Name:______________________________________________ Date:______________________________
Gerrymandering Packet
Common Core Objectives:
R.H.9-10.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social, or economic
aspects of history/social science.
R.H.9-10.9: Integration of Knowledge and Ideas: Compare and contrast treatments of the same topic in several primary and secondary sources.
Illinois Civics Standards:
SS.CV.3.9-12: Analyze the impact of constitutions, laws, and agreements on the maintenance of order, justice, equality and liberty.
SS.CV.8.9-12: Analyze how individuals use and challenge laws to address a variety of public issues.
Steps to Follow:
Day 1
1-Read the article aloud with your group by alternating sections.
2-Using context clues and each other’s knowledge, define or identify synonyms of words that are followed by a
“(________________________)” in the blank space.
3-Complete the Summarizing Key Concepts Graphic Organizer. (This is homework if not completed in class).
Day 2
1-Read the sources aloud with your group by alternating sections.
2-Answer the questions on the sources, using sentences where noted.
3-Write a paragraph analyzing how individuals use and challenge laws to address the issue of gerrymandering.
Rigging Elections, the Legal Way (The Week, May 27, 2016)
Political parties use gerrymandering to give themselves a big edge on Election Day. Here's everything you need to know:
What is gerrymandering?
It's a tactic used by political parties to redraw voting districts to give themselves an electoral advantage. Whether
Republicans or Democrats control the process in a given state, the trick is to create irregularly shaped districts that
segregate (______________________________________________) as many of the opposition's
(___________________________________) supporters as possible into a small handful of seats — leaving their own
candidates with a much better chance of winning everywhere else. To simplify, in a state with 100,000 Democratic and
100,000 Republican voters and six districts, a GOP legislature would group 80,000 Democrats into two districts. That would
leave just 20,000 Democrats spread over the other four districts, which the GOP could then easily win. This process has left
most states with oddly shaped districts, often with strips of land jutting out in several directions. It's perfectly legal, unless it
can be proved that districts are deliberately drawn to disenfranchise (___________________________________________)
minorities — a practice outlawed (____________________________________________) by the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
Is this a new strategy?
No. The word gerrymander comes from a salamander-shaped district in Massachusetts, redrawn that way in 1812 by thenGov. Elbridge Gerry. But computerized voter-registration rolls have made the practice far more sophisticated, widespread,
and effective. In the 2012 election, Republicans won 1.4 million fewer votes than Democrats, but still secured a dominant,
234-201 House majority. A frustrated President Obama raised the issue in his State of the Union address this year, calling
for changes to a system that allowed "politicians [to] pick their voters, and not the other way round."
Why are districts redrawn?
The Constitution requires that states use new census data to redraw their electoral maps every 10 years, so that each
district has roughly the same number of voters. In all but six states, where independent commissions draw the district lines,
that process is run or overseen by whichever party controls the state legislature, with the governor able to veto redrawn
maps. In the 2010 election cycle, the Republican Party took gerrymandering to a new level by creating a national
redistricting (_________________________________________) strategy. The GOP's plan, which they called REDMAP, was
to "keep or win Republican control of state legislatures with the largest impact on congressional redistricting."
1
How successful was it?
Overwhelmingly so. After pouring $30 million into state legislature races — a huge sum for down-ballot fights — the
Republicans gained a record 680 state seats. That gave them total control of 25 state legislatures, which between them
oversaw the redistricting process for 40 percent of congressional House of Representatives seats. Democrats were left with
total redistricting control of just 10 percent of House seats; neither party has complete control over the redistricting
process for the other 50 percent of seats. Using sophisticated mapping software (see below), Republican officials then
redrew dozens of districts to their advantage. In 2012, these gerrymandered states helped the party protect its House
majority. In Pennsylvania, House Republicans won 49 percent of the vote but took 72 percent of the seats (13 seats to the
Democrats' five); in Ohio, they took 12 seats to four with only 52 percent of the vote.
What about the Democrats?
In states they control, they gerrymander just as aggressively. Democratic-controlled Maryland is one of the most
gerrymandered states in the country; a U.S. Circuit Court judge once likened its 3rd Congressional District to a "brokenwinged pterodactyl, lying prostrate across the center of the state." Illinois is another heavily gerrymandered blue state:
Despite winning only 55 percent of the popular vote in 2012, Democratic House candidates captured 12 of the state's 18
seats. When President Obama was a state senator in Chicago, he helped redraw his district to include some of the city's
wealthiest and most liberal residents, deepening the support base he later used to win his U.S. Senate seat. But Republicans
have definitely gerrymandered more effectively — partly because geography already tilts the system in their favor.
In what way?
Democratic voters tend to be concentrated in compact urban areas. That means that even in a state with no
gerrymandering, there would likely be a handful of very safe Democratic seats, with the rest of the state consisting of a
larger collection of Republican-leaning rural and suburban districts. For this reason, many Republicans insist the effects of
gerrymandering are exaggerated: When data analysts ran electoral scenarios that offset the effect of gerrymandering in
2012, they found that the Republicans still would have retained control of the House — albeit with a much smaller majority.
Is the system likely to change?
Several states are looking at handing responsibility for redistricting to an independent, nonpartisan
(_______________________________________) commission, which has already been done in California, Arizona, and
Washington. Computer software could easily redistrict maps in the fairest way possible, so that each district is a standard,
geometric shape. But widespread change is unlikely. Politicians rarely relinquish their own power, and most attempts to
overhaul the rules tend to result in lengthy court battles. For now and the foreseeable future, as GOP strategist and
REDMAP architect Karl Rove put it, "he who controls redistricting can control Congress."
Making the map red
When gerrymandering districts, political cartographers (_____________________________________________) are no
longer limited to demographic (__________________________________________) data from the U.S. census. They can
now purchase vast databases from companies like Facebook and Amazon, and find out exactly what people in a certain area
are buying, or reading, or thinking. When this information is combined with previous election results and census data — on
categories such as gender, race, and religion — it provides a highly reliable picture of how an area is most likely to vote.
With advanced mapmaking software, it is then very easy for redistricting officials to create boundary lines that offer their
party the maximum possible advantage. If they move a city block from one district to another, for example, it'll tell them
the likely effect on all the surrounding districts. As journalist David Daley puts it in a forthcoming book on the subject: "The
data and the technology make tilting a district map almost as easy as one-click ordering on Amazon."
2
Name:_____________________________________________ Date:_______________________
Summarizing Key Concepts: Gerrymandering Graphic Organizer
Directions: Using the information from the “Rigging Elections, the Legal Way” handout (only), please complete the
following graphic organizer. Write “Gerrymandering” in the center and complete the boxes using detail.
Definition (from a text)
Characteristics (At least 5)
Definition (in your own words)
Examples
____________________________________
Key Word
3
5 sentence summary of the topic
Gerrymandering Source Analysis
Document #1
The Independent Map Amendment would establish a non-partisan, independent commission responsible for
drawing state legislative districts in a way that is transparent and open to the public. It would end the current
redistricting process controlled by legislators with little public involvement. The 11 members of the Independent
Redistricting Commission would be selected in the year of each federal decennial census. The first commission
would be appointed in 2021.
Source: “The Independent Map Amendment Explained,” Map Amendment, 2016,
http://www.mapamendment.org/uploads/mapamendment/documents/amendment_explanation.pdf
Document #2
The latest effort to strip politicians of their legislative map-drawing power has cleared another key hurdle.
Independent Map Amendment announced Tuesday it passed the Illinois State Board of Elections’ petition review
process and now is one step closer to placing a redistricting reform constitutional amendment on the November
ballot. The Board of Elections verified the validity of nearly 73 percent of a random sample of 28,000 petition
signatures, far surpassing the 52 percent validation rate required. That means of the nearly 570,000
signatures Independent Map Amendment filed on May 6, [2016] a minimum of 382,355 and a maximum of 395,021
likely are valid and match the signatures of registered voters living at the addresses printed on the petition. The
state requires a minimum of 290,216 verified signatures to place a citizen-initiated constitutional amendment on
the ballot.
Source: Kevin Hoffman, “Independent Map Amendment Passes Petition Signature Test,” Reboot Illinois, May 24, 2016,
http://www.rebootillinois.com/2016/05/24/editors-picks/kevin-hoffmanrebootillinois-com/independent-map-amendment-passespetition-signature-test/58387/
Document #3
A lawsuit filed Thursday in Cook County Circuit Court says the Independent Map Amendment redistricting reform
plan is unconstitutional and should not be allowed on the November election ballot. The suit also seeks an
immediate halt to the Illinois State Board of Elections’ verifying of petition signatures filed last week by
Independent Map Amendment, citing the “waste of public funds” involved in the signature review. The plaintiffs,
members of the group People’s Map, have opposed the citizen-led redistricting effort as a threat to minority
representation in Springfield, though that aspect is not specified in the lawsuit. Independent Map Amendment has
said its system will enhance protections for minority representation…
Source: Matt Dietrich, “Lawsuit Seeks to Kill Independent Map Amendment,” Reboot Illinois, May 12, 2016,
http://www.rebootillinois.com/2016/05/12/editors-picks/mattdietrich/lawsuit-seeks-to-kill-independent-map-amendment/57680/
Document #4
An attorney who's long been a close ally of Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan has filed a lawsuit trying to block
voters from considering a proposed constitutional amendment that seeks to remove some of the influence of partisan
politics from how state House and Senate district boundaries are drawn. The suit was brought by the People's Map, the
same group of prominent racial and ethnic minorities that sued two years ago to keep a similar referendum question off
the 2014 ballot. Their attorney is Michael Kasper, general counsel for Madigan's Illinois Democratic Party…Dennis
FitzSimons, chairman of the [Independent Map Amendment] coalition, accused "political insiders" of trying to deny
voters "the chance to reform Illinois government." "Springfield insiders aren't willing to risk those odds and would rather
cynically preempt at the courthouse what they cannot win at the ballot box," said FitzSimons, the former chairman and
CEO of Tribune Co. and chairman of the Robert R. McCormick Foundation. "Plain and simple, this lawsuit is a struggle for
power. It is Illinois politicians struggling to retain the power to manipulate elections versus citizens demanding reform,"
he said. "We knew this lawsuit would be the response to our submission of 570,000 petition signatures from Illinois
voters, and we are ready to aggressively defend the constitutionality and fairness of the Independent Map
Amendment…”
Source: Rick Pearson, “Madigan’s Democratic Lawyer Sues to Block Redistricting Reform Referendum,” Chicago Tribune, May 12,
2016.
4
Name:_____________________________________________________ Date:____________________________________
Gerrymandering Source Questions to Answer
1-What would the proposed Independent Map Amendment do in Illinois? How does it change the status quo?
Complete the chart below. Please be sure to cite the document you got the information from for each item.
Groups and
individuals
involved
Reasons
each group
gives for
their
positions
Group/People in Favor of Changing How We
Redistrict in Illinois
1.
Group/People Against Changing How We Redistrict in
Illinois
1.
2.
2.
1.
1.
2.
2.
2-How does the current law on gerrymandering in the state of Illinois impact the concepts of justice and equality in Illinois?
(Answer in at least five lines).
5
Name:________________________________________________________ Date:________________________________
Gerrymandering Paragraph
Now, in a paragraph of 8-10 sentences, analyze how individuals use and challenge laws to address the public issue of
redistricting.
Claim
Novice (2)
Emerging (2.5)
Proficient (3.5)
Expert (4)
Contains an unidentifiable
claim or vague position.
Contains an unclear or emerging
claim that suggests a vague
position.
Introduces a precise claim that is
clearly arguable and takes an
identifiable position on an issue.
Introduces a precise and sophisticated
claim that is clearly arguable and takes a
purposeful position on the issue.
Evidence
Provides insufficient evidence
Provides evidence that is not
to support the claim and that is consistently valid or relevant in an
incomplete, not valid or
attempt to support the claim.
irrelevant.
Analysis
Few, if any, words and phrases
are used to connect the
evidence to the claim.
Organization
The text has limited structure
and organization.
Formal writing
style
Words and phrases are used to
mainly summarize/restate the
evidence.
Provides evidence that is valid, and Provides evidence that is valid, convincing
relevant to support the claim.
and significant to skillfully support all
aspects of the claim.
Words and phrases are used to
explain why or how the evidence
supports the claim.
Words and phrases are strategically and
convincingly used to explain why and how
the evidence supports the claim.
The text attempts a structure and
The text has a structure and
The text has a structure and organization
organization to support the claim. organization that is aligned with most that is carefully crafted to support all parts
parts of the claim.
of the claim.
Overall tone is too informal, Attempt at formal writing style, but Good attempt at formal writing style Formal writing tone used throughout; few
including some or all of:
needs more proofreading and/or
and proofreading, but a few glaring or no glaring errors in spelling, grammar,
“texting” abbreviations, slang,
care in presentation.
errors indicate that more careful
punctuation, capitalization.
messiness, errors in spelling,
proofreading is needed.
punctuation, grammar.
6