A Procedure for Nonpartisan Districting: Development of Computer Techniques

IN the landmark case of Baker v. Carr I the Supreme Court held that federal courts have jurisdiction to review the constitutionality of state legislative apportionments.The Court left many questions unresolved, most significantly what constitute appropriate standards for testing the constitutionality of apportionment and districting. 2Sundry standards have since been suggested, ranging from equality of population 3 to the broad requirement that an apportionment and districting be rational-a consistent application of an intelligible policy. 4But Baker v. Carr left unresolved another, less discussed issue, equally unsettled and increasingly important.Once having decided that a particular