Editing Gerrymandering (section)

===France===
France is one of the few countries to let legislatures redraw the map with no check.<ref>Balinski & Baïou (2002), ''Découpage électoral'', Pour la science</ref> In practice, the [[Parliament of France]] sets up an executive commission. Districts called ''[[arrondissement]]s'' were used in the [[French Third Republic|Third Republic]] and under the [[French Fifth Republic|Fifth Republic]] they are called ''circonscriptions''. During the Third Republic, some reforms of arrondissements, which were also used for administrative purposes, were largely suspected to have been arranged to favor the [[kingmaker]] in the [[National Assembly (France)|National Assembly]], the [[Radical Party (France)|Radical Party]].

The dissolution of [[Seine (department)|Seine]] and [[Seine-et-Oise]] départements by [[de Gaulle]] was seen as a case of gerrymandering to counter communist influence around Paris.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://21maps.com/quand-la-politique-decoupe-la-geographie|title=Quand la politique découpe la géographie • 21Maps|date=15 March 2018|website=21maps.com}}</ref>

In the modern regime, there were three designs: in 1958 (regime change), 1987 (by [[Charles Pasqua]]) and 2010 (by [[Alain Marleix]]), three times by conservative governments. Pasqua's drawing was known to have been particularly good at gerrymandering, resulting in 80% of the seats with 58% of the vote in [[1993 French legislative election|1993]], and forcing Socialists [[1997 French legislative election|in the 1997 snap election]] to enact multiple pacts with smaller parties in order to win again, this time as a coalition. In 2010, the Sarkozy government created 12 districts for expats.

The [[Conseil Constitutionnel|Constitutional council]] was called twice by the opposition to decide about gerrymandering, but it never considered partisan disproportions. However, it forced the Marleix committee to respect an 80–120% population ratio, ending a tradition dating back to the Revolution in which ''départements'', however small in population, would send at least two MPs.

{{Multiple image|total_width = 400
|image1=Circonscriptions nouvelle caledonie 1.svg
|image2=Résultats par commune référendum Nouvelle Calédonie 2020.png
|footer=On the left-hand side, the ''circonscriptions''; the [[2020 New Caledonian independence referendum|2020 independence referendum]] map on the right.
}}
The constituencies in [[New Caledonia]] are accused of being adjusted to ensure a loyalist win. The [[New Caledonia's 1st constituency|1st constituency]] combines the [[Loyalty Islands]] (a separatist province)<ref name=RNZ>{{cite web|url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/517954/emmanuel-macron-s-gamble-on-new-caledonia-s-crisis|title=Emmanuel Macron's gamble on New Caledonia's crisis|date=28 May 2024|access-date=3 September 2024|author=Patrick Decloitre|work=[[Radio New Zealand]]}}</ref> with the capital [[Noumea]], while the [[New Caledonia's 2nd constituency|2nd constituency]] combines the rural separatist-dominated [[North Province, New Caledonia|North Province]]<ref name=RNZ/> with most of the [[South Province, New Caledonia|South Province]].<ref name=IB>{{cite web|url=https://islandsbusiness.com/news-break/tjibaou-and-metzdorf-win-new-caledonias-seats-in-french-national-assembly/|title= Tjibaou and Metzdorf win New Caledonia's seats in French National Assembly|author=Nic Maclellan|date=July 8, 2024|access-date=3 September 2024|work=[[Islands Business]]}}</ref> There had been no separatist deputy from the [[1986 French legislative election|1986]] to the [[2024 French legislative election|2024]] election with the victory of [[Emmanuel Tjibaou]].<ref name=IB/>

In the [[1998 French regional elections|1998 regional election]], the [[Savoyan League]] won one seat but it could not run for re-election in 2004 because they now had to propose lists in every departments of [[Rhône-Alpes]].<ref name="Faucigny 2012">{{cite news|first=Patrick-Alain|last=Bertoni|url=http://www.pour-la-savoie.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/2012.10.21-LS-LE-POISON-DE-LA-DIVISION.pdf|title=Ligue savoisienne, congrès du Bois : "Le poison de la division" rendu responsable de sa soustraction du paysage politique|work=[[Le Faucigny]]|date=1 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211201012620/http://www.pour-la-savoie.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/2012.10.21-LS-LE-POISON-DE-LA-DIVISION.pdf#federation=archive.wikiwix.com&tab=url|archive-date=1 December 2021|access-date=2 May 2025|url-status=bot: unknown}}</ref>