Fair Redistricting (PA aftermath)

[Strudelcutie4427]

Okay, I feel like this would be a fun project. First I'm gonna need 2 democrats and 1 more republican plus an independent. We can try to run a mock bipartisan committee on redistricting in the gerrymandered states. For a map to pass, they would need 3/5 votes. After going through all the submissions we can put together a new map for the country. If anyone would like to join, please comment below! First come first serve, so again 2 Dems, 1 Rep (im already here) and 1 Ind. We can take up any of the states that have more than 1 district since I think all of them could be a little neater

[LimoLiberal]

I'll be a Dem.

[BuckeyeNut]

I'll be a Dem.

No.

[muon2]

I think this would be more appropriate in the Political Geography board, where we've done this sort of thing before.

[Strudelcutie4427]

I think this would be more appropriate in the Political Geography board, where we've done this sort of thing before.

Ohh I didnt know it was done already. lol. Are you able to move it there?

[muon2]

I think this would be more appropriate in the Political Geography board, where we've done this sort of thing before.

Ohh I didnt know it was done already. lol. Are you able to move it there?

We've done lots of redistricting exercises on that board. Some have been guided by rules and others open-ended posts by members expressing what they might like to see. I used a couple of the threads to flesh out the muon rules for scoring neutral maps stickied on that board.

[cvparty]

I'll be a Dem.

No.

i can be da independent

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

I would like to be on the panel. As a Dem or as an Indy, either one is fine.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

I'll be a Dem.

No.

[muon2]

So the first question is does the panel draw the map or do they select from publicly-submitted plans (ie including posters who aren't on the panel)?

The second question is what criteria will the panel use to evaluate plans?

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Why not both? I.e. the public can propose a map but the panel can also draw and choose a map.

[Strudelcutie4427]

So the first question is does the panel draw the map or do they select from publicly-submitted plans (ie including posters who aren't on the panel)?

The second question is what criteria will the panel use to evaluate plans?

Why not both? I.e. the public can propose a map but the panel can also draw and choose a map.

Yeah we can do both. I like that idea, it seems a bit more real. So right now we have myself as the republican, LimoLiberal and TimTurner as the Dems, CVparty as the Indy, and muon, you wanna be the other Rep?

[Strudelcutie4427]

Anyone got a suggestion for which state we should do first? I'm thinking we maybe do one a day until we do huge states like Texas and Cali

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

We should start off in New England.

[muon2]

So the first question is does the panel draw the map or do they select from publicly-submitted plans (ie including posters who aren't on the panel)?

The second question is what criteria will the panel use to evaluate plans?

Why not both? I.e. the public can propose a map but the panel can also draw and choose a map.

Yeah we can do both. I like that idea, it seems a bit more real. So right now we have myself as the republican, LimoLiberal and TimTurner as the Dems, CVparty as the Indy, and muon, you wanna be the other Rep?

I'd prefer to be the the person evaluating the maps for the benefit of the panel. That's why I asked my second question about criteria.

[muon2]

Anyone got a suggestion for which state we should do first? I'm thinking we maybe do one a day until we do huge states like Texas and Cali

If you want it realistic and want public input, you should have enough time for the public to react to plans and suggest changes. I've also found in the past that panelists will have RL interruptions and daily votes may be difficult. I know I have such interruptions.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

I think we should let LimoLiberal take the Republican spot and Solid take a Democratic one.

[Torie]

So the first question is does the panel draw the map or do they select from publicly-submitted plans (ie including posters who aren't on the panel)?

The second question is what criteria will the panel use to evaluate plans?

Why not both? I.e. the public can propose a map but the panel can also draw and choose a map.

Yeah we can do both. I like that idea, it seems a bit more real. So right now we have myself as the republican, LimoLiberal and TimTurner as the Dems, CVparty as the Indy, and muon, you wanna be the other Rep?

There is a risk that Muon2 will take over your panel simply by virtue of his expertise (heck I find him tough to cope with, and I am no babe in the woods on this. ). Moreover, in his closet are maps of almost every freaking state in the nation, on which he was spent hours and hours. He has more maps in his closet, than I have dirty socks in mine, and that is a lot. I would keep that boy off. You could use him as a referee to help keep the process moving smoothly. You do need rules, but to keep it fun rather than mechanical, you might just list factors, with the weighting up to each panel member.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

a possible Maine plan

[Strudelcutie4427]

Anyone got a suggestion for which state we should do first? I'm thinking we maybe do one a day until we do huge states like Texas and Cali

If you want it realistic and want public input, you should have enough time for the public to react to plans and suggest changes. I've also found in the past that panelists will have RL interruptions and daily votes may be difficult. I know I have such interruptions.

Agreed there. I know I usually only do these early on weekends or late on weekdays. We can just pick a state and wait til all 5 proposals are set discussed and voted on

[cvparty]

So the first question is does the panel draw the map or do they select from publicly-submitted plans (ie including posters who aren't on the panel)?

The second question is what criteria will the panel use to evaluate plans?

hmm maybe
1) have a thread for each state where anyone can propose a map
2) each committee member selects 1 or 2 maps
3) the committee votes whether to approve each of these maps (3/5 needed for a pass)
4) the remaining maps are ranked (à la STV) and the one with most votes is the winning map

as for criteria (ranked by importance)
1) has contiguous districts (water contiguity allowed, but should be connected by something like a bridge)
2) population deviation is within 0.5%
3) districts are representative of the state’s overall partisan composition in a neutral cycle where reasonably possible
4) districts are reasonably compact
5) county/town splits are kept small and reasonable (exceptions are New England where counties don’t really matter, and large counties/towns where it’s kind of silly to require that they be fully within one district)

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

I would rather switch compactness and representativeness. Otherwise, the list looks good enough, albeit we should edit number 4 to be "small and reasonable and as few as is sensible"

[muon2]

a possible Maine plan

This is why I asked about criteria. One might be what software can be used; for instance all plans must be submitted on DRA. TT's plan using the KHW app is whole county only, and in his case has a population range of 2.39%. That's pretty large, and how to handle population inequality is one of the most fundamental factors. Maybe the panel is less concerned with SCOTUS and more about ease of submission.

My recommendation is that the panel adopt its rules for submitting plans and the factors on which plans will be judged before starting on any states.

[Torie]

a possible Maine plan

This is why I asked about criteria. One might be what software can be used; for instance all plans must be submitted on DRA. TT's plan using the KHW app is whole county only, and in his case has a population range of 2.39%. That's pretty large, and how to handle population inequality is one of the most fundamental factors. Maybe the panel is less concerned with SCOTUS and more about ease of submission.

My recommendation is that the panel adopt its rules for submitting plans and the factors on which plans will be judged before starting on any states.

And then the VRA thing, which can get really complicated at the margins. A referee could act in part as a legal advisor on that, if the VRA is in the mix. It probably should be, since part of the fun is to try to replicate what happens in the real world, rather than some place like Atlasia. 

[LimoLiberal]

So what state do we want to start with?