Gerrymandering is the political manipulation of electoral district boundaries with the intent to create an unfair advantage for a party, group, or socioeconomic class within the constituency. The term is derived from the name of Elbridge Gerry, Vice President of the United States at the time of his death, who, as governor of Massachusetts in 1812, signed a bill that created a partisan district in the Boston area that was compared to the shape of a mythological salamander. There are two main techniques used in gerrymandering:
- Cracking: This technique involves spreading voters from the opposing party across multiple districts, diluting their voting power and making it more difficult for them to win a majority in any one district.
- Packing: In this technique, voters from the opposing party are concentrated in a minority of voting districts, reducing the number of seats the opposing party can control.
Gerrymandering is considered a corruption of the democratic process and has been criticized for violating the principles of compactness and equality of size of constituencies. It can lead to maps where electoral results are virtually guaranteed, even in years when the party drawing the maps has a bad year.
