In this tutorial, we tackle a real-world political redistricting challenge using Excel’s Evolutionary Solver. Washington State has gained an extra congressional seat, and the goal is to assign 18 cities to 10 districts—each with 150,000 to 350,000 registered voters—while maximizing the number of Republican-majority districts.
You'll learn:
• How to model the problem in Excel
• How to use the SUMIF function to aggregate district data
• How to configure and run the Evolutionary Solver
• How to interpret the results and constraints
• Tips for making optimization problems beginner-friendly and reproducible
Whether you're a student, educator, or curious learner, this video will help you understand how optimization tools can be applied to political strategy, logistics, and real-world decision-making.
🔧 Tools used: Excel Solver, SUMIF, integer constraints
🎯 Skill level: Beginner to Intermediate
📁 Includes: Solver setup, constraint logic, and answer report walkthroug
