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The Math Behind Gerrymandering and Wasted Votes

posted by martyb on Sunday October 22 2017, @07:03PM   Printer-friendly
from the safe-borders dept.

rylyeh writes:

From Quanta Magazine:

Simple math can help scheming politicians manipulate district maps and cruise to victory. But it can also help identify and fix the problem.
 
Imagine fighting a war on 10 battlefields. You and your opponent each have 200 soldiers, and your aim is to win as many battles as possible. How would you deploy your troops? If you spread them out evenly, sending 20 to each battlefield, your opponent could concentrate their own troops and easily win a majority of the fights. You could try to overwhelm several locations yourself, but there's no guarantee you'll win, and you'll leave the remaining battlefields poorly defended. Devising a winning strategy isn't easy, but as long as neither side knows the other's plan in advance, it's a fair fight.
 
Now imagine your opponent has the power to deploy your troops as well as their own. Even if you get more troops, you can't win.
 
In the war of politics, this power to deploy forces comes from gerrymandering, the age-old practice of manipulating voting districts for partisan gain. By determining who votes where, politicians can tilt the odds in their favor and defeat their opponents before the battle even begins.

 
Anyone for a game of RISK?

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 2) by GlennC on Sunday October 22 2017, @07:17PM (3 children)

    by GlennC (3656) on Sunday October 22 2017, @07:17PM (#586015)

    How about Global Thermonuclear War?

    For those who may not get the reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WarGames [wikipedia.org]

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  • (Score: 2) by Gaaark on Sunday October 22 2017, @07:31PM (2 children)

    by Gaaark (41) on Sunday October 22 2017, @07:31PM (#586018) Journal

    How about a nice game of chess [instead]?

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    • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 22 2017, @07:32PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 22 2017, @07:32PM (#586019)

      Like I've said before... The only winning move is not to play.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 22 2017, @07:57PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 22 2017, @07:57PM (#586031)

        And a supercomputer?

        :)

        First strike always wins, amirite?