noun

gerrymandering

JERR-ee-man-duh-ring

Gerrymandering (noun) means the practice of drawing the boundaries of voting districts in a deliberately lopsided way so that one party or group wins more seats than its share of the vote would justify. Example: “Critics say the new map is blatant gerrymandering designed to lock in a majority for a decade.”

noun

The practice of drawing the boundaries of voting districts in a deliberately lopsided way so that one party or group wins more seats than its share of the vote would justify.

"Critics say the new map is blatant gerrymandering designed to lock in a majority for a decade."

"The court struck down three districts on the grounds of racial gerrymandering."

How to Use Gerrymandering

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishRedrawing election map lines so your side wins more seats.

When to use it

Always disapproving. The neutral term for the process itself is redistricting, or boundary review in British usage.

Memory tip

The verb is gerrymander, and it is pronounced with a soft g even though Elbridge Gerry's name had a hard one.

Trace the full origin ↓

Easily confused with

redistricting malapportionment

Common pairings

partisan gerrymandering racial gerrymandering gerrymandering the map accused of gerrymandering

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Critics say the new map is blatant _____ designed to lock in a majority for a decade.

Etymology

A blend of the surname of Elbridge Gerry, governor of Massachusetts, and salamander, after a contorted electoral district approved under him in 1812 that was said to resemble the animal.

Origin: English

Synonyms

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boundary rigging vote rigging electoral manipulation

Rhymes for gerrymandering

peering tapering lowering covering offering entering altering cheering steering uttering ordering towering

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between gerrymandering and redistricting?

Redistricting is the routine, lawful redrawing of electoral boundaries, usually after a census, to keep populations even. Gerrymandering is redistricting done to secure a partisan or racial advantage. Every gerrymander is a redistricting, but not every redistricting is a gerrymander.

What are packing and cracking?

They are the two standard gerrymandering techniques. Packing crams as many of the opposing side's voters as possible into a handful of districts so their votes are wasted on huge wins. Cracking splits a bloc of them thinly across many districts so they are outnumbered everywhere.

Does gerrymandering happen outside the United States?

The word and most of the controversy are American, because there elected politicians often draw the maps. Many other democracies, including the UK, Canada and Australia, hand boundary-setting to independent commissions, which makes deliberate gerrymandering much harder.