HackerPapers

arXiv:1710.08781cs.GT

A partisan districting protocol with provably nonpartisan outcomes

Wesley Pegden, Ariel D. Procaccia, Dingli Yu

Abstract

We design and analyze a protocol for dividing a state into districts, where parties take turns proposing a division, and freezing a district from the other party's proposed division. We show that our protocol has predictable and provable guarantees for both the number of districts in which each party has a majority of supporters, and the extent to which either party has the power to pack a specific population into a single district.

arXiv comments
20 pages, 3 figures
Journal reference
DOI
Subjects
cs.GTComputer Science and Game Theory math.COCombinatorics

On Hacker News

Linked by 3 identifiable commenters in 5 comments across 5 threads, from Jan 2021 to Jun 2026. Found in 1 HN submission from Nov 2017 to Nov 2017. Open submission discussions.

Comments linking this paper, per year.

Discussed in comments5 threads

  1. Show HN: Gerrymandle - Daily puzzle game where you redraw electoral districts 1 comment

    • Some mathematicians worked out a way to fairly do districting, similar to having one kid cut the cake and the other kid gets first choice: "A partisan districting protocol with provably nonpartisan outcomes" by Wesley Pegden, Ariel D. Procaccia, Dingli Yu…

      WalterBrightView on HNParent context

  2. A Partisan Solution to Partisan Gerrymandering: The Define–Combine Procedure 1 comment

    • This problem has been solved by mathematicians: A partisan districting protocol with provably nonpartisan outcomes https://arxiv.org/abs/1710.08781 by Wesley Pegden, Ariel D. Procaccia, Dingli Yu

      WalterBrightView on HNParent context

  3. Math has changed the shape of gerrymandering 1 comment

    • Yes, and it works really well for two parties if both parties are equally informed and competent. https://arxiv.org/abs/1710.08781 For n>2 the simple I-cut-you-choose stops working.

      MengerSpongeView on HNParent context

  4. Towns are testing new ballot counting machines that use open source software 1 comment

    • "A Partisan Districting Protocol with Provably Nonpartisan Outcomes" https://arxiv.org/abs/1710.08781 Very cool. Though it does freeze in the two-party nature.

      wnoiseView on HNParent context

  5. Auto-Redistrict – automatically creates electoral districts 1 comment

    • Any attempt to completely automate this process is destined to fail, for all the reasons given in this thread. Weighting factors matter, and it is naive to assume that nobody is going to attempt to subvert a nonpartisan board, when so much power is at stake. Don't despair!…

      MengerSpongeView on HNParent context

Submitted to Hacker News

Connected through shared HN threads, not inferred similarity or a recommendation.