Advanced analytics has found a home in the political arena. From forecasting elections, to allocating advertising budgets for campaigns, to computational redistricting to combat gerrymandering, advanced analytics have demonstrated an uncanny knack for gaining insights where the plethora of data makes it challenging for the mind to grasp.
When INFORMS first launched the Election Analytics Editor's Cut in 2016, this was before the unexpected (by many) victory of Donald Trump over Hilary Clinton in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election. This victory, considered to be beyond the grasp of analytics, was comparable to the 1948 upset victory of Harry Truman over Thomas Dewey. However, as with all modeling efforts, data drives the analysis, and this was no exception.
The update of "Elections: Analytics and Beyond" looks at a collection of articles on election forecasting, advertising analysis, computational redistricting, and what we call, Analytics in Action, all providing a glimpse into how advanced analytics is playing a growing role in politics. Moreover, with the 2020 decennial census providing a fresh set of data to redraw congressional and state districts, and algorithmic advances providing new ways to employ artificial intelligence and operations research, election analytics will gain even more traction in the future.
Check out the entire series here!
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Anne Robinson
Chief Strategy Officer
Kinaxis
Kanata ON
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