Optimal redistricting under geographical constraints: Why "pack and crack" does not work

We show that optimal partisan redistricting with geographical constraints is a computationally intractable (NP-complete) problem. In particular, even when voter's preferences are deterministic, a solution is generally not obtained by concentrating opponent's supporters in "unwinnable" districts ("packing") and spreading one's own supporters evenly among the other districts in order to produce many slight marginal wins ("cracking").

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Year of publication:	2009
Authors:	Puppe, Clemens ; Tasnádi, Attila
Published in:	Economics Letters. - Elsevier, ISSN 0165-1765. - Vol. 105.2009, 1, p. 93-96
Publisher:	Elsevier
Subject:	Districting Gerrymandering NP-complete problems

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Type of publication:	Article
Source:	RePEc - Research Papers in Economics

Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10005023457