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Redistricting
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==Gerrymandering== {{main|Gerrymandering in the United States}} [[Gerrymandering]], the practice of drawing district boundaries to achieve political advantage for legislators, involves the manipulation of district boundaries to leave out, or include, specific populations in a particular district to ensure a legislator's reelection or to advantage their party. In states where the legislature (or another body where a partisan majority is possible) is in charge of redistricting, the possibility of gerrymandering (the deliberate manipulation of political boundaries for electoral advantage, usually of [[incumbent]]s or a specific [[political party]]) often makes the process very politically contentious, especially when the majorities of the two houses of the legislature, or the legislature and the governor, are from different parties. Partisan domination of state legislatures and improved technology to design contiguous districts that pack opponents into as few districts as possible have led to district maps which are skewed towards one party. Consequently, many states including [[Florida]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], [[Maryland]], [[Michigan]], [[North Carolina]], [[Ohio]], [[Pennsylvania]], [[Texas]] and [[Wisconsin]] have succeeded in reducing or effectively eliminating competition for most House seats in those states.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Rakich|first=Ryan Best, Aaron Bycoffe and Nathaniel|date=2021-08-09|title=What Redistricting Looks Like In Every State|url=https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/redistricting-2022-maps/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210809100425/https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/redistricting-2022-maps/|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 9, 2021|access-date=2021-11-09|website=[[FiveThirtyEight]]|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Wilkes|first=Mackenzie|date=2021-10-26|title=Americans Don't Trust Their Congressional Maps To Be Drawn Fairly. Can Anything Change That?|url=https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/americans-dont-trust-their-congressional-maps-to-be-drawn-fairly-can-anything-change-that/|access-date=2021-11-09|website=[[FiveThirtyEight]]|language=en-US}}</ref> Some states, including [[New Jersey]] and [[New York (state)|New York]], protect incumbents of both parties, reducing the number of competitive districts.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Astor|first=Maggie|date=2021-09-16|title=Where Redistricting Stands in 14 States|language=en-US|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/16/us/politics/redistricting-gerrymandering.html|access-date=2021-11-10|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The state and federal court systems are often involved in resolving disputes over congressional and legislative redistricting when gridlock prevents redistricting in a timely manner. In addition, those disadvantaged by a proposed redistricting plan may challenge it in state and federal courts. [[United States Department of Justice|Justice Department]] approval (which is known as pre-clearance) was formerly required under Section 5 of the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]] in certain states that have had a history of racial barriers to voting. The Supreme Court's ruling on the Pennsylvania redistricting effectively allows elected officials to select their constituents by eliminating most of the grounds for constituents to challenge district lines.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/02-1580.ZS.html |title=Vieth v. Jubelirer |publisher=supct.law.cornell.edu |access-date=2009-08-25}}</ref>
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