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==== Gerrymandering ==== {{Main|Gerrymandering in the United States}} [[Gerrymandering]] is the practice of shaping the boundaries of [[electoral district]]s for partisan advantage—those boundaries being reviewed and usually changed after every [[United States census]], i.e. every ten years. Gerrymandering involves what's commonly called "cracking and packing". * "Cracking" is the process of moving the boundaries of districts to spreads opposition voters thinly enough across many districts so that they constitute a safe margin below 50%. Cracking spreads opposition voters thinly across many districts to dilute their power. * "Packing" is the process of concentrating opposition voters in one or more (but always a minority of) districts, to "waste" opposition votes.<ref name="Short-2018">{{cite news |last1=Short |first1=John Rennie |title=4 Reasons Gerrymandering Is Getting Worse |url=https://umbc.edu/stories/4-reasons-gerrymandering-is-getting-worse/ |access-date=September 27, 2022 |work=UMBC Magazine |date=29 October 2018}}</ref> Used almost since the founding of the United States (the term was coined in 1810 after a review of [[Massachusetts]]'s redistricting maps of 1812 set by Governor [[Elbridge Gerry]] noted that one of the districts looked like a [[salamander]]),<ref name="Short-2018"/> in the 21st century it has "become a much more effective tool".<ref name="Short-2018"/> Since 2010, detailed maps and high-speed computing have facilitated gerrymandering by political parties in the redistricting process, in order to gain control of state legislation and congressional representation and potentially to maintain that control over several decades, even against shifting political changes in a state's population. It allows the drawing of districts "with surgical precision".<ref name="Short-2018"/> According to Julia Kirschenbaum and Michael Li of the Brennan Center <blockquote>In 2010, Republicans—in an effort to control the drawing of congressional maps—forged a campaign to win majorities in as many state legislatures as possible. It was wildly successful, giving them control over the drawing of 213 congressional districts. The redrawing of maps that followed produced some of the most extreme gerrymanders in history. In battleground Pennsylvania, for example, the congressional map gave Republicans a virtual lock on 13 of the state's 18 congressional districts, even in elections where Democrats won the majority of the statewide congressional vote.<ref name="Kirschenbaum-12-8-21">{{cite web |last1=Li |first1=Michael |last2=Kirschenbaum |first2=Julia |title=Explainer. Gerrymandering Explained |url=https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/gerrymandering-explained |publisher=Brennan Center |access-date=September 27, 2022 |date=August 12, 2021}}</ref></blockquote> Attempts to appeal to the Supreme Court to disallow gerrymandering in cases such as ''Vieth v. Jubelirer'' in 2004 and its passing up of "numerous opportunities" in 2017 and 2018 "to decide upon the constitutional legality or illegality of gerrymandering" has "emboldened ever more partisan gerrymandering".<ref name="Short-2018"/> In addition to giving one party power beyond its popular support, gerrymandering has been criticized for weakening the political power of minority voters by concentrated them into district(s) (though this process can also help ensure the election of a representative of the same race).<ref name=":5" />
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