Gerrymandering is the practice of manipulating electoral district boundaries to favor one political party or group over another.

Redistricting is the process of adjusting electoral district boundaries to reflect population changes, ensure fair representation of different groups in government, and create more competitive electoral districts.

The two main types of gerrymandering are packing and cracking. Packing involves concentrating voters of one party into a small number of districts, while cracking involves dividing voters of one party among multiple districts.

Packing is a type of gerrymandering that involves concentrating voters of one party into a small number of districts.

Cracking is a type of gerrymandering that involves dividing voters of one party among multiple districts.

Gerrymandering can have a number of negative consequences, including reduced competitiveness of elections, increased polarization of the electorate, and disenfranchisement of minority voters.

Gerrymandering has been challenged in court under a number of legal theories, including the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the First Amendment.

In a 2019 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that gerrymandering is constitutional only in certain circumstances. The Court held that gerrymandering is unconstitutional if it is based on race or if it is so extreme that it violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

A number of reforms have been proposed to address gerrymandering, including independent redistricting commissions, ranked-choice voting, and proportional representation.

An independent redistricting commission is a commission composed of nonpartisan experts who are responsible for drawing electoral district boundaries.

Independent redistricting commissions have a number of advantages over traditional redistricting commissions, including that they are less likely to be influenced by partisan considerations, they are more likely to draw fair and competitive electoral districts, and they are more transparent and accountable to the public.

Independent redistricting commissions have a number of disadvantages, including that they can be expensive to establish and operate, they can be difficult to appoint members who are truly nonpartisan, and they can be subject to legal challenges.

Ranked-choice voting is a voting system in which voters rank candidates in order of preference.

Ranked-choice voting has a number of advantages over traditional voting systems, including that it reduces the likelihood of spoiler candidates, it increases the likelihood of majority-supported winners, and it makes it easier for third-party candidates to win elections.

Ranked-choice voting has a number of disadvantages, including that it can be more complex for voters to understand, it can be more difficult to count votes, and it can be more expensive to administer elections.