Re: Redistricting: Problem and Proposed Solution

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Dennis Paull <dpaull () svpal org>
Date: February 15, 2007 2:50:29 PM EST
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Re: [IP] Redistricting: Problem and Proposed Solution

Hi David,

This is my response to Stephen Unger's proposal, for IP if you choose.

I agree completely that a simple, unambiguous procedure for  
redistricting is very desirable.
However the proposed solution ignores some important additional  
considerations. These are
political subdivisions and geography.

I think it very desirable for district boundaries to follow existing  
city and county boundaries
wherever possible. And, of course, it needs to follow precinct  
boundaries as well. Since
precincts are usually pretty small, that should not be too much of a  
problem.

Geography is another matter completely, since there is no nice  
definition of a geographically
compact region. Gerrymandering has already created districts that  
cross major rivers and
mountain ranges, for example. In general, I propose that districts  
should be as compact as
possible and not unnecessarily cross geographic boundaries..

Proportional representation seems like an appropriate solution but  
suffers from the fact that
the candidates must be ordered in some way so that if a party gets X%  
of the vote, the top
X% of the party's candidates get elected. But who orders the party  
list? Is it the party
leaders, the voters, a random number generator or who?

Thanks, Dave, for allowing this topic onto your IP list.

Dennis Paull
Half Moon Bay, CA 94019
650-712-0498

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

David Farber wrote:
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: Stephen Unger <unger () cs columbia edu>
> Date: February 15, 2007 11:22:46 AM EST
> To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>, ip () v2 listbox com
> Subject: Redistricting: Problem and Proposed Solution
>
> Redistricting is a perennial (used to be every decade, but now
> cropping up more often) problem that significantly distorts the
> political arena. For example, there are a number of states where,
> despite having received many fewer total votes in elections for the  
> House,
> the Republicans have won most of the seats as a result of
> gerrymandering.  (Of course BOTH parties have done this sort of thing
> for two centuries.)
>
> Setting rules for redistricting is very difficult, even in
> principle. But there is a very nice mathematical solution that is
> inherently neutral,leaving no room for manipulation.
>
> I have just posted an article describing the problem and solution  
> on my
> blog at:
> http://www1.cs.columbia.edu/~unger/myBlog/endsandmeansblog.html
>
> (An earlier posting on the blog is a somewhat revised version of my
> e-voting article.)
>
> Steve
> ............
>
>
> -------------------------------------------
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