The common misconception — even President Obama has fallen prey to this error — is to assume that gerrymandering allows parties to engineer safe districts for their incumbents, ensuring easy reelection. But the exact opposite is true. Redistricting’s real purpose is engineering safe districts for your opponent — to pack as many of them into as few districts as possible.

Question

The common misconception — even President Obama has fallen prey to this error — is to assume that gerrymandering allows parties to engineer safe districts for their incumbents, ensuring easy reelection. But the exact opposite is true. Redistricting’s real purpose is engineering safe districts for your opponent — to pack as many of them into as few districts as possible.

QUESTION 2
10 points

"Redistricting's real purpose is engineering safe districts for your opponent -- to pack as many of them into as few districts as possible."

Based on what you've read so far, explain what this quote means.

Answer must be in prek

Answer 1

This quote means that the purpose of redistricting is not to create safe districts for one's own party, but rather to strategically design districts that will favor the opposing party. The goal is to concentrate as many supporters of the opposing party as possible in a few districts, allowing the other party to have an advantage in the remaining districts. This strategy reduces the chances of the incumbent party winning those districts and ensures that the opposing party has a higher chance of winning more seats.