YEO Redistricting Overview | Page 8

  Contiguity ◦  District areas must all touch or connect with the exception of islands or land separated by water   Compactness ◦  The measurement of how tight the district and boundary lines are drawn. Three major methods:   Dispersion - e.g.: ratio of Width & Length or Area of district to area of circumscribed circle around the district or convex hull/theoretical “rubber band”   Perimeter - e.g.: ratio of the boundary length of the district to the circumscribed circle around the district   Population - e.g.: ratio of the population of the districts to the population contained in the convex hull or circumscribed circle Southern Coalition for Social Justice 8