Ace Political Geography 2026 - Map Your Way to Success!

Gerrymandering is the political practice of drawing electoral district boundaries to favor one party. It aims to maximize that party’s share of seats rather than reflect equal representation, often by manipulating shapes to dilute or concentrate voters. The term comes from a historic incident where a district designed by a state politician resembled a salamander. Two common tactics are packing—cramming the opposing party’s voters into a few districts so they win big there but lose elsewhere— and cracking—dividing them across many districts to dilute their impact. Redistricting itself is the broader process of redrawing boundaries to account for population changes; when done with the intent to advantage a party, it becomes gerrymandering. Some places try to curb it with independent commissions or legal constraints to promote fairer maps.