At the end of the Civil War, the main question facing the Divided States of America was what would become of the nearly 4 million formerly enslaved Africans.

One thing was certain: Palpable fear hung over the defeated South. The obvious fear was that these newly freed Americans would violently seek retribution against their enslavers. However, this was far from the case. The newly freed simply wanted what was promised to America: Unalienable rights, including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. These unalienable rights included the right to vote. Given that voting rights were limited to land-owning White men, this seemed like a dream deferred. However, with the enactment of the 15th Amendment in 1870, which barred southern states from discriminating in voting on the basis of race, it seemed that progress may be made.

However, this was not the case; to circumvent the law, steps were taken to suppress the Black vote. Because violence remained part of the southern DNA, southern trees continued to bear strange fruit as lynching became a regional pastime. The tenets of Jim Crow would also be implemented. In addition to lynching, other tactics, such as literacy tests and poll taxes, were used. Another technique that would make its way down from the North was “Gerrymandering.”

In its simplest terms, gerrymandering is when politicians choose the voters rather than the voters choosing them. The U.S. Census is conducted every 10 years, and during that period state legislatures must redraw electoral districts to reflect the population changes identified by the Census. But because state legislatures are partisan bodies, those electoral districts are frequently drawn with the interests of the state legislature’s majority party in mind.

It is commonly held that Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry is responsible for gerrymandering. In 1812, Gerry implemented a redistricting map (bill) that sought to enhance the fortunes of his political party. When an illustration of his proposed map was printed in the local newspaper, it was said to closely resemble a snake. Some said it resembled a salamander. Thus, when combined with the governor’s last name and the salamander likeness, we got the word “gerrymander.”

Although Gerry’s name is famously associated with this technique, Patrick Henry is known to have been the first to manipulate voting districts in Virginia in 1812. So how exactly is gerrymandering achieved? Three main techniques are used, often in combination:

Incumbents and challengers

Drawing maps that separate incumbents in the opposition party from their base and place them in less favorable districts for their candidacy. This, in essence, prevents a challenger from running against the favored incumbent or candidate of the party in charge, or it “double-bunks” two of the opposition party’s incumbents into a single district, ensuring that at least one will be eliminated.

• Double-Bunking: Drawing the physical homes of two opposition-party incumbents into a single district. Because two representatives cannot hold the same seat, one is guaranteed to be eliminated.
• Base Stripping: Shifting an incumbent’s established voter base into an adjacent district, placing them in a newly drawn district where they lack name recognition and established support.
• Challenger Stifling: Altering lines to prevent a promising, rising challenger (such as a popular state legislator) from running against an established, favored incumbent.

Cracking

Spreading opposition voters thin across multiple districts is called cracking. With their electoral strength divided, fragmented groups struggle to elect their preferred candidates in any district because they represent too small a share of the electorate to be effective. Thus, the party that draws the map guarantees it maintains a safe majority. The intent is to give the party in charge a majority in as many districts as possible.

Packing

The opposite of cracking. With packing, map drawers place as many members of disfavored groups or parties as possible into as few districts as possible. The packed groups can elect their preferred candidates by overwhelming margins, but their voting strength is weakened elsewhere. While the opposition is guaranteed to win this single, hyper-concentrated district, their votes are “wasted” because they cannot influence the outcomes of surrounding districts.

Packing works best where there is a large geographic concentration of the opposing party’s voters, for example, in areas with high concentrations of minority voters who generally support a particular party.

So, there you have it, a brief primer on gerrymandering. Why is this consequential now? Consider the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which was designed to enforce the 15th Amendment and prevent racial discrimination in voting by dismantling Jim Crow-era restrictions and establishing federal oversight in jurisdictions with histories of voter suppression.

Attacking

Only 61 years after the passage of this landmark legislation, the most powerful tool against racial discrimination in voting is again under attack. The Supreme Court’s April 2026 ruling on Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act severely weakened the law. The decision, decided along partisan lines, made it far more difficult to challenge gerrymandered voting maps by requiring proof of intentional discrimination and imposing stricter criteria for creating majority-minority districts.

Immediately after this Supreme Court decision, states began enacting legislation that would significantly alter voting districts. Unsurprisingly, Black voting districts were and will be most affected. Despite this country having moved forward for nearly 250 years, it seems that in 2026 democracy is headed in reverse on moral and ethical grounds.

However, the things that matter most are still worth fighting for. The right to vote and to be seen, heard, and represented is certainly worth the fight. We must resist the urge to think our vote doesn’t matter. It does, despite gerrymandering. If your vote didn’t matter, measures wouldn’t be taken to suppress it. Others know it matters, and we should never forget it.

Vote!!