Electoral Geography

What Can Electoral Geography Tell Us? Geography of voting offers an explanation of patterns of voting. Geographic influences on voting range from issues, voting for candidates, effects of election campaigns Geography of political parties

History Elbridge Gerry Governor in Massachusetts (1810-1812) VP of the United States (1813-1814) As governor he signs a bill the approves redistricting Massachusetts to benefit his party! I’ve got an idea. Let’s redraw the boundaries in Massachusetts to benefit… me!

Looks like a salamander! …no, it looks like a gerry-mander!

Why do we have districts? Electoral geography Boundaries within the United States are used to create legislative districts Reapportionment-Mandated by the Constitution Redistricting-required by the Supreme Court.

Let’s look at some examples. Gerrymandering Three types: wasted, excess, and stacked vote Illegal (1985 U.S. Supreme Court decision) Crack, pack, or stack Let’s look at some examples.

Why Do Boundaries Cause Problems? Electoral Geography Wasted vote spreads opposition supporters across many districts but in the minority. (CRACK) Excess vote concentrates opposition supported into a few districts. (PACK) Stacked vote links distant areas of like-minded voters through oddly shaped boundaries. (STACK)

Why Do Boundaries Cause Problems? Electoral Geography Boundaries separating legislative districts within the U.S. and other countries are redrawn periodically to ensure each has about the same population. 435 districts of the U.S. House of Representatives are redrawn every 10 years, following the Census Bureau’s release of the official population figures. Process of redrawing legislative boundaries for the purpose of benefits the party in power is called gerrymandering. Hinders communication and makes integration of people fragmented from others difficult.

FIGURE 8-37 WASTED VOTE GERRY MANDERING Wasted vote gerrymandering spreads opposition supporters across many districts as a minority. If the Blue Party controls the redistricting process, it could create a wasted vote gerrymander by creating four districts with a slender majority of Blue Party voters and one district (#1) with a strong majority of Red Party voters.

Wasted vote gerrymandering spreads opposition supporters across many districts as a minority. FIGURE 8-37 WASTED VOTE GERRY MANDERING Wasted vote gerrymandering spreads opposition supporters across many districts as a minority. If the Blue Party controls the redistricting process, it could create a wasted vote gerrymander by creating four districts with a slender majority of Blue Party voters and one district (#1) with a strong majority of Red Party voters.

If the Blue Party controls the redistricting process, it could create a wasted vote gerrymander by creating four districts with a slender majority of Blue Party voters and one district (#1) with a strong majority of Red Party voters. FIGURE 8-37 WASTED VOTE GERRY MANDERING Wasted vote gerrymandering spreads opposition supporters across many districts as a minority. If the Blue Party controls the redistricting process, it could create a wasted vote gerrymander by creating four districts with a slender majority of Blue Party voters and one district (#1) with a strong majority of Red Party voters.

FIGURE 8-37 WASTED VOTE GERRY MANDERING Wasted vote gerrymandering spreads opposition supporters across many districts as a minority. If the Blue Party controls the redistricting process, it could create a wasted vote gerrymander by creating four districts with a slender majority of Blue Party voters and one district (#1) with a strong majority of Red Party voters.

Excess vote gerrymandering concentrates opposition supporters into a few districts. FIGURE 8-38 EXCESS VOTE GERRY MANDERING Excess vote gerrymandering concentrates opposition supporters into a few districts. If the Red Party controls the redistricting process, it could create an excess vote gerrymander by creating four districts with a slender majority of Red Party voters and one district (#3) with an overwhelming majority of Blue Party voters.

If the Red Party controls the redistricting process, it could create an excess vote gerrymander by creating four districts with a slender majority of Red Party voters and one district (#3) with an overwhelming majority of Blue Party voters. FIGURE 8-38 EXCESS VOTE GERRY MANDERING Excess vote gerrymandering concentrates opposition supporters into a few districts. If the Red Party controls the redistricting process, it could create an excess vote gerrymander by creating four districts with a slender majority of Red Party voters and one district (#3) with an overwhelming majority of Blue Party voters.

FIGURE 8-38 EXCESS VOTE GERRY MANDERING Excess vote gerrymandering concentrates opposition supporters into a few districts. If the Red Party controls the redistricting process, it could create an excess vote gerrymander by creating four districts with a slender majority of Red Party voters and one district (#3) with an overwhelming majority of Blue Party voters.

FIGURE 8-39 STACKED VOTE GERRY MANDERING A stacked vote gerrymander links distant areas of like-minded voters through oddly shaped boundaries. In this example, the Red Party controls redistricting and creates five oddly shaped districts, four with a slender majority of Red Party voters and one (#3) with an overwhelming majority of Blue Party voters.

A stacked vote gerrymander links distant areas of like-minded voters through oddly shaped boundaries. FIGURE 8-39 STACKED VOTE GERRY MANDERING A stacked vote gerrymander links distant areas of like-minded voters through oddly shaped boundaries. In this example, the Red Party controls redistricting and creates five oddly shaped districts, four with a slender majority of Red Party voters and one (#3) with an overwhelming majority of Blue Party voters.

In this example, the Red Party controls redistricting and creates five oddly shaped districts, four with a slender majority of Red Party voters and one (#3) with an overwhelming majority of Blue Party voters. FIGURE 8-39 STACKED VOTE GERRY MANDERING A stacked vote gerrymander links distant areas of like-minded voters through oddly shaped boundaries. In this example, the Red Party controls redistricting and creates five oddly shaped districts, four with a slender majority of Red Party voters and one (#3) with an overwhelming majority of Blue Party voters.

FIGURE 8-39 STACKED VOTE GERRY MANDERING A stacked vote gerrymander links distant areas of like-minded voters through oddly shaped boundaries. In this example, the Red Party controls redistricting and creates five oddly shaped districts, four with a slender majority of Red Party voters and one (#3) with an overwhelming majority of Blue Party voters.

Wasted Vote- method of spreading opposition voters across many districts as a minority.

Excess Vote- concentrates opposition supporters into a few districts.

15-10 in three for party A and 10-15 in two for party B Stacked Vote- method of linking distant areas of like-minded voters through creatively shaped boundaries.

Iowa is a state that does not have gerrymandered congressional districts.

Gerrymandering was ruled illegal in 1985 by the US Supreme Court, but didn’t require dismantling of already drawn districts.

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