Gerrymandering
The deliberate drawing of electoral district boundaries to favor one political party at the expense of another.
Gerrymandering takes two main forms: *cracking* (splitting an opposing party's voters across many districts so they win none) and *packing* (concentrating opposing-party voters into one district so the rest tilt your way). The term comes from an 1812 Massachusetts district shaped like a salamander, signed by Governor Elbridge Gerry. Modern partisan gerrymandering uses block-level voter data and computer modeling that can produce nearly-unbeatable district maps. Courts have ruled against the most extreme racial gerrymanders but largely declined to police partisan ones at the federal level. See also: voter suppression, redistricting.