A teenager redrew the Alabama voting map - and it's now state law [View all]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/30/alabama-teenager-election-map-voting-rights

A teenager redrew the Alabama voting map – and it’s now state law

Daniel DiDonato, 18, drafted new state senate districts at home on free software – and a judge picked his map ahead of professionals’ efforts to remedy voting rights violations

Sam Levine in New York
Sun 30 Nov 2025 11.00 EST

Earlier this month, after years of litigation, a federal judge in Alabama ordered a new state senate map. In a surprising decision, the map she chose wasn’t one drafted by a court-appointed special master and his expert cartographer, but rather one that had been submitted by an anonymous member of the public, known only by their initials, “DD”.

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DiDonato’s success underscores how the wide availability of redistricting data and mapping software has transformed mapmaking from something once reserved for supercomputers and backrooms to an activity that anyone can participate in. It’s a transformation that has allowed for observers to immediately scrutinize maps for partisanship or signs of racial discrimination.

The widespread availability of political data tools has created an online community – Election Twitter – where political, data and mapmaking junkies will create and share maps and forecasts. DiDonato said he “definitely” considered himself a member.

“You have a whole bunch of these kids who are snippy and savvy and know about the Voting Rights Act, Section 2 of the VRA,” said Chaz Nuttycombe, 26, who developed an impressive record forecasting state legislative races while a student at Virginia Tech and has since founded State Navigate, a non-profit focused on state legislatures. “I’ve seen maps put together by special masters that I disagree with, and I’ve seen kids on Election Twitter put forward better maps for equivalent states and districts than those special masters.”

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