6.14 Redistricting criteria - the case of USA (federal rules - race and ethnicity)

Redistricting has been abused to dilute racial and ethnic minorities’ voice at the polls.

• One ploy is called “cracking”: splintering minority populations into small pieces across several districts, so that a big group ends up with a very little chance to impact any single election.

• Another tactic is called “packing”: pushing as many minority voters as possible into a few super-concentrated districts, and draining the population’s voting power from anywhere else.