The process of redrawing electoral district boundaries, typically done every 10 years following the census.

Concentrating as many voters of the opposing party into a single district to reduce their influence in surrounding districts.

Spreading like-minded voters (often the opposition party) across multiple districts to dilute their voting power, preventing them from achieving a majority in any of them.

A legislative district where the incumbent or favored party has a guaranteed victory, often a result of packing.

Partisan Gerrymandering

Drawing district lines to maximize the number of seats a political party can win.

Majority-Minority District

A district where a minority group is the numerical majority, often required by the Voting Rights Act but sometimes used in "racial gerrymandering" to pack minority voters.

Drawing districts with significantly unequal populations, which is unconstitutional ("one person, one vote" principle).

Judiciability of Baker v Carr

The Supreme Court ruled that while some issues are purely political, challenges to redistricting based on Constitutional rights (like Equal Protection) are proper matters for judicial review.

Addressed whether Tennessee’s failure to reapportion its legislature since 1901, despite massive population shifts, violated the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause. The Supreme Court ruled that redistricting is a justiciable issue, not a "political question," allowing federal courts to review inequalities in voting power.

1993 Shaw v Reno Holding

Centered on whether a North Carolina congressional district, drawn specifically to create a Black-majority, violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. The Supreme Court ruled 5–4 that redistricting based on race must be held to "strict scrutiny," finding that bizarrely shaped, race-conscious districts can constitute unconstitutional racial gerrymandering.

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Gerrymandering

Term	Definition
Redistricting	The process of redrawing electoral district boundaries, typically done every 10 years following the census.
Packing	Concentrating as many voters of the opposing party into a single district to reduce their influence in surrounding districts.
Cracking	Spreading like-minded voters (often the opposition party) across multiple districts to dilute their voting power, preventing them from achieving a majority in any of them.
Safe Seat	A legislative district where the incumbent or favored party has a guaranteed victory, often a result of packing.
Partisan Gerrymandering	Drawing district lines to maximize the number of seats a political party can win.
Majority-Minority District	A district where a minority group is the numerical majority, often required by the Voting Rights Act but sometimes used in "racial gerrymandering" to pack minority voters.
Malapportionment	Drawing districts with significantly unequal populations, which is unconstitutional ("one person, one vote" principle).
Judiciability of Baker v Carr	The Supreme Court ruled that while some issues are purely political, challenges to redistricting based on Constitutional rights (like Equal Protection) are proper matters for judicial review.
1962 Baker v Carr	Addressed whether Tennessee’s failure to reapportion its legislature since 1901, despite massive population shifts, violated the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause. The Supreme Court ruled that redistricting is a justiciable issue, not a "political question," allowing federal courts to review inequalities in voting power.
1993 Shaw v Reno Holding	Centered on whether a North Carolina congressional district, drawn specifically to create a Black-majority, violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. The Supreme Court ruled 5–4 that redistricting based on race must be held to "strict scrutiny," finding that bizarrely shaped, race-conscious districts can constitute unconstitutional racial gerrymandering.

Created by: Lynn Pritt

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