Topologists tackle the trouble with poll placement

https://www.quantamagazine.org/topologists-tackle-the-trouble-with-poll-placement-20240326/

by jyunwai • 2 years ago

41 32 2 years ago

klyrs3• 2 years ago

Porter notes that mathematicians have had success using sophisticated mathematical techniques to quantify gerrymandering, the deliberate skewing of legislative districts.

If only politics followed science, and not partisan loyalties!

alkonaut4• 2 years ago

A simple hack used elsewhere is to simply open for voting in select locations a few weeks earlier. If 1/4 or a 1/2 of voters already voted the queues will be much smaller.

Another simple hack is to ensure it’s a Sunday so more people can vote throughout the day and don’t need to vote outside of work hours.

Or let’s vote everyone all at once on a Tuesday and try to solve the queue problem with…math.

reidjs• 2 years ago

Or better yet, have the majority of people vote by mail and make it easier for everyone.

pulisse2• 2 years ago

If a jurisdiction is reducing the number of election day polling places in an area, they're also going to reduce opportunities to vote in other ways. An egregious example is Houston, where there is now one (1) place to drop off early ballots in a county of 4 million people.

klyrs3• 2 years ago

Spoiler: disenfranchisement is tactical. If serving all voters was a shared goal, we'd find it extremely easy.

mlazos• 2 years ago

lol or just use mail! Done!

stronglikedan• 2 years ago

Banned in so many countries because it's rife for abuse, yet somehow people think it's a safe option in a country as big as the US.

bigbillheck• 2 years ago

It's hard to solve social problems (intentional voter disenfranchisement) with technological solutions.

JohnVideogames• 2 years ago

I love persistent homology; it's such a weirdo bit of maths that topologists keep trying to make useful. Similarly its bigger cousin, Topological Data Analysis, which as far as I can tell is used by people who love weirdo maths but also want to be paid.

I don't see how much good the persistent topology adds here, though. Why bother to do the abstract birth-death diagram and measure the variance in lifetime of these simplices, when the variance and median of the areas in the Voronoi diagram will give you a much easier and more interpretable result?

vouaobrasil4• 2 years ago

I don't see how much good the persistent topology adds here, though. Why bother to do the abstract birth-death diagram and measure the variance in lifetime of these simplices, when the variance and median of the areas in the Voronoi diagram will give you a much easier and more interpretable result?

Well, my personal feeling as someone who has published math papers is that there is a bit of a pressure in mathematics to continually do things in new ways, even if they are not the best ways of doing things. Topological data analysis seems to be of that sort.

Of course, there could be debate here...but I do think that a lot of mathematics has gone past the point of diminishing returns when it comes to its usefulness or even artistic elegance as an abstract art of the intellect. Yet, the show must go on I suppose.

xanderlewis2• 2 years ago

a lot of mathematics has gone past the point of diminishing returns when it comes to its usefulness or even artistic elegance as an abstract art of the intellect.

This reads like a quote from 200 years ago.

dmckeon• 2 years ago

In my opinion, wait times for voters of more than 30 minutes should be grounds for civil suit or impeachment of the election officials responsible. Other variables of interest would include voter dwell time - the time it takes for one voter to cast their ballot - and the likelihood of machine malfunction, whether from inadequate preparation or maintenance, or from active sabotage by voters. Worst case is a polling place with minimal staff, fragile and antiquated machines, and a high proportion of impatient, frustrated, or angry voters. The procedure for repair of machines (never use the word "fixed" during an election) is to mark the machine as out of order, call the elections office, and begin a long wait. For non-Americans, note that US general elections typically involve 2 or 3 dozen contests, so marking paper ballots just for one party or another is not an effective option in the US.

codeflo• 2 years ago

I'm sorry, but as evidenced by literally the rest of the world, voting wait times are not a research-level mathematics problem, but purely one of resources. Census data and a tiny bit of queuing theory (or alternatively, historical data) will tell you the peak load of a voting booth. Staff accordingly, problem solved.

lupire2• 2 years ago

This is a gimmick to draw pretty pictures.

A simple geo plot is enough to identify and visualize locations with long wait times.

larodi• 2 years ago

There’s an article in GIS for science, (vol 2 I think) by ESRI press which tells the story of students in certain US school using ArcMap to analysis polling stations accessibility, density and distribution. High School Students.

Very insightful book and article, recommended.

Topologists tackle the trouble with poll placement

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