No Data Manipulation by Princeton Gerrymandering Project: State Commission

PRINCETON, NJ — Prof. Sam Wang of the Princeton Gerrymandering Project did not manipulate NJ congressional redistricting data to better serve Democratic interest, a State Commission of Investigation (SCI) report found.

Last year allegations surfaced that Wang had manipulated data while serving the commission’s independent tiebreaker, former Supreme Court Justice John E. Wallace.

Then Senate minority leader Steve Oroho (R-Sussex) called on the SCI to investigate the matter.

The report, released on Wednesday, found that there was “no merit” to the allegations.

“During sworn testimony before the Commission, no witnesses brought forward any specific incidents, nor did any witness provide factual information bolstering those allegations. Further, the allegations regarding data manipulation were vehemently denied by all of the Princeton Gerrymandering Project employees, including Wang, who had worked on the New Jersey redistricting project and had appeared before the SCI under oath,” the report said.

The New Jersey Redistricting Commission (NJRC) chose a new legislative map, but the Republican delegation filed a legal challenge to the adopted map, claiming the redistricting process had been tainted and unfair.

The Supreme Court dismissed the Republican challenge on Feb. 3, 2022. Following further allegations of data manipulation, the SCI began a fact-finding investigation.

Although they found no evidence of data manipulation, the SCI found that “the current redistricting process lacks specific statutory guidance for the effective, transparent, uniform and trustworthy operation of the commission, its duties and the mapmaking responsibilities assigned to it.”

Wang praised the report’s findings on X (formerly known as Twitter) saying it highlights “the need for open processes, fairness standards and data transparency.”

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