Related papers: EG Weighting Districts
Expectation Maximization (EM) is among the most popular algorithms for maximum likelihood estimation, but it is generally only guaranteed to find its stationary points of the log-likelihood objective. The goal of this article is to present…
We introduce the Geography and Election Outcome (GEO) metric, a new method for identifying potential partisan gerrymanders. In contrast with currently popular methods, the GEO metric uses both geographic information about a districting plan…
Given a network G, edge centrality is a metric used to evaluate the importance of edges in G, which is a key concept in analyzing networks and finds vast applications involving edge ranking. In spite of a wealth of research on devising edge…
Invariant and equivariant models incorporate the symmetry of an object to be estimated (here non-parametric regression functions $f : \mathcal{X} \rightarrow \mathbb{R}$). These models perform better (with respect to $L^2$ loss) and are…
This preprint is an exploration in how a single mathematical idea - entropy - can be applied to redistricting in a number of ways. It's meant to be read not so much as a call to action for entropy, but as a case study illustrating one of…
There has been a recent media blitz on a cohort of mathematicians valiantly working to fix America's democratic system by combatting gerrymandering with geometry. While statistics commonly features in the courtroom (forensics, DNA analysis,…
While recent work has established divergence as a key framework for understanding evenness, there is currently no research exploring how the families of measures within the divergence-based framework relate to each other. This paper uses…
Algorithmic fairness is receiving significant attention in the academic and broader literature due to the increasing use of predictive algorithms, including those based on artificial intelligence. One benefit of this trend is that algorithm…
The two most common types of electoral systems (ES) used in electing national legislatures are proportional representation and plurality voting. When they are evaluated, most often the arguments come from social choice theory and political…
Several measures of partisan bias are reviewed for single member districts with two dominant parties. These include variants of the simple bias that considers only deviation of seats from 50% at statewide 50% vote. Also included are…
Over the last few years, researchers have put significant effort into understanding of the notion of proportional representation in committee election. In particular, recently they have proposed the notion of proportionality degree. We…
Gerrymandering is a practice of manipulating district boundaries and locations in order to achieve a political advantage for a particular party. Lewenberg, Lev, and Rosenschein [AAMAS 2017] initiated the algorithmic study of a…
Gerrymandering, the deliberate manipulation of electoral district boundaries for political advantage, is a persistent issue in U.S. redistricting cycles. This paper introduces and analyzes a new phenomenon, 'votemandering'- a strategic…
We are given a set of elements in a metric space. The distribution of the elements is arbitrary, possibly adversarial. Can we weigh the elements in a way that is resistant to such (adversarial) manipulations? This problem arises in various…
As granular data about elections and voters become available, redistricting simulation methods are playing an increasingly important role when legislatures adopt redistricting plans and courts determine their legality. These simulation…
The Expectation--Maximization (EM) algorithm is a simple meta-algorithm that has been used for many years as a methodology for statistical inference when there are missing measurements in the observed data or when the data is composed of…
Partisan gerrymandering is a major cause for voter disenfranchisement in United States. However, convincing US courts to adopt specific measures to quantify gerrymandering has been of limited success to date. Recently, Stephanopoulos and…
Egalitarian considerations play a central role in many areas of social choice theory. Applications of egalitarian principles range from ensuring everyone gets an equal share of a cake when deciding how to divide it, to guaranteeing balance…
Individual fairness, proposed by Dwork et al., is a fairness measure that is supposed to prevent the unfair treatment of individuals on the subgroup level, and to overcome the problem that group fairness measures are susceptible to…
Every representative democracy must specify a mechanism under which voters choose their representatives. The most common mechanism in the United States -- Winner takes all single-member districts -- both enables substantial partisan…