gerrymandering

     Gerrymandering is in the news today. Voting districts are being redrawn here in Philadelphia, and someone suspects at least potential gerrymandering. There are really two subjects here. The first is the reason for the census. We have a census every ten years because people move, die, and have children, who eventually become old enough to vote. Leaving the voting districts in the same place for decades (or centuries) can result in very unfair apportionment of representatives. The people who wrote our Constitution knew this, and provided for it with a census every ten years.  They knew from experience--England's system of representation became so corrupt that three people could elect a Member of Parliament (MP) in one district, and 50,000 in another district had no representation at all--that reapportioning representatives would be necessary. Every ten years, districts that lose population may also lose a representative in Congress. Districts that gain population may gain a representative. Districts may also be redrawn--be given different boundaries--to keep them even. If each representative has 500,000 constituents, for instance, the lines of voting districts may be redrawn so that 500,000 voters live in each one. Local government follows the same procedure, using the federal census data.  In this way we ensure that every vote "counts" the same. "One person, one vote" is always the goal to be achieved. If 100,000 people can elect a representative in one place, and 500,000 can elect a representative in another place, the district with 100,000 people has more than one vote per person, compared to the district with 500,000 people. Because we have a census every ten years, differences in population are not as large as in this example, but the principle is the same.
      Gerrymandering means drawing voting district lines irregularly--with the idea in mind that if one party or group draws the lines, they can arrange it so that their party wins more seats than they would if districts were drawn as simply as possible. This has usually meant that the party in power has tried to keep or extend its influence by gerrymandering--Republicans and  Democrats have each been accused of this at different times. In parts of the South, there have been accusations of racial gerrymandering--drawing voting district lines so that as many districts as possible would have a white voting majority.  Gerrymandering winds up in court when a person or party sues. The districts are a matter of public record, so once an accusation of gerrymandering is brought to court, the districts may be redrawn.