Just before midnight on Tuesday, Sept. 28, an independent, bipartisan commission voted to approve a new map for Colorado’s congressional districts––dividing the state into eight territories with roughly equal populations.

Colorado, like every other state in the union, undergoes the process of reshaping its local and national voting districts every 10 years. You could fill a picture book with the convoluted, sometimes cartoonish shapes these regions take. Ohio’s fourth congressional district, for example, looks like a bit like duck, or maybe a dragon. Then there’s Illinois’ fourth, which political commentators often compare to earmuffs.

A team of mathematician has released reports analyzing Colorado’s redistricting processes that suggest these maps don’t seem to give any political party an unfair advantage in the state’s elections––at least for now.

Daryl DeFord.
DeFord

Coauthors on the new analyses include mathematics professor Daryl DeFord of Washington State University.

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