CONGRESS AND THE PEOPLE| 265Such attempts to use the redistricting process for political advantage are called
gerrymandering. The term is named after Elbridge Gerry, an early Massa-
chusetts House member and governor, vice president under James Madison, and
author of one of the original partisan redistricting plans (including a district with
a thin, winding shape resembling a salamander). In addition to the partisan gerry-
manders discussed above, Nuts and Bolts 9.1 describes several other types.
RACIAL REDISTRICTING
R ed istr icti ng may y ield bou nda r ies t hat look h ig h ly u nusua l, especia l ly when such
eff orts address population groups based on race. During the 1992 redistricting in
North Carolina, the Justice Department told state legislators that they needed to
create two districts with majority populations of minority voters (called majority-
minority districts). Figure 9.3 shows the plan they enacted, in which the district
boundaries look like a pattern of spider webs and ink blots. Moreover, one of the
districts had parts that ended up being only as wide as Interstate I-85, following
the highway off an exit ramp, over a bridge, and down the entrance ramp on the
other side. This move prevented the I-85 district from bisecting the district it was
traveling through, which would have violated the state law requiring contiguous
districts.
The North Carolina example shows how convoluted redistricting plans can
become. Part of the complexity is due to the availability of census databases
that enable line-drawers to divide voters as closely as they want, moving neigh-
borhood by neighborhood, even house by house. Why bother with this level of
detail? Because redistricting infl uences who gets elected; it is active politicking
in its most fundamental form. The North Carolina plan was ultimately declared
unconstitutional by the Supreme Court—a ruling that opened the door for dozens
TYPES OF GERRYMANDERS
Partisan gerrymanders: Elected offi cials from one party draw district lines that benefi t candidates from their party and hurt
candidates from other parties. This usually occurs when one party has majorities in both houses of the state legislature and
occupies the governorship, and can therefore enact redistricting legislation without votes from the minority party.
Incumbent gerrymanders: Lines are drawn to benefi t the current group of incumbents. This usually occurs when control of
state government is divided between parties and support from both parties is required to enact a districting plan, or when
plans must be approved by judges or bipartisan panels.
Racial gerrymanders: Redistricting is used to help or hurt the chances of minority legislative candidates. The Voting Rights
Act (VRA) of 1965 mandated that districting plans for many parts of the South be approved by the U.S. Department of Justice
or a Washington, D.C., district court. Subsequent interpretation of the 1982 VRA amendments and Supreme Court decisions
led to the creation of districts in which racial minorities are in the majority. The original aim of these majority-minority
districts was to raise the percentage of African American and Latino elected offi cials. However, Republicans in some
southern states have used this requirement to enact plans that elect minorities (who tend to be Democrats) in some
districts but favor Republicans in adjoining districts.
Candidate gerrymanders: District plans that favor certain individuals, particularly state legislators planning to run for
the U.S. House. For example, a Republican state legislator would want to construct a congressional district with a high
percentage of Republican voters and as many of his current constituents as possible.
NUTS & bolts
9.1
gerrymandering Attempting
to use the process of redrawing
district boundaries to benefi t a
political party, protect incumbents,
or change the proportion of minority
voters in a district.