Welcome to Michael Richard Labs
This website is dedicated to all things data. It emphasizes analyzing political and economic data in a different light, seeking to use new approaches to tackle the nation's current problems.
My goals are to unveil what's going on behind the headlines, and to deliver unbiased and quality reporting of news and analysis. I also hope to demystify the math going on in politics, and break things down for the average reader.
There's beauty in data. Follow along to see what we might find.
Check out our most recent articles:
Breaking Down Ranked Choice Voting
With the election results fresh on everyone’s minds, Americans are once again dissatisfied with the two party system and wish for something better. Several states and municipalities have adopted a ranked choice voting system (RCV), with the District of Columbia being the most recent to do so...
Read MoreAbstracting Virginia's Elections
Have you ever looked at an election map and thought: How can I make this more confusing? Probably not. But that’s what I’m here to do today. In the world of data science and mathematics, there’s a subfield known as Topological Data Analysis (TDA). What it aims to do is to...
Read MoreWhy are the Polls So Weird?
If you’ve been keeping up with this election cycle at all, you may have noticed something strange. In the battleground states, pollsters have been reporting the same thing for months: the candidates are within just about 3 points of each other in each and every one of them...
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