion is encoded into most state constitutions and is sometimes enforced quite strictly by the courts. However, map drawers, courts, and the public typically do not know what amount of splitting is truly necessary.

 

Dr. Austin Buchanan, Associate Professor of Industrial Engineering and Management and his graduate student Maral Shahmizad recently published a research paper that provides answers for all congressional, state senate and state house districts in the USA using 2020 census data.  Their approach is based on integer programming.

Shahmizad is from Iran and loves to spend her free time solving puzzles, playing guitar and board games.  She finds great joy in learning and exploring new things and is excited to see what her Ph.D. journey will bring her.

 

Read the full paper here