reapportionment and redistricting

packing

concentrating voters of the opposing party in a district in order to reduce their numbers in other districts

texas gerrymandering 2002

democrats won 17/32 congressional seats although texans voted 53% R; 2003- republicans redistricted mid-decade

cracking

drawing boundary lines to split up voters of the opposing party in order to minimize their vote in distritcs

2014 midterms

low turnout is good for Republicans bc their base=more reliable voters than democrats although the democratic base is wider

trend over last 30 years

north loses seats while south and west gain seats (south=more power because more votes)

hijacking

redrawing boundary lines in order to take two incumbents from the same party in one district

kidnapping

redrawing boundary lines to place an opponent's home in a different district with different constituents

redistricting

redrawing the boundaries of the congressional districts in a state to meet the new reapportionment

result of texas gerrymandering

republicans held 21/32 seats instead of 15

what is gerrymandering responsible for?

so many safe districts across the country and for creating congressional districts that skew election results

who does redistricting?

state legislature (parties stick together so that the majority party in that state wins and draws boundaries to satisfy its desires)

reapportionment

the number of congressional districts a state has is redetermined

gerymandering

when redistricting is done in such a way to benefit the majority party in that state kegislature