Verb gerrymandering urban districts to give rural voters a majority

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

But the voters who sued over the 2016 map said the new boundaries were still unlawful partisan gerrymanders that violated the state constitution. Washington Post, "Judges: New North Carolina Congress map will be used in 2020," 3 Dec. 2019

In September, a court ruled the state legislative maps were partisan gerrymanders and demanded that the legislature redraw them. NBC News, "In blow to North Carolina Democrats, court rules new GOP-drawn voting maps can be used for 2020," 2 Dec. 2019

The rulings come as courts have become increasingly focused on the issue of extreme partisan gerrymanders — maps that effectively doom political opponents to permanent underrepresentation. The New York Times, New York Times, "A Flurry of Courts Have Ruled on Election Maps. Here’s What They’ve Said.," 29 Jan. 2018

It cannot be overcome by getting rid of the filibuster or racist gerrymanders—neither of which have any basis in the Constitution—though both of these reforms would help. Corey Robin, The New York Review of Books, "The Tyranny of the Minority, from Iowa Caucus to Electoral College," 21 Feb. 2020

The Legislature designed the current maps in 2016 after a court declared the previous set, implemented in 2011, an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. Jane C. Timm, NBC News, "Gerrymandering fallout: GOP House seats at risk in N. Carolina when new maps are drawn," 3 Nov. 2019

So did Republican leaders in North Carolina’s State Legislature, who hired Mr. Hofeller in 2011 and 2017 to draw the maps that the state court on Tuesday struck down as a blatantly unconstitutional gerrymander. Michael Wines, New York Times, "The Battle Over the Files of a Gerrymandering Mastermind," 4 Sep. 2019

Common Cause, a government watchdog group, argued the map was a partisan gerrymander designed to keep Republicans in power. Melissa Quinn, CBS News, "Daughter of deceased GOP redistricting expert releases trove of documents," 6 Jan. 2020

The ruling is a blow to Democrats, who argued the map, passed along party lines by state lawmakers in November, was just another partisan gerrymander and an outside expert was needed to ensure fair voting maps. NBC News, "In blow to North Carolina Democrats, court rules new GOP-drawn voting maps can be used for 2020," 2 Dec. 2019

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

For years party leaders could gerrymander local voting districts so that incumbents faced less risk of losing. The Economist, "The will of the...whatever Political skulduggery in Missouri," 12 Sep. 2020

The Republican majority also drew legislative and congressional boundaries that are widely considered the most gerrymandered in the country. Reid J. Epstein, New York Times, "Why are Republicans fighting so hard to hold an election in the midst of a pandemic?," 7 Apr. 2020

Whichever party controls state legislatures after that vote will be in a prime position to gerrymander electoral districts in their favor and lock in political power for years to come. David G. Savage, latimes.com, "Partisan gerrymandering is upheld by Supreme Court," 27 June 2019

Neutral election monitors are muzzled; opposition candidates locked up; districts gerrymandered; constitutions altered; and, in extreme cases, legislatures emasculated. The Economist, "Lessons from the rise of strongmen in weak states," 14 June 2018

Despite voicing concerns about the dangers to democracy posed by gerrymandering in two redistricting hearings, Justice Kavanaugh anchored a 5-4 majority in Rucho v Common Cause to preserve extreme gerrymandering from constitutional objections. The Economist, "The Supreme Court wraps up its term, inching to the right," 4 July 2019

Both cases essentially laid out a three-part test for gerrymandering: partisan intent, partisan effect, and lack of neutral reason for the map. Jonathan Lai, Philly.com, "How the U.S. Supreme Court's partisan gerrymandering non-decisions affect Pa.," 18 June 2018

Though Republicans have thin majorities in a few states, like Colorado and Minnesota, the party is entrenched by gerrymandering across most of the Midwest and has long controlled Sun Belt prizes like Florida and Arizona. Alexander Burns And Alan Blinder, New York Times, "‘They Can’t Wait to Vote’: Energized Democrats Target Dominant G.O.P. in Statehouses," 3 Feb. 2018

The state legislature is so heavily gerrymandered that Republicans can win just under 50 percent of the vote and capture nearly two-thirds of the legislative seats. Matt Ford, The New Republic, "The Republican Plot Against Voting Turns Deadly," 5 Apr. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'gerrymander.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.