Gerrymandering Issues

Words: 425
Pages: 2
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Zachery Key
AP Government 3AB
Ms. DeLong

This Article highlights the issue of gerrymandering in Wisconsin and further elaborates on ways to identify this problem primarily through analysis of the efficiency gap, or the number of votes spent on the losing candidate or even votes beyond those necessary to elect an individual running for office (also known as wasted votes). The efficiency gap computation relies on complex mathematical formulas that discern the relative number of wasted votes of a competitive election vs. a skewed election in which gerrymandering has been involved- the higher the gap, the greater the likelihood for illegal redistricting to have been involved. The efficiency gap compares the net wasted votes compared to the …show more content…
The purpose of this article is to inform the people of the dangers of gerrymandering, and methods that are being put into play to check this largely unchallenged issue. Nate Cohn attempts to educate the common citizen on the illegal methods politicians use to procure their chances at reelection through either “packing” voters that will vote for the opposing party into a single district (so the gerrymandering party can retain a majority in the state congress) or “diluting” the effect of a minority group by splitting large minority communities up into several districts. While most states convicted of gerrymandering have meet the population equality and continuity requirements of the Supreme Court, many have been guilty of partisan gerrymandering, or drawing district lines that specifically favor a single party, Republican or Democrat (although most recent gerrymandering cases have been attributed to the Republican party). Finally this article presents a new solution to the problem of subjectively identifying states guilty of gerrymandering- more or less mathematically calculating the statistical outcome of an election vs the actual result, and discerning likewise the probability of political infringement upon the supposedly equally representative state districts.

How the New Math of Gerrymandering Works - The New York Times
Bui, Nate Cohn And Quoctrung. “How the New Math of Gerrymandering Works.” The New York
Times, The New York Times, 3 Oct.
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