What is gerrymeandering and what are the two ways gerrymandering occurs?

Explanation:

What is gerrymandering?

Gerrymandering occurs when district lines are redrawn, often in distorted, complex shapes, in an attempt to manipulate election results and disenfranchise voters. Gerrymandering gets its name from Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry , who, in 1812, signed a bill creating a district that looked like a salamander — mocked as a “Gerry-mander”.

Types of Gerrymandering

Gerrymandering comes in many different forms, the most notable of which are racial and partisan gerrymandering. In racial gerrymandering, districts are drawn to dilute — or, in some cases, amplify — the representation of racial groups. For the most part, the Supreme Court has taken a hard stance against racial gerrymandering.

Partisan gerrymandering, on the other hand, is used by both Democrats and Republicans to dilute the amount of representation the opposing party can gain or amplify their own representation.

There are two main methods to gerrymandering — “packing” and “cracking.” When a gerrymandered district is “packed” in a partisan way, people of Party A are drawn into one district, while Party B supporters are spread across many districts. Even though Party A will likely win their district, they’ll only win one district, while Party B will likely win the rest and have a majority. “Cracking,” on the other hand, refers to splitting people up so that their candidate is unlikely to get a majority in any district.