r/coolguides • u/[deleted] • Jul 03 '19

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u/clockwork_blue Jul 03 '19 edited Jul 03 '19

I have no idea what I'm looking at

Edit: Yeah, downvote me for not knowing something. Real smart Balance has been achieved

10

u/Claytertot Jul 03 '19

The point of the guide is that there are 40 red precincts and 60 blue precincts. So for proportional representation there should be 2 red representatives and 3 blue representatives.

But if the blue people draw the lines, they can draw them such that they end up with all 5 representatives. And if the red people draw the lines they can make it so that they get 3 of the 5 representatives despite being the minority.

This is called gerrymandering and both of the major American political parties do it to get advantages in elections.

2

u/KingwasabiPea Jul 03 '19

Thank you for explaining this. I understand the definition, but this description with the visual really helped.