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An Optimization Based Heuristic for Political Districting

Author

Listed:
  • Anuj Mehrotra

    (Department of Management Science, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida 33124-8237)

  • Ellis L. Johnson

    (School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332)

  • George L. Nemhauser

    (School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332)

Abstract

Redistricting, the redrawing of congressional district boundaries within the states, may occur every 10 years on the basis of the population census. Many redistricting plans are designed with partisan politics in mind, resulting in disputes and forcing judges to intervene. We address this problem from a nonpolitical viewpoint and present an optimization based heuristic incorporating universally agreed upon characteristics. We model the problem as a constrained graph partitioning problem and develop a specialized branch-and-price based solution methodology. We demonstrate the feasibility of our methodology by showing how to satisfy the one-person, one-vote principle with compact and contiguous districts for the state of South Carolina.

Suggested Citation

  • Anuj Mehrotra & Ellis L. Johnson & George L. Nemhauser, 1998. "An Optimization Based Heuristic for Political Districting," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 44(8), pages 1100-1114, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:44:y:1998:i:8:p:1100-1114
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.44.8.1100
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anuj Mehrotra & Michael A. Trick, 1996. "A Column Generation Approach for Graph Coloring," INFORMS Journal on Computing, INFORMS, vol. 8(4), pages 344-354, November.
    2. GARFINKEL, Robert S. & NEMHAUSER, Geroge L., 1970. "Optimal political districting by implicit enumeration techniques," LIDAM Reprints CORE 54, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    3. R. S. Garfinkel & G. L. Nemhauser, 1970. "Optimal Political Districting by Implicit Enumeration Techniques," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 16(8), pages 495-508, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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