On this primary day, we sit down with a mathematician who studies voting.
Donald Saari looks at voting theory in particular. Saari can explain how a state like Wyoming can have power over a state like California or New York, thanks to the Electoral College. The issue is, he says, how often can a group make the crucial difference? In the U.S. Senate, 49 Democrats have nothing close to equal power to 51 Republicans, because of the power distribution for the majority. Perhaps not even Nate Silver has studied the math of voting as intently as our guest:
- Donald Saari, distinguished professor of mathematics and economics at the University of California Irvine
