There’s more to blog about than just sports statistics, and that includes the release of the QGISv3 redistricting plugin I’ve written! The website https://www.qgisredistricting.com is now live and provides details on how to download and install the plugin from a zip along with operational instructions.
The plugin comes from a desire to be able to redistrict using desktop GIS software without having to spend any money. I used Azavea’s District Builder back in 2010 when I participated in a team redistricting competition. I also have colleagues outside the U.S. who have almost completely switched from MapInfo to QGIS, but the MapInfo redistricting tool was one of the areas where they didn’t switch over.
The plugin forces you to supply your own redistricting data where other software (particularly online software) provides it for you, but these files can generally be found pretty easily.
If redistricting and open source software interests you at all, head on over to the github and try it out. Do note it’s not entirely free of bugs, so treat it as sort of a final beta – for now, avoid making multiple plans on the same file (it tends to overwrite the other files) and please report any issues you have, but my sense is it’s ready to be used in production environments.
I’m also working on an automated redistricter QGIS plugin which automatically generates districts, so watch this space if that interests you. An early version of that code is also up on github.