what is gerrymandering in simple terms

what is gerrymandering in simple terms

6 days ago 7
Nature

Gerrymandering is when politicians redraw the boundaries of voting districts to give an unfair advantage to their own political party. They do this by either "packing" voters who support the opposite party into a few districts to reduce their influence elsewhere, or by "cracking" them—splitting these voters across many districts to dilute their voting power. This way, the party in control can increase its chances of winning elections. The term "gerrymandering" comes from a 1812 incident where a district was drawn in a strange shape, said to look like a salamander, named after Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry who signed the law allowing this manipulation. It's legal but considered unethical because it manipulates democratic fairness. In simple terms, gerrymandering is like drawing the lines on a map in a way that helps one team win a game before the game even starts. It messes with equal voting power so one side has an edge over the other.

Read Entire Article