Politicians gerrymander electoral districts to gain a political advantage. By manipulating the boundaries of the districts, politicians can concentrate the voting power of a particular group or dilute the power of opposing groups. This allows them to solidify their political control and increase the likelihood of winning elections.
state legislatures
Gerrymandering is all about keeping the status quo. It boils down to drawing the district lines in such a way that it keeps the EXISTING representative in power (or at least, that representative's party).
to increase their voting strength
to increase their voting strength
In the Canadian House of Commons, Ontario has 106 electoral districts. In total, there are 308 federal electoral districts in Canada.
The elected council plotted to gerrymander the electoral boundaries so as to maximize their chances of re-election.
There is 58 electoral districts in Manitoba
There are 87 electoral districts in British Columbia.
There are 308 electoral districts in Canada, at a federal level.
State Legislators
Electoral districts (or "ridings") are the areas from which members of the House of Commons are elected, and for which those members are responsible for representing. There are currently 308 electoral districts. The number and boundaries of electoral districts are revisited and revised every ten (10) years.See Related Links for the most recent set-up of electoral districts.
A gerrymander is an oddly shaped district design to increase the voting strength of a particular party. The name comes from salamander-shaped districts drawn up the influence of one Elbridge Gerry , a governor of Massachusetts. As a verb it means to draw up gerrymander districts. Gerrymandering tends to occur after each census which changes the number of Congressional districts in a state. States also need to change their own legislative distrcts from to time to time due to shifts in population and the new districts may be gerrymandered to help the party in power. The idea is to study past voting records and create as many districts as possible with a slight but solid majority for the controling party. It may be necessary to have some "lost" districts to which as many opposing voters as possible are placed.