CrowmanVT t1_iwr6krj wrote on November 17, 2022 at 7:05 PM

Reply to comment by Tai9ch in Another good article on NH Gerrymandering - I think all states should have independent commissions, not sure why some (like the Guv) are so opposed to it. by AMC4x4

I worked for a computer mapping company in the 90's that developed a redistricting application for the purpose of modelling based on specific criteria like compactness, population density, etc. Of course, the intent was to provide a tool specifically to gerrymander within the legal constraints of district formation rather than to create unbiased maps because no one wanted to buy a solution that provided a fair and equitable solution. Clearly the technology has evolved considerably since then, but the underlying assumptions have not. Bias is a function of data, not software. In the absence of any data related to party affiliation, past voting records, etc. it certainly is possible to generate districts using a program which would be absent of political bias. It will never happen, not because of programmers, but because politicians are usually opposed to anything which would potentially loosen their grip on power and control.

Tai9ch t1_iwr94sm wrote on November 17, 2022 at 7:22 PM

Selecting districts without knowing the underlying political data is the same as creating random political districts. It kind of sounds good, but it's not what anyone actually wants - imagine if NH selected random districts that just happened to be even more biased than the current districts.

Probably the fact that there's no way to select good districts should result in abolishing district-based representation entirely. They're a remnant of democratic government design from before people really understood that political parties were an unavoidable thing - better to accept reality and do something like proportional representation.

McGauth925 t1_iwrnuwp wrote on November 17, 2022 at 8:59 PM

> imagine if NH selected random districts that just happened to be even more biased than the current districts.

Seems like they could redraw them regularly by computer to balance that out.

To me, it seem like the easiest way would be; if the Repubs get 49% of the votes, they get 49% of the representatives. Same with every other party. Of course, it would be necessary to adjust so that a single representative wasn't supposed to represent 49% Republicans, 49% Democrats, and 1 % Independents.

Someone gave me the term, "proportional representation." But you just know that neither Democrat or Republican party leaders want to share power with, say, the Green Party. Winner-take-all excludes that, so they won't be putting anything like it in a referendum any time soon.

Tai9ch t1_iwrr75s wrote on November 17, 2022 at 9:21 PM

> Seems like they could redraw them regularly by computer to balance that out.

One of the key points in this thread is that redrawing districts by computer makes things worse rather than better.

> To me, it seem like the easiest way would be; if the Repubs get 49% of the votes, they get 49% of the representatives.

A couple more steps in that direction gets you to proportional representation, which would be a significant improvement.

McGauth925 t1_iwrs9qc wrote on November 17, 2022 at 9:28 PM

One of the key points that I read in this thread is that computers work fine. I'm thinking that it might take a few iterations to work the kinks out, until all parties agree that it's as fair as possible. But it has to be better than putting up with, or worrying about, human partisanship.

And, I didn't have that term, proportional representation, but that's what I was basically trying to describe.

Tai9ch t1_iwruh7f wrote on November 17, 2022 at 9:43 PM

> One of the key points that I read in this thread is that computers work fine.

Then you've horribly misunderstood both the problem to be solved and the mechanisms proposed to solve it. Unless by "computers work fine" you mean "computers are the perfect tool to generate gerrymandered districts".

Computers aren't magic devices that take humans out of the equation. They do exactly what specific humans program them to do in a way that makes it very difficult for even experts to confirm exactly what the computer is doing or why.