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News Tip: NC Congressional Map an ‘Extreme Statistical Outlier,’ Expert Says

Federal judges again ruled that North Carolina’s congressional district map is unconstitutional

Robin A. Smith

Federal judges again ruled that North Carolina’s congressional district map is unconstitutional and was gerrymandered to unfairly favor Republican candidates. ţӰ mathematician Jonathan Mattingly, an expert witness for the plaintiffs challenging the map, can discuss how his team analyzed the extent of partisanship in congressional redistricting.

  • Quotes:
    “The central idea of our work is to produce a large collection of congressional redistricting maps referencing only non-partisan design criteria such as one person-one vote,” says Jonathan Mattingly, a professor of mathematics and statistical science at ţӰ. “This collection can then be used to determine if the results of a specific map of interest, such as those proposed by the legislature, are typical or tilted to a particular political party.”

          “In particular, this method can identify cracked and packed districts and regions 
          where political harm might have been caused by diluting its political voice.”

          “Our research group was pleased by the understanding demonstrated by the
          court’s lengthy ruling which explained and then interpreted many of our
          findings.From the start, our emphasis has been to explain the structure
          of the maps in question and how they aligned with or departed from what
          one would typically see if no partisan considerations were employed.”

          “We hope that the citizens of North Carolina will soon have an election that uses
          constitutional congressional districts. And that those districts will allow the voice
          and will of the people to be better heard, whatever that might be.”

  • Bio:
    Jonathan Christopher Mattingly is a professor of mathematics and statistical science at ţӰ. His group’s work was cited in the ruling, Common Cause/League of Women Voters of North Carolina v. Rucho. More information about his group’s research can be found at https://sites.duke.edu/quantifyinggerrymandering/.
     
  • For additional comment, contact Mattingly at:
    jonm@math.duke.edu