Turn the same votes into different seat counts
Three steps, the way the exam actually works: work through the lab, write down your own measurements, then answer a 6-point free response. What you recorded goes to the grader with your writing, so a conclusion that does not follow from your own numbers will cost you the point — exactly as it would with a real reader.
Predict before you look
- With 25 voters split into 5 districts of 5, what are the ONLY seat shares a party can win? List them before you start.
- Winning a district 5–0 and winning it 3–2 both deliver exactly one seat. Which of the two wastes more of the winning party’s votes?
Nothing to submit here — these are to think through, so the prediction below is an informed one rather than a guess.
Commit to an answer now. It is not graded and being wrong costs nothing — the point is to have something specific to reconcile against once you have the data.
Answer every prediction to unlock the lab. A sentence is enough.
Run the investigation
Predictions first
The procedure and the simulation unlock once you have committed above. Observing before predicting is how a wrong intuition survives a lab intact.
Record what you measured
These are your numbers, not ours. The grader sees them, so your conclusions have to follow from what you actually recorded.
| Blue’s statewide vote share | % |
|---|---|
| Blue seats under the Fair (columns) map | of 5 |
| Blue seats under the Red-favoring map | of 5 |
| Blue seats under the Blue-favoring map | of 5 |
Answer the free response
Every map you drew used the identical set of voters. (a) Using your recorded seat counts, describe how closely each map translated the statewide vote share into seats, and identify which map produced the largest divergence. Note that with five districts each seat is worth twenty percent of the legislature. (b) Explain the two standard techniques of partisan gerrymandering — packing and cracking — and identify which one the map you examined relies on, supporting your answer with the seat pattern you recorded. (c) District populations must be roughly equal. Identify the constitutional principle that requires this and the case law that established it. (d) A group sues in federal court claiming a map is an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander. Explain the likely outcome under current federal doctrine, and identify one legal avenue that remains open to challengers.
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