What Does Gerrymandering Mean?

Gerrymandering is a practice intended to establish an arguably unfair political advantage for a particular party or group by manipulating the boundaries of electoral districts, which is most commonly used in first-past-the-post electoral systems.

What is gerrymandering in simple terms?

Gerrymandering is when a political group tries to change a voting district to create a result that helps them or hurts the group who is against them. ... It puts more votes of winners into the district they will win so the losers win in another district.

How did the term gerrymandering get its name?

“Gerrymandering” was named for Elbridge Gerry, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. As Governor of Massachusetts (1810–1812), Gerry approved a redistricting plan for the state senate that gave the political advantage to Republicans.