Gerrymandering in the United States

Gerrymandering in the United States is the illegal practice of rearranging the boundaries of electoral districts in the United States, where it has been practiced since the founding of the country to strengthen the power of particular political interests within legislative bodies. Partisan gerrymandering is commonly used to increase the power of a political party. In some instances, political parties collude to protect incumbents by engaging in bipartisan gerrymandering.

After racial minorities were enfranchised, some jurisdictions engaged in racial gerrymandering to weaken the political power of racial minority voters, while others engaged in racial gerrymandering to strengthen the power of minority voters.

The process of redistricting electoral boundaries takes place in each state about every ten years, following the decennial census, and has always been regarded as a political exercise, which in most states is controlled by state legislators and the governor. When one party controls the state House, state Senate and the governor's office, they have, historically, done everything they can to advantage their side and disadvantage their political opponents.

Throughout the 20th century, courts have grappled with the legality of the various types of gerrymandering and have devised different standards for the different types of gerrymandering. Various legal and political remedies have been proposed to prevent gerrymandering, including court-ordered redistricting plans, redistricting commissions, and alternative voting systems that do not depend on drawing boundaries for single-member electoral districts.

In 2018, Gerrymandering was ruled unconstitutional. In January 2021, an independent government organisation redistricted the map, aiming to be unbiased.