BOMBSHELL: Redistricting Special Master Assistant Under Investigation for ‘Data Manipulation’
Sam Wang, who leads the Princeton Gerrymandering Project, was under investigation while consulting on redistricting
New Jersey Globe: “He’d fudge the numbers to get his way. He had an agenda.”
Wang served as an assistant to the redistricting Special Masters in North Carolina
Raleigh, N.C. — According to a bombshell report from the New Jersey Globe, Sam Wang, the leader of the Princeton Gerrymandering Project and one of the assistants to the redistricting Special Masters in North Carolina, is under investigation after staff allege “he was manipulating data to match his personal agenda, and for mistreating people who worked for him.”
Wang played a pivotal role in drawing North Carolina’s court-mandated Congressional map, while he was being accused of “manipulating data to achieve the outcome he wanted.”
The New Jersey Globe quoted an individual who said that Wang was accused of manipulating data while working on New Jersey redistricting: “He’d fudge the numbers to get his way. He had an agenda. He was good at hiding it when he had to, but it was clear Sam wanted Democrats to win and he was willing to cheat to make that happen.”
According to the New Jersey Globe, Princeton Gerrymandering Project and Electoral Innovation Lab staff members were instructed to not speak with Wang in early January. On March 1, a senior human resources manager at Princeton University told the staff at the Electoral Innovation Lab that the investigation was still ongoing.
“From the beginning of the remedial redistricting process Dr. Wang’s involvement was problematic, yet no one took our concerns seriously,” Sen. Ralph Hise (R-Mitchell), said. “The allegations that he skewed data to favor Democrats during the New Jersey redistricting process should absolutely call into question his involvement in North Carolina, after all, the court accepted a map drawn by the Special Masters’ team.”
Wang was hired as an assistant to the court-appointed Special Masters in the North Carolina redistricting case in February. Before his hire was announced to the parties in the lawsuit, Wang contacted the plaintiffs’ experts asking for data and information since he had “been approached to evaluate the remedial plans for North Carolina,” even though the court order forbade the experts from engaging with the Special Masters’ team.
Legislative leaders asked for him to be removed from the team because of the substantial ex parte communication, noting that Wang had previously been accused of improper contact with a member of the New Jersey Redistricting Commission. The motion was denied. When the remedial process concluded, the court accepted a Congressional map drawn by the Special Masters’ team — including Wang — that only had one competitive district, compared to the legislature’s map which included four highly competitive districts.
North Carolina media outlets have relied on the Princeton Gerrymandering Project and its grading system to drive coverage of redistricting and to criticize redistricting maps.
