Mind the Efficiency Gap: Exploring Voter Waste as a Signal of Partisan Gerrymandering in North Carolina

In this project, I explored the efficiency gap model created in 2015 by Nicholas Stephanopoulos and Eric McGee to show the difference between the number of registered voters in a party as a number of seats, and the number of seats actually acquired by that party after an election. I looked at the legislative election efficiency gaps in NC in 2016 and 2018, and then simulated an equal turnout election for 2018, and graphed the results. Acknowledging and explaining the limitations of my model and data were important to the integrity of this project.