Duke University Team Dabbles with Its Own Algorithm for Measuring Partisan Gerrymandering

By EditorDec 06, 2016

North Carolina - It isn't Efficiency Gap Analysis, but a team of mathematicians at Duke University's Sanford School of Public Policy have applied its own model (Markov Chain Monte Carlo method) to measuring the extent of partisan gerrymanders. The algorithm produces maps with districts that have proven to be comparably more competitive than the actual districts established by states. This does not appear to be anything new however, since computer modeled redistricting has been around for quite sometime. The groups methodology explanation does not indicate how its model is superior to other algorithms. Read the article in GovTech.com. The group…

Redistricting, Redistricting Gerrymandersfeatured, North Carolina, partisan gerrymandering, redistricting, research

Judicial Watch to Defend Voters Challenging Constitutionality of Maryland’s Congressional Redistricting Maps

By EditorJul 12, 2016

WASHINGTON, DC--( July 08, 2016) - A special, three-judge panel will consider a constitutional challenge to Maryland's gerrymandered congressional district map on Tuesday, July 12. Judicial Watch Attorney Robert Popper will appear before the panel on behalf of voters from each of Maryland's eight congressional districts. The plaintiffs challenging Maryland's congressional district plan include Maryland Delegates Neil C. Parrott and Matt Morgan, and former Maryland legislator and gubernatorial candidate Ambassador Ellen Sauerbrey. Judicial Watch filed the lawsuit on June 24, 2015, in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland against Maryland's state administrator of elections and the…

Redistricting, Redistricting Gerrymanderscongressional, Maryland, redistricting

Olsen’s Algorithm: Computerized Redistricting for Maximum Compactness

By EditorJan 21, 2016

This Washington Post article suggests that "compactness" trumps everything else in redistricting. It gives better outcomes than drawing lines around communities of interest and it beats the network of voting rights laws on the book. Take a look at what maps would look like if they were drawn for optimal compactness. Read more.

DATA and TECHNOLOGY, Redistricting Criteriacompactness, computerized, processid, redistricting

Redistricting from an Engineering Point of View

By EditorJan 19, 2016

This Daily Kos article shows just how easy redistricting can be by using simple geometry. No algorithm yet can tackle the various state and federal statutory requirements. Oh, and then there's the constitution.

Redistricting, REFORM, Strategy and Politicscomputerized, processid, redistricting

Understanding Prison Gerrymandering and Its Cure: Prisoner Reallocation

By EditorApr 08, 2015

Long overlooked in the context of redistricting, prisoners are counted by the U.S. Census Bureau as residents of the institutions they are incarcerated in. The goal of redistricting electoral boundaries at the state and local levels is to create equally populated districts that ensure every voter's vote has equal weight in an election. A consensus has been building over the years that large prison populations counted by the Census Bureau in this way, confounds these goals. While the Census Bureau has not changed its counting method for prisoners, in response to growing concern by states and advocacy groups, the Bureau…

Redistricting, Redistricting Gerrymanderscensus, IN-DEPTH, Prison gerrymandering, prisoner reallocation, redistricting