gerrymander
Manipulate voting districts
Gerrymander is to manipulate the boundaries of electoral districts to favor one party or group over another.
The practice involves drawing oddly shaped districts that concentrate or disperse voters strategically: The state legislature gerrymandered districts to protect incumbents.
As a noun, a gerrymander is such a district or the act of creating one.
The word comes from Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry, whose 1812 redistricting produced a district shaped like a salamander.
Redrawing electoral boundaries
- apportionmentDivision into shares
- reapportionmentRedistributing legislative seats
- precinctAdministrative jurisdiction zone
- constituencyElectoral district's voters
census · demographics · mapping · zoning · boundaries · redraw · cartography · demarcation
Twisted unnaturally
- serpentineCurving in repeated bends
- jaggedSharply uneven, notched
- irregularDeviating from normal patterns
- bizarreStrikingly unconventional
convoluted · snaking · tentacle · sprawling · misshapen · tortured · unnatural
Current position holder
- bipartisanInvolving both major parties
- legislatureLawmaking governmental branch
- caucusParty selection meeting
- polarizationSeparation into opposing extremes
Equipment arrangement or vehicle
- skewTwist from straight
- distortTwist from original form
- engineerTechnical design professional
- maneuverDeliberate tactical movement
warp · misrepresent · tamper · reshape · dilute · pack · crack · stack
Methods to achieve goals
- schemeCalculated strategy, often secretive
- ployCalculated deceptive tactic
- cunningSly, scheming cleverness
- subterfugeDeliberate deception to conceal
calculation · chess · gamesmanship · maneuvering · counterplay · loophole · exploitation · entrenchment
redistricting
Redrawing electoral boundaries
- apportionmentDivision into shares
- reapportionmentRedistributing legislative seats
- precinctAdministrative jurisdiction zone
constituency · census · demographics · mapping · zoning · boundaries · redraw · cartography · demarcation · partitioning
contorted
Twisted unnaturally
- serpentineCurving in repeated bends
- jaggedSharply uneven, notched
- irregularDeviating from normal patterns
bizarre · convoluted · snaking · tentacle · sprawling · misshapen · tortured · unnatural
incumbent
Current position holder
- bipartisanInvolving both major parties
- legislatureLawmaking governmental branch
- caucusParty selection meeting
polarization · entrenchment · disenfranchisement · one-party · stronghold
rig
Equipment arrangement or vehicle
maneuver · warp · misrepresent · tamper · reshape · dilute · pack · crack · stack · hijack
tactics
Methods to achieve goals
- schemeCalculated strategy, often secretive
- ployCalculated deceptive tactic
- cunningSly, scheming cleverness
subterfuge · calculation · chess · gamesmanship · maneuvering · counterplay · loophole · exploitation · entrenchment
- politicsdemocracy, campaigning, campaigns, democrats, bill
- U.S. PoliticsCongress, senator, representative, president, vice president
- governance verbsgovern, rule, reign, legislate, regulate
- political buzzwordswoke, wokeness, virtue signaling, virtue signal, dog whistle
- electionsballot, ballots, voter registration, candidates, polls
- governmentgovernment, ministries, legislature, judiciary, executive branch
gerrymanderequal representation
Balanced voice in governance
proportional representation · electoral integrity · voting rights · enfranchisement · representative democracy
- racial gerrymanderingManipulating boundaries by ethnicity
gerrymandering, gerrymanderer, gerrymanders, gerrymandered, gerrymanderers