A formula goes to court: partisan gerrymandering and the efficiency gap

DOI10.1090/NOTI1573MaRDI QIDQ4596065zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors Mira Bernstein, Moon Duchin

Publication date 8 December 2017

Published in Notices of the American Mathematical Society (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1705.10812

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Voting theory (91B12) History, political science (91F10)

Abstract: Recently, a proposal has been advanced to detect unconstitutional partisan gerrymandering with a simple formula called the efficiency gap. The efficiency gap is now working its way towards a possible landmark case in the Supreme Court. This note explores some of its mathematical properties in light of the fact that it reduces to a straight proportional comparison of votes to seats. Though we offer several critiques, we assess that EG can still be a useful component of a courtroom analysis. But a famous formula can take on a life of its own and this one will need to be watched closely.

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• An impossibility theorem for gerrymandering
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• Geometry, inference, complexity, and democracy
• Redistricting optimization with recombination: a local search case study
• Padding and pruning: gerrymandering under turnout heterogeneity
• How effective is the efficiency gap?
• Book review of: I. Volić, Making democracy count: how mathematics improves voting, electoral maps, and representation
• To split or not to split the US ninth circuit court of appeals: a simple statistical argument, counterargument, and critique

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