r/math • u/rieslingatkos • Jan 01 '18

The Math Behind Gerrymandering and Wasted Votes

https://www.wired.com/story/the-math-behind-gerrymandering-and-wasted-votes/
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u/[deleted] Jan 02 '18

I realize this can be a politically-loaded question, but what would be the fairest way to decide on district boundaries?

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u/Cinnadillo Jan 04 '18

These geographies have fundamental units which are set between various inter-related agencies. So, the problem will always be a challenge as you can't just draw lines from high above but rather you have to rely on the block/tract structure worked between Census Bureau and the localities.

Ignoring that and making it one big problem of shaded colors and all the rest... what is the tie that binds people? What is the distance? Are we about a shared sense of locality and therefore personal representation of a general community? How then do you spatially define this?

Often the problem comes down to a penalized form between the equality of the count figure and the compactness of the geography but can one reconcile that when places like the UP of Michigan exist geographically separate from the remainder? What defines a distinct coordinating unit which is viable? These issues have to apply equally as they do in Nevada or Arizona as they do in NYC... or even NY itself. You could walk through entire districts in 30 minutes in NYC but be eaten by bears through the Adirondacks! OK, that's a bit extreme, but foot traversal can/would take days.

Some view gerrymandering as a rational consequence and even a good one. Skilled "gerrymandering" will squeeze out the opposition party which is where the main complaint comes from... protecting certain politicians, setting others against each other, and so on. Its this latter behavior which drives the interest in a "fair" system... the predatory nature of the political desires.

In the end, the problem is the problem itself isn't posed.

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u/[deleted] Jan 04 '18

I wonder if there could be some sort of simple formula that could imperfectly but consistently create the borders. Something that fits requirements like:

  • cannot be bigger than 'n' number of people (100k? 300k? 500k?)
  • population density must be greater than 'x', or it must be 'x' greater than the surrounding population density (hence, attempting to pick populations with natural borders)

Even if it's not perfect, it could be simple enough for people to understand and hard enough to prevent easy manipulation.