What is Gerrymandering?
Pop Quiz: Can you name the 9th governor of Massachusetts?
We’re guessing you knew it was Elbridge Gerry (pronounced “Gary”). Gerry’s best known for signing an 1812 law that created an oddly shaped district map to politically benefit his Democratic-Republican Party. The districts were so distorted they resembled a salamander (see picture), prompting a local newspaper to coin the term Gerry-mandering.
And here we are 200 years later, mispronouncing Elbridge’s last name every time we use the term “gerrymandering.”
So what is it?
It’s the act of manipulating district maps for political gain. Let us explain.
Every decade, there’s a census to determine how many representatives each state will have in the U.S. House of Representatives. Each state that is allotted more than one representative is then tasked with dividing itself into districts of roughly equal populations; constituents of each district then elect one of their own to represent them in Congress.
Where those district lines are drawn matters, and any effort to draw district lines in a way that favors one political party over another is called “gerrymandering.”
Give some examples. How does one “gerrymander?”
The art of political origami can be done in a few aggressively-named ways:
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Cracking: spreading a particular type of voter among many districts, preventing them from having a majority in the districts
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Packing: packing a large number of similar voters together into a single district to limit their influence on other districts
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Hijacking: merging two districts and forcing the incumbents to face off
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Kidnapping: moving an incumbent’s address to another district to make their reelection harder
Here’s a nice graphic. See if you can see which districts have been cracked and packed.
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ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE
Our hope is never contingent on a political outcome; it’s much more secure than that. Regardless of whether things get worse or better during your lifetime, everything eventually ends well for followers of Christ.
“The life of every living thing is in his hand, as well as the breath of all humanity.”
Job 12:10 (CSB) (read full passage)
