Voting Districts and Gerrymandering Unit 2: Congress

Vocabulary Gerrymandering-The drawing of voting district lines in ways that include or exclude specific groups of voters, so that one group gains an unfair advantage Electoral Geography-The study of voting districts and voting patterns

Redistricting/Gerrymandering Every ten years a census is taken, and based upon the results the voting districts in states are redrawn due to the addition, or subtraction, of representatives. This drawing of districts is done by state legislators. The party in control often tries to draw the lines of these districts to benefit their party, not always in a way that makes the most obvious sense. This political redistricting is known as Gerrymandering.

Gerrymandering and Redistricting “Gerrymandering” comes from a bill passed in 1812 in Massachusetts by then governor Eldridge Gerry. These districts benefited Gerry’s Republican party, and sparked a large political debate. “Gerrymander” refers to the shape of one of the districts that looked like a salamander.