gerrymandering

noun

ger·​ry·​man·​der·​ing ˈjer-ē-ˌman-d(ə-)riŋ 

 also  ˈger-;

 originally  ˈger-

: the practice of dividing or arranging a territorial unit into election districts in a way that gives one political party an unfair advantage in elections

To an untrained eye, the proposed boundaries look like the etchings of a mapmaker on heavy pharmaceuticals. In reality, it's a masterpiece of diabolical gerrymandering.

—Carl Hiaasen

Bipartisan gerrymandering following the 2000 reapportionment produced hundreds of safe Democratic seats, hundreds of safe Republican seats, and not much else.

—Peter Beinart

compare cracking, packing

Examples of gerrymandering in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

By limiting the ability of voters to challenge discriminatory voting laws and ending federal courts’ ability to hear partisan gerrymandering cases, the court has effectively disenfranchised millions of American voters. —Steven Delco, Hartford Courant, 1 Jan. 2025

Once federal troops left the South, influential white Mississippians, realizing that they were outnumbered by freedmen, got busy intimidating, killing, gerrymandering, and otherwise cheating their way back to absolute power. —Paige Williams, The New Yorker, 3 Nov. 2024

Dues is a former member of the Marine Corps who's campaigning to end gerrymandering and term limits for Congress, among other issues. —Alexandria Sands, Axios, 16 Sep. 2024

For example, some states have addressed partisan gerrymandering by appointing nonpartisan or balanced citizen or judicial panels to draw political boundaries. —Jenna Bednar, Foreign Affairs, 5 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

gerrymander entry 2 + -ing entry 1

First Known Use

1812, in the meaning defined above