What is gerrymandering?

Gerrymandering refers specifically to the practice of drawing electoral district boundaries in a way that gives one political party an advantage over others. This manipulation of district lines enables the party in power to maximize its electoral gains by concentrating or diluting certain voting populations, often based on partisan makeup. For instance, by clustering together voters who support a particular party in specific districts (known as "packing"), or spreading them out across many districts (known as "cracking"), gerrymandering can skew electoral outcomes in favor of the party that controls the redistricting process.

This strategic shaping of district boundaries is typically carried out during the redistricting process, which occurs every ten years following the census, but the intention is not to achieve fair representation or maintain population equality; rather, it is to enhance the partisan strength of the controlling party. Understanding this concept is crucial for recognizing the implications of redistricting on democratic representation and electoral competition.