Unveiling PIIM: The Mathematics of the Presidential Election
On November 17 President Kerrey hosted a conversation with New Mexico
Governor Bill Richardson on the presidential election of 2004. The discussion focused on an analysis of the electoral college, especially how the opinions of the American public translate into regional voting patterns and election results. Visualization tools developed by the
Parsons Institute for Information Mapping (PIIM) informed the conversation. By revealing the complex relationship between majority voting and the winner-takes-all, state-by-state process, PIIM allowed President Kerrey and Governor Richardson to manipulate primary and election results based on different hypothetical outcomes and helped the audience to quickly comprehend critical aspects of campaign politics.
