AMER GOV

Gerrymandering is a political practice that dates back to the founding of the United States. Redistricting is critical to our democracy because communities change: maps must be redrawn to guarantee that districts are equitably populated, conform with regulations such as the Voting Rights Act, and are otherwise representative of a state's population. Most gerrymandering attempts can be best understood by looking at two basic techniques: cracking and packing. Cracking divides groups of people with similar characteristics across numerous districts, such as voters from the same political party. The opposite of cracking is packing: map makers load as many voters as possible into as few districts as feasible. I believe the nonpartisan commissions will result in more democratic, competitive, and less partisan legislative districts.