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"The Gerry-Mander" first appeared in this cartoon-map in the Boston Gazette, 26 March 1812

Gerrymandering is a form of redistricting in which electoral district or constituency boundaries are manipulated for an electoral advantage. The word "gerrymander" is named for the Governor of Massachusetts Elbridge Gerry (July 17, 1744 – November 23, 1814),^[1] and is a blend of his name with the word "salamander," which was used to describe the appearance of a tortuous electoral district pressed through the Massachusetts legislature in 1812 by Jeffersonian democrats, in order to disadvantage their electoral opponents in the upcoming senatorial election, and reluctantly signed into law by Gerry.^[2] "Gerrymander" is used both as a verb meaning "to commit gerrymandering" as well as a noun describing the resulting electoral geography. Elbridge Gerry's actual name is pronounced with an initial /g/ (a hard G), but the "jerry" pronunciation is now the normal pronunciation.^[3] Image File history File links Gnome-globe. ... Image File history File links Unbalanced_scales. ... Shortcut: WP:NPOVD Articles that have been linked to this page are the subject of an NPOV dispute (NPOV stands for Neutral Point Of View; see below). ... An election is a decision making process where people choose people to hold official offices. ... The Politics series Politics Portal This box:      Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions. ... Sortition is the method of random selection, particularly in relation to the selection of decision makers also known as allotment. ... A by-election or bye-election is a special election held to fill a political office when the incumbent has died or resigned. ... Electoral fraud is illegal interference with the process of an election. ... A show election or a sham election is an election that is held purely for show, that is, without any significant political purpose. ... A Fixed-term election is an election that occurs on a set date, and cannot be changed by the incumbent politician. ... A general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are up for election. ... Indirect election is a process in which voters in an election do not actually choose between candidates for an office but rather elect persons who will then make the choice. ... Rules for, and experience with, local elections vary widely across jurisdictions. ... Elections Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      A referendum (plural: referendums or referenda) or plebiscite (from Latin plebiscita, originally a decree of the Concilium Plebis) is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. ... Apportionment, or reapportionment, is the process of determining representation in politics within a legislative body by creating constituencies. ... The process known as redistricting in the United States and redistribution in many Commonwealth countries is the changing of political borders (in many countries, specifically the electoral district/constituency boundaries) usually in response to periodic census results. ... Elections Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      The secret ballot is a voting method in which a voters choices are confidential. ... An election is a decision making process where people choose people to hold official offices. ... Political parties Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      A political party is a political organization that seeks to attain political power within a government, usually by participating in electoral campaigns. ... Voting is a method of decision making wherein a group such as a meeting or an electorate attempts to gauge its opinion—usually as a final step following discussions or debates. ... A voting system is a means of choosing between a number of options, based on the input of a number of voters. ... Elections by country gives information on elections. ... Elections Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      The List of election results by country gives information on elections. ... Elections Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      This electoral calendar 2007 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2007 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. ... This electoral calendar 2007 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2007 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 424 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (800 × 1130 pixel, file size: 259 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Faithful reproductions of two-dimensional original works cannot attract copyright in the U.S. according to the rule in Bridgeman Art Library v. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 424 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (800 × 1130 pixel, file size: 259 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Faithful reproductions of two-dimensional original works cannot attract copyright in the U.S. according to the rule in Bridgeman Art Library v. ... The Boston Gazette was an early newspaper printed in the British North American colonies; it began publication December 12, 1719 and appeared weekly. ... The process known as redistricting in the United States and redistribution in many Commonwealth countries is the changing of political borders (in many countries, specifically the electoral district/constituency boundaries) usually in response to periodic census results. ... A constituency is any cohesive corporate unit or body bound by shared structures, goals or loyalty. ... For other uses, see Governor (disambiguation). ... Official language(s) English Capital Boston Largest city Boston Area  Ranked 44th  - Total 10,555 sq mi (27,360 km²)  - Width 183 miles (295 km)  - Length 113 miles (182 km)  - % water 13. ... Elbridge Thomas Gerry (pronounced , rhymes with merry) (July 17, 1744 – November 23, 1814) was an American politician, a member of the Jeffersonian Republican Party. ... is the 198th day of the year (199th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... // Events The third French and Indian War, known as King Georges War, breaks out at Port Royal, Nova Scotia The First Saudi State founded by Mohammed Ibn Saud Prague occupied by Prussian armies Ongoing events War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748) Births January 10 - Thomas Mifflin, fifth President... is the 327th day of the year (328th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1814 (MDCCCXIV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar). ... Suborders Cryptobranchoidea Salamandroidea Sirenoidea Salamander is the common name applied to approximately 500 species of amphibians with slender bodies, short legs, and long tails. ... In its core ideals Jeffersonian democracy is characterized by the following key elements: government is a necessary evil to be instituted for the common benefit, protection, and security of the people, nation or community; democracy is the best form of government and representative government is the best form of democracy... It has been suggested that Verbal agreement be merged into this article or section. ... In English, a noun or noun substantive is a lexical category which is defined in terms of how its members combine with other grammatical kinds of expressions. ...

Gerrymandering may be used to advantage or disadvantage particular constituents, such as members of a racial, linguistic, religious or class group, often in the favor of ruling incumbents or a specific political party. Although all electoral systems that use multiple districts as a basis for determining representation are susceptible to gerrymandering to various degrees, governments using single winner voting systems are the most vulnerable. Most notably, gerrymandering is particularly effective in nonproportional systems that tend towards fewer parties, such as first past the post. A constituent is someone who can or does appoint or elect (and often by implication can also remove or recall) another as his agent or representative. ... For the ecclesiastical office, see Incumbent (ecclesiastical). ... Political parties Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      A political party is a political organization that seeks to attain political power within a government, usually by participating in electoral campaigns. ... In politics, representation describes how residents of a country are empowered in the government. ... A voting system is a means of choosing between a number of options, based on the input of a number of voters. ... The plurality voting system, also known as first past the post, is a voting system used to elect a single winner in a given election. ...

In a few circumstances, the use of goal-driven district boundaries may be used for positive social goals (at least from less partisan viewpoints). In the case of Arizona's native American reservations, it was thought inappropriate that the Hopi and Navajo nations should both be represented by the same House member because historic conflicts between these tribes. Since the Hopi reservation is completely surrounded by the Navajo reservation, this required an unusual district configuration which features a fine filament along a river course several hundred miles in length attaching two regions. In another case (frequently cited as an outrageous example of gerrymandering), a California congressional district extends over a narrow coastal strip for several hundred miles, ensuring that a common community of interest will be represented rather than the areas' being dominated by inland, rather than coastal, concerns. These are illustrative of factoring in communities of common interest in drawing district boundaries. Official language(s) English Spoken language(s) English 74. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Map of the Navajo Nation The Navajo Nation (Dineé in Navajo language) is a Native American sovereignty. ...

Most democracies in the world have partly proportional electoral systems, where several political parties are proportionally represented in the national parliaments, in proportion to the total numbers of votes of the parties in the regional or national elections. In these, more or less, proportional representation systems gerrymandering will have little or less significance. Proportional representation (sometimes referred to as full representation, or PR), is a category of electoral formula aiming at a close match between the percentage of votes that groups of candidates (grouped by a certain measure) obtain in elections and the percentage of seats they receive (usually in legislative assemblies). ...

Among Western democracies, states like Israel and the Netherlands are not susceptible to gerrymandering in the national government, as they employ electoral systems with only one (nationwide) voting district. Other countries, such as the UK and Canada, attempt to prevent gerrymandering by having the constituency boundaries set by non-partisan organisations such as the UK's Boundary Commission. Gerrymandering is most common in countries such as the United States of America where elected state politicians are responsible for drawing districts, with few exceptions. The term Western world, the West or the Occident (Latin occidens -sunset, -west, as distinct from the Orient) [1] can have multiple meanings dependent on its context (e. ... In the United Kingdom, the four Boundary Commissions are responsible for determining the boundaries of House of Commons constituencies. ...

Printed in 1812, this political cartoon illustrates the electoral districts drawn by the Massachusetts legislature to favour the incumbent Democratic-Republican party candidates of Governor Elbridge Gerry over the Federalists, from which the term gerrymander is derived. The cartoon depicts the bizarre shape of a district in Essex County, Massachusetts as a dragon.

Arizona's 2nd congressional district

Gerrymandering should not be confused with malapportionment whereby the number of eligible voters per elected representative can vary widely, and which can also be used to predetermine the overall outcome of an election. Nevertheless the ~mander suffix has been applied to particular malapportionments such as the "Playmander" in South Australia and the "Bjelkemander" in Queensland. Sometimes both gerrymandering and malapportionment are used in combination. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1764x1847, 701 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Gerrymandering ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1764x1847, 701 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Gerrymandering ... Official language(s) English Capital Boston Largest city Boston Area  Ranked 44th  - Total 10,555 sq mi (27,360 km²)  - Width 183 miles (295 km)  - Length 113 miles (182 km)  - % water 13. ... The Democratic-Republican party was a United States political party, which evolved early in the history of the United States. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Essex County is a county located in the northeastern part of the state of Massachusetts. ... It has been suggested that European dragon be merged into this article or section. ... Image File history File links AZ-districts-109-02. ... Image File history File links AZ-districts-109-02. ... Arizonas 2nd congressional district contains the northwestern corner of the state, and some of the western suburbs of Phoenix. ... Apportionment, or reapportionment, is the process of determining representation in politics within a legislative body by creating constituencies. ... Electoral districts for the 2006 election in Adelaide; there are 35 districts representing 1. ... Capital Adelaide Government Constitutional monarchy Governor Marjorie Jackson-Nelson Premier Mike Rann (ALP) Federal representation  - House seats 11  - Senate seats 12 Gross State Product (2004-05)  - Product ($m)  $59,819 (5th)  - Product per capita  $38,838/person (7th) Population (End of September 2006)  - Population  1,558,200 (5th)  - Density  1. ... The Bjelkemander was the term given to the zonal system of electorates in the Australian State of Queensland, used by State Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen to consolidate his hold on executive power in the 1970s and 80s. ... Capital Brisbane Government Constitutional monarchy Governor Quentin Bryce Premier Peter Beattie (ALP) Federal representation  - House seats 28  - Senate seats 12 Gross State Product (2004-05)  - Product ($m)  $158,506 (3rd)  - Product per capita  $40,170/person (6th) Population (End of November 2006)  - Population  4,164,590 (3rd)  - Density  2. ...

Methods

"Packing and cracking"

California's 23rd congressional district

Redrawing the balanced electoral districts in this example creates a guaranteed 3-to-1 advantage in representation for the magenta voters. Here, 14 green voters are packed into one district and the remaining 18 are cracked across the 3 other districts.

There are two principal strategies behind gerrymandering: maximizing the effective votes of supporters, and minimizing the effective votes of opponents. One form of gerrymandering, packing, is to place as many voters of one type into a single district to reduce their influence in other districts. A second form, cracking, involves spreading out voters of a particular type among many districts in order to reduce their representation by denying them a sufficiently large voting block in any particular district. The methods are typically combined, creating a few "forfeit" seats for packed voters of one type in order to secure even greater representation for voters of another type. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1070x666, 73 KB)Format conversion and upload by User:Leonard G. File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1070x666, 73 KB)Format conversion and upload by User:Leonard G. File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Californias 23rd congressional district covers parts of Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ...

Gerrymandering is effective because of the wasted vote effect — by packing opposition voters into districts they will already win (increasing excess votes for winners) and by cracking the remainder among districts where they are moved into the minority (increasing votes for eventual losers), the number of wasted votes among the opposition can be maximized. Similarly, with supporters now holding narrow margins in the unpacked districts, the number of wasted votes among supporters is minimized. In the study of electoral systems, a wasted vote may be defined in 2 different ways: any vote which is not for an elected candidate. ...

The Dame Shirley Porter case

An interesting, albeit unusual method of achieving the effects of gerrymandering is to attempt to move the population within the existing boundaries. This occurred in Westminster, in the United Kingdom, where the local government was controlled by the Conservative party, and the leader of the council, Dame Shirley Porter, conspired with others to implement the policy of council house sales in such a way as to shore up the Conservative vote in marginal wards by selling the houses there to people thought likely to vote Conservative. An inquiry by the district auditor found that these actions had resulted in financial loss to taxpayers, and Porter and three others were surcharged to cover the loss. Porter was accused of "disgraceful and improper gerrymandering" by district auditor John Magill. Those surcharged resisted this ruling with a legal challenge, but, in December 2001, the appeal court upheld the district auditor's ruling. Despite further lengthy legal argument Porter eventually accepted a deal to end the long-running saga, and paid £12 million (out of an original claimed £27 million plus costs and interest) to Westminster Council in July, 2004. The City of Westminster is a London borough with city status, situated to the west of the City of London and north of the River Thames. ... The Conservative Party (officially the Conservative and Unionist Party) is the second largest political party in the United Kingdom in terms of sitting Members of Parliament (MPs), the largest in terms of public membership, and the oldest political party in the United Kingdom. ... Dame Shirley Porter (born November 29, 1930) is a controversial British former local government leader. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ...

Effects of gerrymandering

Reduction in electoral competition and voter turnout

The most immediate and obvious effect of gerrymandering is for elections to become less competitive in all districts, particularly packed ones. As electoral margins of victory become significantly greater and politicians have safe seats, the incentive for meaningful campaigning is reduced. In 2000, for example, only 57 of the 435 seats (13 percent) of the United States House of Representatives were decided by margins of 10 percent or less.^[4] A safe seat is a seat in a legislature which is regarded as fully secured by a certain political party with very little chance of an election upset because of the nature of the electorate in the constituency concerned. ... The United States House of Representatives (or simply the House) is one of the two chambers of the United States Congress; the other is the Senate. ...

Similarly, voter turnout is likely to be adversely affected as the chance of influencing electoral results by voting becomes greatly reduced and, correspondingly, political campaigns are less likely to expend resources encouraging turnout. Voters lining up outside a Baghdad polling station during the 2005 Iraqi election. ...

An additional effect of this reduction in competition is the increased importance of securing nomination rather than ultimate approval of the general electorate for a given district, as a general win once nominated becomes more or less guaranteed in a gerrymandered district. In 2004, for example, when California's 3rd Congressional District became an open seat after Republican Congressman Doug Ose ran for higher office, the state's three strongest Republican congressional candidates campaigned vigorously against one another for nomination in the district's primary election, even though several other districts remained uncontested with no Republican nominee making even a token campaign effort. Nomination is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to an office, or the bestowing of an honor or award. ... A congressional district is an electoral constituency that elects a single member of a congress. ... The incumbent, in politics, is the current holder of a political office. ... Douglas Arlo Ose commonly known as Doug Ose(born June 27, 1955), American politician, was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1999 to 2005, representing the 3rd District of California. ... A primary election is an election in which voters in a jurisdiction select candidates for a subsequent election (nominating primary). ...

Increased incumbent advantage and campaign costs

The effect of gerrymandering on incumbents is particularly focused, as incumbents are far more likely to be reelected under conditions of gerrymandering. For example, in 2002, only four challengers were able to defeat incumbent members of Congress, the lowest number in modern American history, according to political scientists Norman Ornstein and Thomas Mann.^[5] This is due in part both to the high likelihood of incumbents to be the ones orchestrating a gerrymander as well as the relative ease of renomination for incumbents in subsequent elections, including incumbents among the minority. This shows another commonly cited effect of gerrymandering: a deleterious effect on the principle of democratic accountability. No longer fearing removal from office with their renomination and electoral success secured due to uncompetitive elections, incumbent politicians have a greatly reduced incentive to govern based on the interests of their constituents, even when these interests reflect an issue that enjoys majority support across the electorate as a whole.

Gerrymandering can also have a more practical effect on the campaign costs for district elections. As districts become increasingly concave and oddly elongated, the difficulty of finding transportation and focusing campaign advertising across a district increases significantly, resulting in higher costs to run for office. When incumbents have an advantage at securing campaign funds (as is commonly the case), this further amplifies the advantage to incumbents that gerrymandering provides. Look up Concave in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... In politics, campaign advertising is the use of paid media (newspapers, radio, television, etc. ...

Less descriptive representation

A gerrymandered Congressional District, the 11th CD of CA (now occupied by Democrat Jerry McNerney), drawn to favor Republican Richard Pombo. While the Danville area is a traditional Republican stronghold, Morgan Hill is not, and that largely Democratic district was added to obtain the proper population numbers for the 11th after Livermore was assigned to the 10th at the behest of the incumbent Democrat (Ellen Tauscher), since it contains the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (located near the "580" shield) and she sits in the House Energy Committee. The 10th CD is immediately north of the 11th in Contra Costa and Solano Counties. See the California 11th congressional district election, 2006 for an unexpected result that overcame this gerrymander.

Aided by computer, District 38 was produced by California's incumbent gerrymandering, as home to Grace Flores Napolitano, a Democrat, who ran unopposed in 2004 (compare to Republican District 22, below).

Gerrymandering also has significant effects on the representation received by voters in gerrymandered districts. Because gerrymandering is designed to increase the number of wasted votes among the electorate, the relative representation of particular groups can be drastically altered from their actual share of the voting population. This effect can significantly prevent a gerrymandered system from achieving proportional and descriptive representation, as the winners of elections are increasingly determined by who is drawing the districts rather than the preferences of the voters. Clip of Image:Ca11 108. ... Jerry McNerney is a nationally recognized expert in wind engineering and renewable energy, with a PhD in mathematics. ... Richard William Pombo (born January 8, 1961) is a former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Californias 11th congressional district from 1993 to 2007. ... Livermore is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. ... Ellen OKane Tauscher (born November 15, 1951), American politician, has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1997, representing Californias 10th congressional district (map). ... Aerial view of the lab and surrounding area. ... GOP incumban, Richard Pombo Dem primary winner and nominee, Jerry NcNerney The California 11th congressional district election, 2006 is an election for the United States House of Representatives. ... Image File history File links Californias 38th Congressional District, 108th Congress. ... Image File history File links Californias 38th Congressional District, 108th Congress. ... The recent and current politics of the U.S. state of California are complex and involve a number of entrenched interests. ... Grace Napolitano Grace Flores Napolitano (born December 4, 1936), American politician, has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1999, representing the 38th District of California (map). ... Federal courts Supreme Court Circuit Courts of Appeal District Courts Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government Other countries Atlas  Politics Portal      Further information: Politics of the United States#Organization of American political parties The Democratic... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... In politics, representation describes how residents of a country are empowered in the government. ... Proportional representation (sometimes referred to as full representation, or PR), is a category of electoral formula aiming at a close match between the percentage of votes that groups of candidates (grouped by a certain measure) obtain in elections and the percentage of seats they receive (usually in legislative assemblies). ... Descriptive representation is the idea that candidates should be elected to represent ethnic and gender constituencies, as well as other minority interest groups, rather than the population at large. ...

Sometimes, however, gerrymandering is advocated as a solution for improving representation amongst otherwise underrepresented groups by packing them into a single district. This can be controversial, and may lead to those groups remaining marginalized in the government as they become confined to a single district and representatives outside that district no longer need to represent them to win election. As an example, much of the redistricting conducted in the United States in the early 1990s involved the intentional creation of additional "majority-minority" districts where racial minorities such as African Americans were packed into the majority. Curiously, this "maximization policy" was supported by elements of both the Republican Party (who had limited support among African Americans) and minority representatives elected as Democrats from these constituencies, who then had "safe seats". African Americans, also known as Afro-Americans or black Americans, are an ethnic group in the United States of America whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Sub-Saharan and West Africa. ... Federal courts Supreme Court Circuit Courts of Appeal District Courts Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government Other countries Atlas  Politics Portal      Further information: Politics of the United States#Organization of American political parties The Democratic... A safe seat is a seat in a legislature which is regarded as fully secured by a certain political party with very little chance of an election upset because of the nature of the electorate in the constituency concerned. ...

Incumbent gerrymandering

Gerrymandering can also be done to help incumbents as a whole, effectively turning every district into a packed one and greatly reducing the potential for competitive elections. This is particularly likely to occur when the minority party has significant obstruction power — unable to enact a partisan gerrymander, the legislature instead agrees on ensuring their own mutual reelection. For the ecclesiastical office, see Incumbent (ecclesiastical). ...

In an unusual occurrence in 2000, for example, the two dominant parties in the state of California cooperatively redrew both state and federal legislative districts to preserve the status quo, ensuring the electoral safety of the politicians from possible unpredictable voting by the electorate. This move proved completely effective, as no State or Federal legislative office changed party in the 2004 election, with 53 congressional, 20 state senate, and 80 state assembly seats potentially at risk. Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... The recent and current politics of the U.S. state of California are complex and involve a number of entrenched interests. ... Elections to the United States House of Representatives for the 109th Congress were held on November 2, 2004. ...

In 2006, the term "70/30 District" came to signify the equitable split of two evenly split (i.e. 50/50) districts. The resulting districts gave each party a guaranteed seat and retained their respective power base.

Reforms targeted against gerrymandering

Due to myriad issues associated with gerrymandering and the subsequent impact it has on competitive elections and democratic accountability, numerous countries have enacted reforms making the practice either more difficult or less effective. Countries such as the UK, Australia, Canada and most of Europe have moved the responsibility of drawing constituency boundaries to neutral or cross-party bodies.

In the United States, however, these reforms remain controversial and frequently meet particularly strong opposition from groups that are benefitting from gerrymandering who stand to lose considerable influence in such a system.

Aided by computer, District 22 was produced by Redistricting in Texas for former Rep. Tom DeLay, a Republican (compare to Democratic District 38, above).

Image File history File links TX22_109_abcdef. ... Image File history File links TX22_109_abcdef. ... For approximately 100 years, from the end of Reconstruction until the 1970s, the Democratic Party was dominant in Texas Politics. ... Thomas Dale DeLay (born April 8, 1947) is a former member of the United States House of Representatives from Sugar Land, Texas. ...

Redistricting by neutral or cross-party agency

The most commonly advocated electoral reform proposal targeted at gerrymandering is to change the redistricting process. Under these proposals, an independent, and presumably objective, commission is created and charged with redistricting rather than the legislature. To help ensure neutrality, members of the board can come from relatively apolitical sources such as retired state judges or longstanding members of the bureaucracy, possibly requiring adequate representation from competing political parties. Additionally, members of the board can be denied access to information that might aid in gerrymandering, such as the demographic makeup or voting patterns of the population. As a further constraint, consensus requirements can be imposed to ensure that the resulting district map reflects a wider perception of fairness, such as a requirement for a supermajority approval of the commission for any district proposal. However, in some states (such as Missouri following 2000 census) this has led to deadlock where the equally numbered partisan appointees were unable to reach consensus in a reasonable timeframe resulting in the courts having to draw the lines. The Politics series Politics Portal This box:      This article is about the sociological concept. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A supermajority or a qualified majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level or type of support which exceeds a simple majority in order to have effect. ... Official language(s) English Capital Jefferson City Largest city Kansas City Largest metro area St Louis[1] Area  Ranked 21st  - Total 69,709 sq mi (180,693 km²)  - Width 240 miles (385 km)  - Length 300 miles (480 km)  - % water 1. ...

In Iowa, the nonpartisan Legislative Services Bureau (akin to the federal Congressional Research Service) draws the districts. Aside from the federally mandated contiguity and population equality criteria, the LSB mandates unity of counties and cities. Political factors such as location of incumbents, previous boundary locations, and party makeup are specifically forbidden. Since Iowa's counties are mostly regularly-shaped polygons, the process has led to districts that follow county lines.^[5] Official language(s) English Capital Des Moines Largest city Des Moines Area  Ranked 26th  - Total 56,272 sq mi (145,743 km²)  - Width 310 miles (500 km)  - Length 199 miles (320 km)  - % water 0. ... The Congressional Research Service is the public policy research arm of the United States Congress. ... A polygon (from the Greek poly, for many, and gonos, for angle) is a closed planar path composed of a finite number of sequential straight line segments. ...

In the state of Ohio, Issue 4, a ballot proposition, was placed for the voters that created an independent commission whose first priority was competitive districts, a sort of "reverse gerrymander". A complex mathematical formula was used to determine the competitiveness of a district. The measure failed largely due to concerns that it would break up communities of interest.^[6]

Shortest splitline algorithm

The Center for Range Voting has proposed a way to draw districts by a simple algorithm.^[7] Because the algorithm uses only the shape of the state, the number N of districts wanted, and the population distribution as inputs — and does not know the party loyalties of those people — the result cannot be biased. The algorithm (slightly simplified) is: In mathematics, computing, linguistics, and related disciplines, an algorithm is a finite list of well-defined instructions for accomplishing some task that, given an initial state, will terminate in a defined end-state. ...

1. Start with the boundary outline of the state.
2. Let N=A+B where A and B are as nearly equal whole numbers as possible. (For example, 7=4+3.)
3. Among all possible dividing lines that split the state into two parts with population ratio A:B, choose the shortest.
4. We now have two hemi-states, each to contain a specified number (namely A and B) of districts. Handle them recursively via the same splitting procedure.

This district-drawing algorithm has the advantage of simplicity, ultra-low cost, clear unbiasedness, and it produces simpler boundaries that do not meander needlessly. But it has the disadvantage that it ignores geographic features such as rivers, cliffs, and highways- which in practice are less relevant to voter distribution than population density. This landscape oversight causes it to produce districts differently than those an enlightened and unbiased human would produce. However, in the USA, biased individuals are generally the only ones seeking the responsibility of redrawing congressional districts. People often intentionally abuse these features (such as Arizona's 2nd congressional district, which contains a fine filament winding for 200 miles along the river inside the Grand Canyon). Arizonas 2nd congressional district contains the northwestern corner of the state, and some of the western suburbs of Phoenix. ... Christmas Day 2006, South Rim The Grand Canyon is a very colorful, steep-sided gorge, carved by the Colorado River in the U.S. state of Arizona. ...

As of July 2007, shortest-splitline redistricting pictures are now available for all 50 states.

Changing the voting system

Because gerrymandering relies on the wasted vote effect to be effective, the use of a different voting system with fewer wasted votes can help reduce gerrymandering. In particular, the use of multimember districts alongside voting systems establishing proportional representation can greatly reduce the proportion of wasted votes, and therefore the potential for gerrymandering. Similarly, the use of semi-proportional voting systems such as cumulative voting or the single non-transferable vote can also help achieve a large reduction in the number of wasted votes, and due to their relative simplicity and similarity to first past the post they are often advocated as a replacement system by advocates of electoral reform. A voting system is a means of choosing between a number of options, based on the input of a number of voters. ... Proportional representation (sometimes referred to as full representation, or PR), is a category of electoral formula aiming at a close match between the percentage of votes that groups of candidates (grouped by a certain measure) obtain in elections and the percentage of seats they receive (usually in legislative assemblies). ... A points method ballot design like this one is the most common for governmental elections using cumulative voting. ... The Single Non-Transferable Vote or SNTV is an electoral system used in multi-member constituency elections. ... The plurality voting system, also known as first past the post, is a voting system used to elect a single winner in a given election. ...

Electoral systems with different forms of proportional representation are now found in nearly all European countries, who in this way have multi party systems (with many parties represented in the parliaments) with higher voter attendance in the elections, fewer wasted votes, and more variety of political opinions represented.

Electoral systems with just election of one candidate in each district, and no proportional distribution of extra mandates to smaller parties tend to create two-party-systems. In these just two parties compete in the national elections and thus the national political discussions are forced into a narrow two party frame, where loyalty and forced statements inside the two parties trouble the political debate.

Changing the size of districts and the elected body

If a proportional or semi-proportional voting system alongside multimember districts is used, then increasing the number of winners in any given district will reduce the number of wasted votes. This can be accomplished both by merging separate districts together and by increasing the total size of the body to be elected. Since gerrymandering relies on exploiting the wasted vote effect to secure electoral advantage, reducing the number of wasted votes by increasing the number of winners in a district can greatly reduce the potential for gerrymandering. Unless all districts are merged, however, this method cannot eliminate gerrymandering entirely.

In contrast to proportional methods, if a nonproportional voting system with multiple winners (such as a form of bloc voting) is used, then increasing the size of the elected body while keeping the number of districts constant will not reduce the amount of wasted votes, leaving the potential for gerrymandering the same. Merging districts together under such a system, however, can reduce the potential for gerrymandering, but doing so also amplifies the effect of bloc voting's tendency to produce landslide victories, which has a similar effect in concentrating wasted votes among the opposition and denying them representation. Bloc voting (or block voting) (also called Plurality-at-large) refers to a class of voting systems which can be used to elect several representatives from a single constituency. ... In politics, a landslide victory (or just a landslide) is the victory of a candidate or political party by an overwhelming majority in an election. ...

If a system of single-winner elections is used, then increasing the size of the elected body will implicitly increase the number of districts to be created. This change can actually make gerrymandering easier when raising the number of single-winner elections, as opposition groups can be more efficiently packed into smaller districts without accidentally including supporters, further increasing the number of wasted votes amongst the opposition.

Using fixed districts

Another possible method of avoiding further gerrymandering is to simply avoid redistricting all together and continue to use existing political boundaries such as state, county, or provincial lines. Doing this makes further increasing electoral advantage by changing boundaries impossible; however, any existing advantage may become deeply ingrained. The United States Senate, for instance, has more competitive elections than the House of Representatives due to the use of existing state borders rather than gerrymandered districts—Senators are elected by their entire state, while Representatives are elected by only a single district. Federal courts Supreme Court Chief Justice Associate Justices Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government Other countries Politics Portal      The United States Senate is one of the two chambers of the bicameral United States Congress, the...

The use of fixed districts creates an additional problem, however, in that fixed districts do not take into account changes in population and individual voters can therefore grow to have vastly different degrees of influence on the legislative process. This malapportionment, in turn, can have a particularly focused effect on representation after long periods of time or large population movements. The United States Senate, for instance, provides nearly 66 times the representation to voters in the state of Wyoming (the smallest) than voters in the state of California (the largest). In the United Kingdom during the Industrial revolution, several districts which had been fixed since the formation of the British Parliament became so small that they could be won with only a handful of voters (rotten boroughs). By contrast, Switzerland and Spain have bicameral national legislatures like the United States, but both of its houses use fixed constituencies. Malapportionment is broad and systematic variance in the size of electoral constituencies (at least within electoral systems which have them). ... The Industrial Revolution was a major shift of technological, socioeconomic, and cultural conditions that occurred in the late 18th century and early 19th century in some Western countries. ... Type Bicameral Houses House of Commons House of Lords Speaker of the House of Commons The Right Honourable Michael Martin MP Lord Speaker Hélène Hayman, Baroness Hayman, PC Members 1377 (646 Commons, 731 Peers) Political groups (as of May 5, 2005 elections) Labour Party Conservative Party Liberal Democrats... The term rotten borough referred to a parliamentary borough or constituency in Great Britain and Ireland which, due to size and population, was controlled and used by a patron to exercise undue and unrepresentative influence within parliament. ...

The unusual "earmuff" shape of the 4th Congressional District of Illinois connects two Hispanic neighborhoods while remaining contiguous by narrowly tracing Interstate 294. A similar district is New York's 28th congressional district which connects the heavily Democratic cities of Rochester and Buffalo with a narrow strip of territory hugging the Lake Ontario and Niagara River coastlines to connect them.

Image File history File links Illinois 4th Congressional District, 108th Congress File links The following pages link to this file: Gerrymandering ... Image File history File links Illinois 4th Congressional District, 108th Congress File links The following pages link to this file: Gerrymandering ... Official language(s) English[1] Capital Springfield Largest city Chicago Largest metro area Chicago Area  Ranked 25th  - Total 57,918 sq mi (149,998 km²)  - Width 210 miles (340 km)  - Length 390 miles (629 km)  - % water 4. ... Categories: Stub ... Map The Twenty-eighth district of New York is a congressional district for the United States House of Representatives in northwest New York. ... Nickname: Motto: Rochester: Made for Living Location of Rochester in New York State Country United States State New York County Monroe Government [1]  - Mayor Robert Duffy (D) Area  - City  37. ... Nickname: Location of Buffalo in New York State County Erie County Government  - Mayor Byron Brown (D) Area  - City 52. ... Lake Ontario, bounded on the north by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the south by Ontarios Niagara Peninsula and by New York State, USA, is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. ... Satellite image of the Niagara River. ...

Establishing objective rules for the creation of districts

Another avenue of tying the hands of potential gerrymanderers is to create objective, precise criteria to which any district map must comply. Courts in the United States, for instance, have ruled that congressional districts must be contiguous in order to be constitutional. This, however, is not a particularly binding constraint, as very narrow strips of land with few or no voters in them may be used to connect separate regions into the same district. Another objective criterion is maximized compactness, subject to other constraints such as geographic features and the boundaries of local governments. The compactness measure of a shape is a numerical quantity representing the degree to which the shape is compact. ...

One idea is to constitutionally define a specific minimum [[Isoperimetric quotient] ^[8]), or minimum ratio, between the perimeter and area of any given congressional voting district. Computer algorithms could ensure that population districts were drawn in such a way so as to minimize Isoperimetric inequality^[9] and effectively eliminate Gerrymandering. Although technologies presently exist to define districts in this manner, there are no rules in place mandating their use, and no national movement to implement such a policy. Isoperimetry literally means having an equal perimeter. In mathematics, isoperimetry is the general study of geometric figures having equal boundaries. ...

Gerrymandering computer technology

The introduction of modern computers and the development of elaborate voter databases alongside special districting software has made gerrymandering a far more precise science. Using these databases, politicians can obtain detailed information about every household including political party registration, previous campaign donations, and the number of times residents voted in previous elections. Using this information alongside other predictors of voting behavior such as age, income, race, or education level, drawers of a new electoral map can predict the voting behavior of each potential district with an astonishing degree of precision, greatly increasing the efficiency of gerrymandering and reducing the chance of accidentally making a district competitive. The NASA Columbia Supercomputer. ... A voter database is a computer database containing information on voters for the purpose of assisting a political party or an individual politician in their Get out the vote (GOTV) efforts. ...

See also: Geographic information system

A geographic Information System (GIS) is a system for capturing, storing, analyzing and managing data and associated attributes which are spatially referenced to the earth. ...

National historical examples

Gerrymandering in the United States

U.S. congressional districts covering Travis County, Texas (outlined in red) in 2002, left, and 2004, right. In 2003, Republicans in the Texas legislature redistricted the state, diluting the voting power of the heavily Democratic county by parceling its residents out to more Republican districts.

The United States has been subject to gerrymandering since the initial carving of territories into states. Combined with malapportionment rules for representation in the Senate and Electoral College, gerrymandering allowed the United States Congress significant amounts of control over its own political makeup. Prior to the American Civil War, with the contentious issue of slavery dividing the Congress, states were admitted on a formula of "one free state for each slave state" in order to prevent one side from gaining the upper hand. This nearly prevented the state of Maine from seceding from Massachusetts until the Missouri Compromise was agreed upon. Later, it was decided that Texas and California would both enter as single, but large, states. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1117x622, 24 KB) Summary U.S. congressional districts covering Travis County, Texas (outlined in red) in 2002, left, and 2004. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1117x622, 24 KB) Summary U.S. congressional districts covering Travis County, Texas (outlined in red) in 2002, left, and 2004. ... Travis County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. ... Types of administrative and/or political territories include: A legally administered territory, which is a non-sovereign geographic area that has come under the authority of another government. ... A U.S. state is any one of the 50 states which have membership of the federation known as the United States of America (USA or U.S.). The separate state governments and the U.S. federal government share sovereignty. ... Apportionment, or reapportionment, is the process of determining representation in politics within a legislative body by creating constituencies. ... Federal courts Supreme Court Chief Justice Associate Justices Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government Other countries Politics Portal      The United States Senate is one of the two chambers of the bicameral United States Congress, the... The United States Electoral College is the electoral college that chooses the President and Vice President of the United States at the conclusion of each Presidential election. ... Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederacy) Commanders Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties 110,000 killed in action, 360,000 total dead, 275,200 wounded 93,000 killed in action, 258,000 total... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Official language(s) None (English and French de facto) Capital Augusta Largest city Portland Area  Ranked 39th  - Total 33,414 sq mi (86,542 km²)  - Width 210 miles (338 km)  - Length 320 miles (515 km)  - % water 13. ... Official language(s) English Capital Boston Largest city Boston Area  Ranked 44th  - Total 10,555 sq mi (27,360 km²)  - Width 183 miles (295 km)  - Length 113 miles (182 km)  - % water 13. ... The United States in 1820. ... Official language(s) No official language See languages of Texas Capital Austin Largest city Houston Largest metro area Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex Area  Ranked 2nd  - Total 261,797 sq mi (678,051 km²)  - Width 773 miles (1,244 km)  - Length 790 miles (1,270 km)  - % water 2. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ...

The practice of gerrymandering the borders of new states continued past the Civil War and into the late 19th century, where the territories of the Rocky Mountains were split up into relatively low-population states to help the Republican Party maintain control of the Presidency ^{[citation needed]} — each new state brought in three electoral votes regardless of its population size.^[10] For individual mountains named Rocky Mountain, see Rocky Mountain (disambiguation). ... The Republican Party, often called the GOP (for Grand Old Party, although one early citation described it as the Gallant Old Party) [1], is one of the two major political parties in the United States. ... It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles. ...

Throughout the history of the United States the possibility of gerrymandering has made the process of redistricting an extremely politically contentious one. Under its constitution, districts for members of the House of Representatives are redrawn every ten years following each census; it is common practice for state legislative boundaries to be redrawn at the same time. Intense political battles over contentious redistricting typically take place within state legislatures responsible for creating the electoral maps, however federal courts are often also involved. Sometimes this process creates strange bedfellows interested in securing reelection; in some states, Republicans have cut deals with opposing black Democratic state legislators to create majority black districts. By packing black Democratic voters into a single district, these districts essentially ensure the election of a black Congressman or reelection of a black state legislator; however, due to the packed concentration of Democratic voters the surrounding districts are more safely Republican. The process known as redistricting in the United States and redistribution in many Commonwealth countries is the changing of political borders (in many countries, specifically the electoral district/constituency boundaries) usually in response to periodic census results. ... The United States House of Representatives (or simply the House) is one of the two chambers of the United States Congress; the other is the Senate. ... 1870 US Census for New York City A census is the process of obtaining information about every member of a population (not necessarily a human population). ...

In Pennsylvania, gerrymandering was used to eliminate Democrat candidate Frank Mascara. Mascara was elected to Congress in 1994 when in 2002 the Republican Party altered the district he was in so much so that he was pitted against fellow Democrat candidate John Murtha. The shape of Mascara’s newly drawn district formed a finger that stopped at his street, encompassing his house though not the spot where he parks his car. Murtha went on to win the election in the newly formed district.^[11]

Gerrymandering along racial lines has been used to both decrease and increase minority representation in state governments and congressional delegations, depending on the manner in which districts are drawn. In the state of Ohio, a conversation between Republican officials was recorded and showed definite signs that redistricting was being done to aid political candidates. Furthermore, it was made clear in these conversations that race would play a role in the redistricting. Approximately 13,000 African American votes were removed from Republican house candidate Jim Raussen’s district in an attempt to tip the scales in what was once a close race.^[12]

International election observers from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, who were invited to observe and report on the 2004 national elections, expressed criticism of the U.S. congressional redistricting process and made a recommendation that the procedures be reviewed to ensure genuine competitiveness of Congressional election contests.^[13] The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is an international organization for security. ... Presidential election results map. ...

Voting Rights Act of 1965

After the Civil War, with the rewarding of voting rights to freed slaves, state legislatures turned to racial gerrymandering and poll taxes to disenfranchise minorities, most of whom were in geographically distinct areas. Eventually, these practices led to a major civil rights conflict; gerrymandering for the purpose of reducing the political influence of a racial or ethnic minority group became illegal in the United States under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (along with poll taxes by the Twenty-fourth Amendment in 1964), however gerrymandering for political gain remained legal. A poll tax, head tax, or capitation is a tax of a uniform, fixed amount per individual (as opposed to a percentage of income). ... The United States Voting Rights Act of 1965 outlawed requiring would-be voters to take literacy tests and provided for federal registration of African American voters in areas that had less than 50% of eligible voters registered. ... Amendment XXIV in the National Archives Amendment XXIV (the Twenty-fourth Amendment) of the United States Constitution prohibits both Congress and the states from conditioning the right to vote in federal elections on payment of a poll tax or other types of tax. ...

After the Voting Rights Act, racial gerrymandering was ironically "flipped around" to create "majority-minority" districts. Using this practice, also called "affirmative gerrymandering", these districts were created with the stated purpose of redressing previous discrimination to ensure higher ethnic minority representation in government. Since the 1990s, however, gerrymandering based solely on race has been ruled unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court under the Fourteenth Amendment first by Shaw v. Reno (1993) and subsequently by Miller v. Johnson (1995). The constitutionality of racial considerations in creating districts remains ambiguous, however; in Hunt v. Cromartie (1999), the Supreme Court approved a racially focused congressional gerrymandering on the grounds that the drawing was not pure racial gerrymandering but instead partisan gerrymandering, which is constitutionally permissible. Federal courts Supreme Court Circuit Courts of Appeal District Courts Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government Other countries  Atlas  Politics Portal      The Supreme Court of the United States (sometimes colloquially referred to by the acronym... Amendment XIV in the National Archives The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (Amendment XIV) is one of the post-Civil War amendments (known as the Reconstruction Amendments), intended to secure rights for former slaves. ... Shaw v. ... Miller v. ... Hunt v. ...

Recent steps

On June 28, 2006, the United States Supreme Court upheld most of a Texas congressional map engineered in 2003 by former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.^[14] The seven-to-two decision now allows politicians in all of the USA to redraw and gerrymander districts as often as they like (not just after census-mandated reapportionment and redistricting) to protect their political parties and seats, so long as they do not harm racial and ethnic minority groups. A 5-4 majority threw out one Congressional district in the case for this reason. Federal courts Supreme Court Circuit Courts of Appeal District Courts Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government Other countries  Atlas  Politics Portal      The Supreme Court of the United States (sometimes colloquially referred to by the acronym... Federal courts Supreme Court Chief Justice Associate Justices Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures State Courts Counties, Cities, and Towns Other countries Politics Portal      Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives are elected by their respective parties in... Thomas Dale DeLay (born April 8, 1947) is a former member of the United States House of Representatives from Sugar Land, Texas. ... Reapportionment is the reallocation of seats in a legislature to the regions from which legislators are elected, following changes in population. ...

Some states have taken or at least considered steps to revoke and separate redistricting authority from politicians and give it to other more neutral commissions, in order to prevent the repeated abuse of process. Two major examples are the standing Washington State Redistricting Commission ^[15] and Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission.^[16] The Rhode Island Reapportionment Commission^[17] and New Jersey Redistricting Commission are ad hoc, but were used in both of the past two reapportionments. The city of San Diego also uses such a system according to its municipal charter. The Politics series Politics Portal This box:      Separation of powers, a term coined by French political Enlightenment thinker Baron de Montesquieu[1][2], is a model for the governance of democratic states. ... An agency is a department of a local or national government responsible for the oversight and administration of a specific function, such as a customs agency or a space agency. ... Abuse of process is a common law intentional tort. ... A standing committee is a subunit of a political or deliberative body established in a permanent fashion to aid the parent assembly in accomplishing its duties. ... The New Jersey Redistricting Commission is a government organization. ... Ad hoc is a Latin phrase which means for this [purpose]. It generally signifies a solution that has been tailored to a specific purpose, such as a tailor-made suit, a handcrafted network protocol, and specific-purpose equation and things like that. ... Flag Seal Nickname: Americas Finest City Location Location of San Diego within San Diego County Coordinates , Government County San Diego Mayor City Attorney         City Council District One District Two District Three District Four District Five District Six District Seven District Eight Jerry Sanders (R) Michael Aguirre Scott Peters Kevin... A city charter or town charter (generically, municipal charter) is a legal document establishing a municipality such as a city or town. ...

Gerrymandering in Northern Ireland

A particularly famous case of gerrymandering occurred in Northern Ireland in the 1920s and 1930s, where the electoral boundaries for the Londonderry County Borough Council were created by the Ulster Unionist Party to ensure the election of a Unionist council in a city where Nationalists had a marginal majority. The initial boundaries were drawn up locally but in the 1930s the province wide government redrew them to reinforce the gerrymander. The perceived and alleged discrimination of housing combined with the electoral voting system carried over from the old Westminster system when the Northern Ireland government was set up of giving business owners more than one vote and not giving all non-ratepayers in a household a vote led to the creation of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association, although this "business franchise" accounted for only 2% of the vote. In Derry in 1967, 35% of the vote returned 60% Unionist seats and 27.4% of the vote returned 40% Nationalist seats. However, in the election of 1973 after the voting system had been thoroughly reformed and the council area enlarged, there was a slight majority of first preference votes for non-nationalist parties (including both Unionists and the Alliance Party), but using the single transferable vote system nationalist and republican parties gained a majority of one seat in the new council. Northern Ireland (Irish: ) is a part of the United Kingdom lying in the northeast of the island of Ireland, covering 5,459 square miles (14,139 km², about a sixth of the islands total area). ... The 1920s is a decade that is sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age or the Roaring Twenties, usually applied to America. ... Face The 1930s (years from 1930–1939) were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles, as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression, also known in Europe as the World Depression. ... Derry City Council (Londonderry County Borough Council until 1984) is a district council in County Londonderry in Northern Ireland. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... In the context of Irish politics, Unionists are people in Northern Ireland, who wish to see the continuation of the Act of Union 1800, as amended by the Government of Ireland Act 1920, under which Northern Ireland, created in that latter Act, remains part of the United Kingdom of Great... Irish nationalism refers to political movements that desire greater autonomy or the independence of Ireland from Great Britain. ... The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule legislature created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which existed from June 7, 1921 to March 30, 1972, when it was suspended. ... The Civil Rights Mural - The Beginning.[1] The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association was an organisation which campaigned for civil rights in Northern Ireland during the late 1960s and early 1970s. ... Londonderry redirects here. ... The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI), is a political party operating in Northern Ireland. ...

In 1929 the Parliament of Northern Ireland passed a bill returning the Parliament's electoral system from the relatively proportional single transferable vote (where seat numbers approximately equate to vote percentage) first introduced in Sligo in 1918 and throughout Ireland in 1919 to the less proportional first past the post or block voting systems (where the seat percentage does not always equate even closely to the percentages.) The only exception was for the election of four Stormont MPs to represent the Queen's University of Belfast (this constituency was abolished at the 1969 general election). The British Government was so opposed to the change, which it viewed as the abolition of the electoral safeguards provided in the Government of Ireland Act 1920, that it advised the King's representative in Northern Ireland, the Governor of Northern Ireland to withhold the Royal Assent from the legislation. After a major row the British government backed down and advised the Governor to sign the Bill into law. The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule legislature created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which existed from June 7, 1921 to March 30, 1972, when it was suspended. ... This STV ballot for the Australian Senate illustrates group voting tickets. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 54. ... The plurality voting system, also known as first past the post, is a voting system used to elect a single winner in a given election. ... Bloc voting (or block voting) (also called Plurality-at-large) refers to a class of voting systems which can be used to elect several representatives from a single constituency. ... Queens University Belfast is a university in Belfast, Northern Ireland and a member of the Russell Group (a lobby group of major research universities in the United Kingdom). ... Results References Election Demon: Northern Ireland Parliamentary Election Results Categories: | ... An Act to Provide for the Better Government of Ireland, more usually the Government of Ireland Act, 1920 (this is its official short title; the formal citation is 10 & 11 Geo. ... The Governor of Northern Ireland was the Crown representative in Northern Ireland. ... // The granting of Royal Assent is the formal method by which a constitutional monarch completes the legislative process of lawmaking by formally assenting to an Act of Parliament. ...

Allegations have been made that the boundaries were gerrymandered to under represent Nationalists, though some geographers and historians (for instance Professor John H. Whyte^[18][19]) have strongly challenged allegations of gerrymandering in Northern Ireland-wide parliamentary elections, arguing that the electoral boundaries for the Parliament of Northern Ireland were not gerrymandered to a greater level than that produced by any single-winner election system and that the number of Nationalist MPs barely changed with the system. The change to single-member seats is generally acknowledged however as being a key factor in stifling the growth of smaller groups such as the Northern Ireland Labour Party and independent Unionists. Professor John H. Whyte (died 17 May 1990) was an Irish historian, political scientist and author of books on Northern Ireland, divided societies and on Church-state affairs in Ireland. ... The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule legislature created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which existed from June 7, 1921 to March 30, 1972, when it was suspended. ... The Northern Ireland Labour Party was a political party which operated from 1924 until the 1980s. ...

The Parliament of Northern Ireland and its government were suspended in 1972, and STV was restored for elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly in the following year, using the same constituencies as for the Westminster Parliament. Currently in Northern Ireland, only elections to the Westminster parliament do not use STV, following the pattern in the rest of the United Kingdom by using First Past the Post. The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative institution in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories (it alone has parliamentary sovereignty). ...

Ireland, "Tullymandering"

In the Ireland, in the mid-1970s, the Minister for Local Government, James Tully, attempted to arrange constituencies to ensure that the governing Fine Gael/Labour National Coalition would win a parliamentary majority. The Electoral (Amendment) Act 1974 was planned as a major reversal of previous gerrymandering by the Fianna Fáil party (then in opposition). Tully ensured that there were as many as possible three-seat constituencies where the governing parties were strong, in the expectation that the governing parties would each win a seat in many constituencies, relegating the Fianna Fáil party to one out of three. In areas where the governing parties were weak four-seat constituencies were used so that the governing parties had a strong chance of winning two still. In fact the process backfired spectacularly due to a larger than expected collapse in the vote, with Fianna Fáil winning a landslide victory, two out of three seats in many cases, relegating the National Coalition parties to fight for the last seat. Consequently, the term Tullymandering was used to describe the phenomenon of a failed attempt at gerrymandering. James Tully (born 18 September 1915) was a prominent Irish trade unionist, politician and Deputy Leader of the Irish Labour Party who served as a minister in a series of Irish Fine Gael-Labour coalition governments. ... Fine Gael (IPA: , though often anglicised to ) (approximate English translation: Family or Tribe of the Irish) and officially, Fine Gael - The United Ireland Party, is the second largest political party in the Republic of Ireland, presently forming the largest opposition party in the Dail (Irish Parliament), and claims a membership... The Labour Party (Irish: Páirtí an Lucht Oibre) is a social democratic political party in the Republic of Ireland. ... The 20th Dáil was elected on February 28, 1973 and first met on March 14 when the 14th Government of Ireland was appointed. ... The Electoral (Amendment) Act 1974 was a review of parliamentary constituencies passed in the Republic of Ireland by the governing Fine Gael/Labour National Coalition. ... Fianna Fáil - The Republican Party (Irish: ), commonly referred to as Fianna Fáil (IPA ; traditionally translated by the party into English as Soldiers of Destiny, though the actual meaning is Soldiers [Fianna] of Ireland[1]), is currently the largest political party in Ireland with 55,000 members. ... Fianna Fáil - The Republican Party (Irish: ), commonly referred to as Fianna Fáil (IPA ; traditionally translated by the party into English as Soldiers of Destiny, though the actual meaning is Soldiers [Fianna] of Ireland[1]), is currently the largest political party in Ireland with 55,000 members. ... See Electoral (Amendment) Act 1974 and Gerrymandering. ...

Gerrymandering in Germany

When the electoral districts in Germany were redrawn in 2000, together with the administrative districts, the ruling Social Democratic Party (SPD) was accused of gerrymandering to marginalize the socialist PDS party in its strongholds in eastern Berlin by combining them into new districts with more populous areas of western Berlin, where the PDS had very limited following. After winning four seats in Berlin in the 1998 national election, the PDS kept only two of them after the following 2002 elections. This caused the PDS to drop out of the Bundestag, the German federal parliament (as a faction with its associated rights in parliament; the individually elected representatives held their seats). Under German electoral law a political party has to win either more than five percent of the votes or at least three seats to move in. In the election of 2005 the PDS (renamed "Left Party") managed to get 8.7% of the votes and thus moved back in. SPD redirects here. ... The Left Party (In German: , officially with a period at the end), formerly Party of Democratic Socialism (Partei des Demokratischen Sozialismus, PDS) is a left-wing socialist political party in Germany. ... This article is about the capital of Germany. ... Type Lower house President of the Bundestag Dr. Norbert Lammert, CDU since October 18, 2005 Members 614 Political groups (as of September 18, 2005 elections) Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union of Bavaria Bloc (226), Social Democratic Party of Germany (222), Free Democratic Party (61), The Left Party. ... A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modelled after that of the United Kingdom. ... Political parties Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      A political party is a political organization that seeks to attain political power within a government, usually by participating in electoral campaigns. ...

However, the number of Bundestag seats of parties which traditionally get over 5% of the votes can't be affected very much by gerrymandering, because seats are awarded to these parties on a proportional basis. Only when a party wins so many districts in any one of the 16 federal states that those seats alone count for more than its proportional share of the vote in that same state does the districting have some influence on larger parties — those extra seats, called "Überhangmandate", remain. Overhang seats can arise in elections under mixed member proportional (MMP), when a party is entitled to fewer seats as a result of party votes than it has won constituencies. ...

Gerrymandering in Canada

Early in Canadian history gerrymandering at both the federal and provincial levels was common. Over time this has been largely eliminated as responsibility for drawing electoral boundaries was handed over to independent agencies. The first to do this was Manitoba in the 1950s with the federal government delegating the drawing of boundaries to the "arm's length" Elections Canada in 1964. Today gerrymandering is not a major issue in Canada. Motto: Gloriosus et Liber (Latin: Glorious and free) BC AB SK MB ON QC NB PE NS NL YT NT NU Capital Winnipeg Largest city Winnipeg Official languages English Government - Lieutenant-Governor John Harvard - Premier Gary Doer (NDP) Federal representation in Canadian Parliament - House seats 14 - Senate seats 6 Confederation... Elections Canada is the non-partisan agency of the Government of Canada responsible for the conduct of federal elections and referendums. ...

In 2006, a controversy arose on Prince Edward Island over the provincial government's decision to throw out an electoral map drawn by an independent commission, and instead design two new maps; the third, which was adopted, was designed by the caucus of the governing party. Opposition parties and the media attacked then-Premier Binns for what they saw as gerrymandering. Among other things, the third map ensured that every current Member of the Legislative Assembly from the premier's party had a district to run for re-election, whereas in the original map several had been redistricted. Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays full 2006 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Motto: i lost P.E.I. again mom:well, look under the couch Capital Charlottetown Largest city Charlottetown Official languages English Government - Lieutenant-Governor Barbara Oliver Hagerman - Premier Pat Binns (PC) Federal representation in Canadian Parliament - House seats 4 - Senate seats 4 Confederation July 1, 1873 (7th) Area Ranked 13th... A caucus is most generally defined as being a meeting of supporters or members of a political party or movement. ... Patrick George Binns (born October 8, 1948 in Weyburn, Saskatchewan), is a Canadian politician and the Premier of Prince Edward Island. ... A Member of the Legislative Assembly, or MLA, is a representative elected by the voters of an electoral district to the Legislature or legislative assembly of a subnational jurisdiction. ...

Gerrymandering in Singapore

The ruling People's Action Party in Singapore has been accused of using gerrymandering, among other unfair electoral practices, to maintain significant majorities in Parliament of Singapore in recent decades.^[20] Party logo with a symbol of red lightning that signifies action. ... The unicameral Parliament of Singapore is the legislature of Singapore with the President as its head [1]. It currently consists of 94 Members of Parliament. ...

As the Elections Department is not an independent body but a government body under the Prime Minister of Singapore, it allegedly gives the ruling party a free rein to decide polling districts and polling sites through electoral engineering, based on poll results in previous election. Opposition parties have alleged that this gave an unfair advantage to the ruling party and had affected the outcome in some electoral battles.^{[citation needed]} The most notable examples of such alleged gerrymandering are the dissolution of Cheng San GRC and Eunos GRC; both were controversially dissolved by the Elections Department and redistributed to other constituencies after the opposition parties gained ground there in previous elections. The Elections Department on Prinsep Link. ... The Prime Ministers Office is a small department which provides advice to a Prime Minister. ... Cheng San Group Representation Constituency (Simplified Chinese: 静山集选区) is a now defunct Group Representation Constituency in the north-eastern region in Singapore. ... Eunos Group Representation Constituency (Simplified Chinese: 友诺士选区) was a group representation constituency (GRC) in the north-eastern region of Singapore. ...

Gerrymandering in Latvia

In 1989 and 1990 elections, there were accusations of gerrymandering in favour of Popular Front of Latvia, consisting mostly of ethnic Latvians. For example, in 1990 the nearly-pure ethnic Latvian Ventspils district (about 0.6% of population) got 3 constituencies out of 201 (1.5%), with 2 of PFL candidates running unopposed^[21]. In 1991, most Russians were denied citizenship and therefore voting rights (their naturalization started in 1995), and in 1993 the country returned to proportional representation. The Popular Front of Latvia (Latvijas Tautas Fronte in Latvian) was a political organization in Latvia in late 1980s and early 1990s which lead Latvia to its independence from the Soviet Union. ... Ventspils District (Latvian: Ventspils rajons) is a district in Kurzemē. Categories: | ... Non-citizens or aliens (Latvian: ) in Latvian law are former USSR citizens residing in Latvia or temporarily residing abroad who lived and were permanently registered without any time limitations in the territory of Latvia before July 1, 1992 irrespective of the status of the residence specified on their official address...

Justification

Political right

Many politicians argue that because constituencies were to be made by politicians (such as the case in the United States and elsewhere), they have the right to manipulate it (so that it gives them an advantage). The voters will still be represented, and an unpopular incumbent may still be unseated.

Minority representation

Gerrymandering can be used to create districts that better represent certain minorities. Such districts exist commonly in the United States, particularly in California, Texas, and in the South.

See also

• History of 19th Century Congressional Apportionment In Ohio
• Representation
• Will Rogers phenomenon
• Election fraud

The redistricting of United States congressional districts is made by the legislatures of the states every 10 years, immediately following the official announcement of the federal census that serves as the basis of the apportionment. ... In politics, representation describes how residents of a country are empowered in the government. ... The Will Rogers phenomenon is the apparent paradox obtained when moving an element from one set to another set raises the average values of both sets. ... Electoral fraud is the deliberate interference with the process of an election. ...

References

This chart shows concisely the most common way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is applied to represent the English language. ... The Washington Monthly is a monthly magazine of United States politics and government that is based in Washington, DC. Its founder is Charles Peters, who started the magazine in 1969 and continues to write columns occasionally. ... WCPO - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... The Cable News Network, commonly known as CNN, is a major cable television network founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. ... Alex Au Wai Pang, equally well known by his electronic nom-de-plume as Yawning Bread, is regarded by many to be the founding father of the Singaporean struggle for gay equality. ...

External links

Look up gerrymander, gerrymandering in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Ending the Gerrymander in Chile: the constitutional reforms of 1988 — a case study from the ACE Project
• Alleged Gerrymandering in Malaysia: Over-representation of rural districts — an article from the ACE Project
• Alleged Gerrymandering in Singapore — an article from the ACE Project
• A handbook of electoral system Design from International IDEA
• Gerrymandering in the US
• Reapportionment and Redistricting in the US an article from the ACE Project
• Anti-Gerrymandering policy in Australia
• A collection of bizarre and unconstitutional districts from recent history, dedicated to Governor Eldridge Gerry.
• Beyond gerrymandering and Texas posses: US electoral reform
• Gerrymandering pages at the Center for Range Voting
• The CommonCensus Map Project — Draws internal US boundaries based on cultural affinities, not politics
• Egregious Cases an article from Mother Jones Magazine
• Crossed Lines a new film about gerrymandering.
• Gerryminder — An online redistricting simulation.
• A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787-1825
• The Redistricting Game - An online game designed to teach about Gerrymandering