Meeting: Pennsylvania Redistricting with Geographers: Communities of Interest Criteria and Beyond
Date and Time: September 13th, 2021 2:00 pm - 3:15 pm (Demo from 3:30pm - 4:30 pm) ET
Redistricting to preserve geographically defined communities of interest is recognized as a way to constrain gerrymandering and ensure that legislatures are truly representative. However, communities of interest are just one of many important criteria in redistricting. In this panel we will explore the intent of the COI criteria, how they can contribute to fair representation, their usefulness in relation to traditional redistricting criteria, and how they may be misused in the redistricting process. In addition, we will look at publicly available tools citizens can use to define COIs, and learn how to submit them to officials drawing Pennsylvania’s new maps. Attendees will become familiar with Pennsylvania’s redistricting history and process, and leave with the knowledge and tools needed to get involved as the new districts are drawn. When it comes to the fight for fair redistricting, there is no one better equipped than a geographer. By activating our collective power as a community and pressing to have a geographer in the room in every state, we can set new expectations this year and show why geospatial thinkers are indispensable.
**This event will feature panel speakers from 2:00 pm - 3:15 pm. Then after a 15 minute break, attendees are encouraged to stay for the hands-on demonstration of Representable and other online redistricting tools.
Lee Hachadoorian
Temple University
Chris Fowler
Pennsylvania State University
Jonathan Cervas
Carnegie Mellon University
Carol Kuniholm
Fair Districts PA
Hannah Wheelen
Princeton Gerrymandering Project
Lee Hachadoorian Temple University
Lee Hachadoorian () will serve as moderator and lead the panelists in discussion and Q&A
Lee Hachadoorian received his BA in Philosophy (Cornell University), MA in Geography (Hunter College) and PhD in Earth & Environmental Sciences (CUNY Graduate Center). His research interests include spatial analysis, urban inequality and redistricting reform. He is currently Assistant Director of Temple University's PSM in GIS and PSM in Geospatial Data Science. He also serves on the board of Concerned Citizens for Democracy, a Pennsylvania-based redistricting reform organization.
Chris Fowler Pennsylvania State University
Chris Fowler () will discuss geography’s role in defining Communities of Interest in Pennsylvania, and why geospatial thinkers are crucial to drawing new districts
Chris Fowler is Associate Professor of Geography and Demography at Penn State where his research focuses on the ways that boundary drawing influences what we are able to observe about the population and its impacts on inequality in the U.S.
Jonathan Cervas Carnegie Mellon University
Jonathan Cervas () will discuss this year's redistricting efforts from a political science perspective
Jonathan Cervas received his BA (University of Nevada Las Vegas), MA and PHD (University of California, Irvine) in Political Science. He studies elections and American political institutions, with particular focus on the Electoral College and political redistricting and gerrymandering. He is a specialist in GIS. He has served U.S. federal courts as assistant to the special master, aiding the court in the remedial phase of racial gerrymandering lawsuits. He is currently post-doctoral teaching fellow at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA, research associate at Princeton’s Electoral Innovation Lab, and map consultant for the Pennsylvania Legislative Reapportionment Commission.
Carol Kuniholm Fair Districts PA
Carol Kuniholm () will detail Pennsylvania’s redistricting process, upcoming dates and deadlines, and opportunities for public engagement
Carol Kuniholm is Chair and cofounder of Fair Districts PA, a grassroots coalition launched in early 2016 to advocate and educate for redistricting reform in Pennsylvania. From 2015 to 2019 and again in 2020 to 2021 she served as Vice President of Government and Social Policy for the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania and has been the PA state coordinator for the LWVUS People Powered Fair Maps initiative.
Hannah Wheelen Princeton Gerrymandering Project
Hannah Wheelen () will discuss the role of technology in redistricting and citizen engagement. She and Amanda Kmetz will lead a hands-on demonstration exercise of Representable and other online tools for public participation
Hannah Wheelen earned a BA in Mathematics (UC Berkeley) and studied redistricting at the Metric Geometry and Gerrymandering Group's first Voting Rights Data Institute before joining the Princeton Gerrymandering Project (PGP). She is currently the Data and Technology lead at PGP, where she helps connect redistricting reform organizations to the data and technology that can empower them.
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Pennsylvania Redistricting with Geographers: Communities of Interest Criteria and Beyond
Description
Date and Time: September 13th, 2021 2:00 pm - 3:15 pm (Demo from 3:30pm - 4:30 pm) ET
Status: Event Ended.
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