Redistricting Competition?
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  Political Geography & Demographics (Moderators: muon2, 15 Down, 35 To Go)
  Redistricting Competition?
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Poll
Question: What state should we do? (only large states with 2016 results)
#1
Georgia
 
#2
Florida
 
#3
Texas
 
#4
Wisconsin
 
#5
Michigan
 
#6
Arizona
 
#7
North Carolina
 
#8
Other
 
#9
Multiple states (post in thread)
 
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Partisan results

Total Voters: 22

Author Topic: Redistricting Competition?  (Read 2372 times)
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Junior Chimp
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« on: October 28, 2020, 07:12:23 PM »

Here's a fun idea that I just had. As we're now 6 days out from the presidential election, what if we had some kind of gerrymandering contest?

Here's the premise - we all draw maps of a certain state (preferably one with 10+ districts and one that's competitive, e.g. Georgia), then attempt to draw as many Biden or Trump districts as possible. When the 2020 election data is uploaded to DRA, we can determine who drew the best gerrymander in terms of districts won, with bonus points for things like compactness and security.

Thoughts?
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Starry Eyed Jagaloon
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Junior Chimp
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« Reply #1 on: October 28, 2020, 07:56:26 PM »

I'm in!
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S019
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« Reply #2 on: October 28, 2020, 08:17:41 PM »

This seems fun, also we should clarify whether or not we're following the VRA, because that changes things a lot. (count this as yes, I'm participating)
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President Punxsutawney Phil
TimTurner
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« Reply #3 on: October 28, 2020, 08:20:56 PM »

I'm in.
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Junior Chimp
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« Reply #4 on: October 28, 2020, 08:29:10 PM »
« Edited: October 28, 2020, 08:33:01 PM by Oregon Blue Dog »

This seems fun, also we should clarify whether or not we're following the VRA, because that changes things a lot. (count this as yes, I'm participating)
The VRA is not required, as it's very subject to interpretation. That said, maybe we make minority representation a tiebreaking factor in addition to the other DRA metrics.

What states do people want to do, and do people here want to maximize Biden or Trump districts? As this should be done before Election Day for maximum fairness (and all map links and images should be posted here before then), please comment quickly!

I think one of the following would be a good choice, for competitiveness and availability of 2016 data. We could also do all of them and have winners for each! Also, 2010 district numbers and populations will be used.

- Georgia
- Florida
- Texas
- Arizona
- North Carolina
- Michigan
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Left Wing
FalterinArc
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« Reply #5 on: October 28, 2020, 08:43:25 PM »

I could try. I wouldn’t do too well but could be fun
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Junior Chimp
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« Reply #6 on: October 28, 2020, 08:45:33 PM »

I could try. I wouldn’t do too well but could be fun
Great!

Also, if people could say whether they prefer to max out Biden or Trump seats as well, that would be great. I personally vote for maximizing Biden seats.
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Starry Eyed Jagaloon
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Junior Chimp
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« Reply #7 on: October 28, 2020, 08:54:52 PM »
« Edited: October 28, 2020, 08:58:11 PM by Blairite »

Texas! Bigger is better.

If more than one, Georgia and North Carolina would also be very interesting imo.

Vote: Maximizing Biden seats.
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lfromnj
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« Reply #8 on: October 28, 2020, 09:00:57 PM »
« Edited: October 28, 2020, 09:03:58 PM by #proudtikitorchmarcher »

Let's make it a bit more interesting, maximize seats opposite of how the state voted in 2016 and let's keep some county split rules so its just not all baconmanders and you actually have to figure out how to do it. Baconmandering would just be guessing the final margin of the state and drawing a sink or 2 and bacon mandering the rest
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Junior Chimp
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« Reply #9 on: October 28, 2020, 09:06:14 PM »

Let's make it a bit more interesting, maximize seats opposite of how the state voted in 2016 and let's keep some county split rules so its just not all baconmanders and you actually have to figure out how to do it. Baconmandering would just be guessing the final margin of the state and drawing a sink or 2 and bacon mandering the rest
Opposite of 2016 is a fair idea - I could definitely back that if a majority doesn't want to just maximize Biden districts.

I think baconmandering is OK - my idea was to use DRA ratings as tiebreakers, so that would mitigate that factor.
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Starry Eyed Jagaloon
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« Reply #10 on: October 28, 2020, 09:28:40 PM »

Idk about baconmandering but I do think we should have some limits to make this more interesting. I support VRA requirements but you set the boundaries. For example, if we did Georgia, you would choose whether 4 or 5 AA VRA seats are required and we all work around that.
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Junior Chimp
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« Reply #11 on: October 28, 2020, 09:35:53 PM »
« Edited: October 29, 2020, 02:42:27 PM by Oregon Blue Dog »

Upon consulting with lfromnj, I've created some guidelines for this competition:

Rules
1. Districts will be drawn using 2010 Census numbers. This means that the number of districts drawn will be the current amount (i.e. the 2010 numbers - so 36-district Texas)
2. Districts will have a maximum population deviation of 1500 each. (some leeway may be given for urban districts with large precinct sizes)
3. All districts must be contiguous (this rule might be edited/given some leeway if we choose a state with messy precinct boundaries - like Ohio). Additionally, all districts must be contiguous by land or bridge (no abusing water precincts in coastal states). Road contiguity is encouraged but not required.
4. The DRA compactness score for the map must be over 30.
5. The DRA county splitting score for the map must be over 30.
6. The winner will be whoever draws the most Biden/Trump districts for their candidate. In the event of a tie, the DRA compactness and county splitting scores of each map will be averaged and used to determine the winner. If this is still tied, whichever map has more favorable partisan metrics for the candidate of choice will win.
7. All entries must be submitted by the state's poll closing time on November 3. Additionally, an image must be posted (from an image hosting site like Imgur or imgbb) to ensure that no cheating occurs. Once the state's poll closing time passes, the post containing the link to the map and the image cannot be edited (obviously, you can't edit the map on DRA either).
8. Once 2020 data is released on DRA, the winner(s) shall be determined.

EDITED to add for bridge contiguity.

Does this sound good to everyone?
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It’s so Joever
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« Reply #12 on: October 28, 2020, 09:39:25 PM »

Sounds interesting!
I am still a redistricting rookie, definitely seems like a fun exercise.
The rules sound okay to me, but maybe another poster would have better insight.
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Junior Chimp
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« Reply #13 on: October 28, 2020, 09:42:40 PM »

Idk about baconmandering but I do think we should have some limits to make this more interesting. I support VRA requirements but you set the boundaries. For example, if we did Georgia, you would choose whether 4 or 5 AA VRA seats are required and we all work around that.
lfromnj and I agree right now that enforcing the VRA is highly subjective - plus, being effectively forced to make packs makes drawing districts way less fun. In Georgia, what you propose is probably feasible, but in Texas, it would be a nightmare to do. So, right now I think the best move is to restrict compactness and county splitting metrics only - which can be analyzed fairly unbiased by the DRA program.
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lfromnj
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« Reply #14 on: October 28, 2020, 09:43:59 PM »

DRA algorithms for those scores weren't great but we wanted to keep a base limit to prevent all out baconmanders of a state.
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lfromnj
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« Reply #15 on: October 28, 2020, 10:12:05 PM »
« Edited: October 28, 2020, 10:17:14 PM by #proudtikitorchmarcher »

Also would propose California(get as many expected Trump districts),

Texas as said has a large range

Florida would be the last one, one might have to play a bit safe regarding Cubans.
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OBD
Junior Chimp
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« Reply #16 on: October 28, 2020, 10:22:08 PM »

Also would propose California(get as many expected Trump districts),

Texas as said has a large range

Florida would be the last one, one might have to play a bit safe regarding Cubans.
California is really too big. Even Texas pushes the limit - remember this needs to be done by next Tuesday.

That said, it is possible that we have multiple states, with some being optional - though we should have one consensus state that we all draw for.
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President Punxsutawney Phil
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« Reply #17 on: October 28, 2020, 10:39:29 PM »

Also would propose California(get as many expected Trump districts),

Texas as said has a large range

Florida would be the last one, one might have to play a bit safe regarding Cubans.
California is really too big. Even Texas pushes the limit - remember this needs to be done by next Tuesday.

That said, it is possible that we have multiple states, with some being optional - though we should have one consensus state that we all draw for.
Georgia and NC are good consensus picks.
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Lachi
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« Reply #18 on: October 28, 2020, 11:32:20 PM »

Sounds like a pretty cool idea, I'd be up for it
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OBD
Junior Chimp
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« Reply #19 on: October 28, 2020, 11:36:48 PM »

Also would propose California(get as many expected Trump districts),

Texas as said has a large range

Florida would be the last one, one might have to play a bit safe regarding Cubans.
California is really too big. Even Texas pushes the limit - remember this needs to be done by next Tuesday.

That said, it is possible that we have multiple states, with some being optional - though we should have one consensus state that we all draw for.
Georgia and NC are good consensus picks.
Agreed. Judging by the current ballots, I might pick NC and TX as the two consensus picks, making everything else an optional bonus. I'm gonna wait till tomorrow or Friday to make that call, though.
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Former President tack50
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« Reply #20 on: October 29, 2020, 11:25:57 AM »

Looks like a great idea to me!
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Stuart98
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« Reply #21 on: October 29, 2020, 12:32:59 PM »

I'm down.

Any prizes?
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lfromnj
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« Reply #22 on: October 29, 2020, 12:50:45 PM »


Great Honers
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Junior Chimp
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« Reply #23 on: October 29, 2020, 12:55:10 PM »

The adulation and respect of the ~15 people that have read this thread :/
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SevenEleven
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« Reply #24 on: October 29, 2020, 01:01:18 PM »

It's got to be Texas or Georgia IMO.
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