Electoral redistricting by using evolutionary computation

Abstract

Electoral districts determination is fundamental but complex problem for democracy that is performed in consideration of not only vote-value disparity but also geographical and historical circumstances of municipalities. In this paper, we propose an optimization based procedure for determination of single seat election by using a genetic algorithm. The proposed approach aids determination by means of value of vote and districts cohesiveness. Numerical simulation study is carried out using demographic data of Osaka prefecture and the applicability of this approach is illustrated by districting results.