History of Gerrymandering in Timeline

Gerrymandering is the manipulation of electoral district boundaries to favor a specific party, group, or socioeconomic class. This practice involves drawing district lines to concentrate opposing voters into fewer districts (packing) or spreading them thinly across multiple districts to dilute their voting power (cracking). The goal is to create districts that are safe for the party in power, ensuring their continued dominance. This can lead to skewed election results that don't accurately reflect the overall preferences of the electorate and can reduce political competitiveness. Gerrymandering raises concerns about fairness, representation, and democratic principles.

1905: Alberta and Saskatchewan admitted to Confederation

In 1905, when Alberta and Saskatchewan were admitted to Confederation, federal Liberal cabinet members devised district boundaries to favor provincial Liberal governments, showcasing early gerrymandering in Canada.

1906: Creation of Piraeus Electoral District

In 1906, the Piraeus electoral district was created in Greece to provide a safe district for the Theotokis party.

1907: Legislative Districts Drawn

Congressional districts in the Philippines were based on legislative districts as they were drawn in 1907.

1911: Local Government Act Introduction

In 1911, Stephen Gwynn noted the introduction of the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898.

1923: Gerrymandering Introduced by Leech Commission

In 1923, gerrymandering was introduced in local elections in Northern Ireland by the Leech Commission, led by Sir John Leech. Changes to electoral boundaries and abolishing proportional representation, alongside a Nationalist boycott, led to Unionist control of several councils.

1924: New Electoral Boundaries for Londonderry

In 1924, Leech's electoral boundaries for Londonderry County Borough Council reduced wards, leading to Unionist council elections in a city with a Nationalist majority.

1926: Organized Parties with National Ballots Appeared

Organized parties with national ballots appeared after the 1926 Constitution in Greek History.

1929: Stormont Changes Electoral System

In 1929, Stormont changed Northern Ireland's electoral system to a single-member first past the post system, mirroring the rest of the UK, except for Queen's University of Belfast representation. Some believe this was gerrymandering to under-represent Nationalists, though others disagree.

1931: Establishment of the Second Spanish Republic

Until the establishment of the Second Spanish Republic in 1931, Spain used both single-member and multi-member constituencies in general elections, and some districts were gerrymandered to favor dynastic parties.

1932: Labor government stays in government

From 1932, a Labor government stayed in government as a result of a system of malapportionment which favored rural areas.

1938: Sir Thomas Playford becomes Premier of South Australia

In 1938, Sir Thomas Playford became Premier of South Australia due to a system of malapportionment known as the Playmander.

1947: Electoral Amendment Act

In 1947, the Irish government of Éamon de Valera introduced the Electoral (Amendment) Act 1947, increasing the size of the Dáil and the number of three-seat constituencies, in an attempt to undermine the rising Clann na Poblachta party.

1948: General Election

In February 1948, the general election was held, and Clann na Poblachta secured ten seats instead of the nineteen they would have received proportional to their vote, due to the gerrymandering attempts from 1947.

1956: Greek Legislative Election

In the 1956 legislative election in Greece, districts of varying sizes were created, with smaller districts favoring the right-wing party and larger districts opposing it, impacting the election results.

1957: Shifting demographics and political views

By 1957, as demographics and political views shifted, the system of malapportionment started to favor the Country Party instead.

1957: Country Party Comes to Power

In 1957, the Country Party, led by Frank Nicklin, came to power and decided to keep the malapportionment that favored them.

1957: Independence and Gerrymandering

Since its independence in 1957, Malaysia has seen the practice of gerrymandering, with the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) accused of controlling the election commission by revising constituency boundaries.

1958: Regime change

In 1958 in France, there was a regime change.

1960: Malapportionment in Alabama Legislature

By 1960 less than a quarter of the state's population controlled the majority of seats in the Alabama Legislature, which had refused to redistrict for more than 60 years, despite major changes in population patterns.

1962: Bahamian general election influenced by gerrymandering

In 1962, gerrymandering influenced the Bahamian general election, where the PLP received more votes but fewer seats than the UBP.

1964: Reynolds v. Sims Supreme Court decision

In 1964, the Reynolds v. Sims Supreme Court decision established a rule of one man, one vote, effectively banning the practice of using fixed districts for state legislatures in the United States.

1964: Federal government delegates drawing of boundaries

In 1964, the federal government of Canada delegated the drawing of boundaries for federal electoral districts to Elections Canada.

1965: End of Playford's Premiership

In 1965, Sir Thomas Playford's long premiership of South Australia ended; his time in office was aided by a system of malapportionment.

1965: Voting Rights Act of 1965

In the past, courts were primarily concerned with protecting minority voting rights under the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which often led to rulings based on race-focused redistricting.

1967: Unionists Over-Represented in Elections

In the 1967 election, Unionists won 35.5% of the votes and received 60% of the seats, while Nationalists got 27.4% of the votes but received 40% of the seats. Smaller parties were under-represented.

1968: Joh Bjelke-Petersen becomes leader of the Country Party

In 1968, Joh Bjelke-Petersen became the leader of the Country Party and Premier.

1969: Replacement of County Borough Council

In 1969, the Londonderry County Borough Council was replaced by the unelected Londonderry Development Commission.

1972: Direct Rule Imposed by the UK government

In 1972, the UK government imposed Direct Rule in Northern Ireland due to the Unionist control of county and district councils, which persisted despite a majority Catholic population.

1973: Start of military government rule in Chile

From 1973, Chile was ruled by a military government

1973: Direct Rule Reintroduced

In 1973, after Westminster reintroduced direct rule, the single transferable vote (STV) was restored for elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly, utilizing the same constituency definitions as for the Westminster Parliament.

1974: Electoral (Amendment) Act

In 1974, James Tully, the Minister for Local Government in Ireland, introduced the Electoral (Amendment) Act 1974, attempting to arrange constituencies to favor the governing Fine Gael–Labour Party National Coalition in an attempt to reverse gerrymandering by Fianna Fáil.

1974: Malapportionment

Malapportionment has been used in Malaysia since 1974, with significant disparities in the number of voters in different parliamentary constituencies.

1977: Irish General Election

In the 1977 Irish general election, Fianna Fáil won a landslide victory, due to a larger than expected collapse in the vote; the term "Tullymandering" was subsequently used to describe the failed attempt at gerrymandering.

1978: Spanish Constitution

After the Francoist dictatorship, during the transition to democracy, these fixed provincial constituencies were reestablished in Section 68.2 of the current 1978 Spanish Constitution, so gerrymandering is impossible in general elections.

1978: Constitutionally fixed districts in Spain

In Spain, district boundaries have been constitutionally fixed since 1978.

1980: Constitution allocated Senate seats

In 1980, the Constitution of Chile allocated a number of seats to appointed senators, making it harder for one side to change the Constitution by itself.

1981: Electoral Districts in Kuwait

From 1981 Kuwait was divided into 25 electoral districts in order to over-represent the government's supporters.

1981: Handshake deal in New York

Since the first handshake deal in 1981, whereby Republicans informally controlled the state senate redistricting process and Democrats informally controlled the state assembly redistricting process, New York has experienced some of the nation's least competitive legislative elections.

1981: Labour Party victory due to gerrymandering

The Labour Party that won in 1981 in Malta, even though the Nationalist Party got the most votes, did so because of its gerrymandering.

1986: No separatist deputy

In 1986, there had been no separatist deputy in New Caledonia.

1986: National Party Wins Seats with Fewer Votes

In the 1986 election, the National Party received 39.64% of the first preference vote and won 49 seats, while the Labor Opposition received 41.35% but won only 30 seats, highlighting the impact of gerrymandering.

1987: Ordinance from the 1987 Constitution

Congressional districts in the Philippines were originally based on an ordinance from the 1987 Constitution, created by the Constitutional Commission.

1987: Redrawing of designs by Charles Pasqua

In 1987 in France, designs were redrawn by Charles Pasqua.

1987: Bjelke-Petersen forced to resign

In 1987, Bjelke-Petersen was forced to resign after the Fitzgerald Inquiry revealed widespread corruption in his cabinet and the Queensland Police.

1987: Constitutional Amendment

In 1987, a constitutional amendment in Malta awarded compensatory seats to make the final seat tally closer reflect actual vote share, preventing the situation from 1981 from reoccurring.

October 1988: National plebiscite in Chile

In October 1988, a national plebiscite was held in Chile to determine whether to remove the military government from power and trigger democratic elections.

1988: Neither side outpolls the other

In 1988, the results of the plebiscite in Chile showed that neither the "NO" side nor the "YES" side outpolled the other by a margin of more than 2-to-1 in any of the newly established districts.

1989: Opposition wins control of the Chamber

At the 1989 parliamentary election in Chile, the center-left opposition was able to capture both seats in twelve out of 60 districts, winning control of 60% of the Chamber.

1989: Opposition wins Senate seats

In the 1989 election in Chile, the opposition won 22 senate seats, taking both seats in three out of 19 constituencies.

1990: Restoration of Democracy

After the restoration of democracy in 1990, Nepali politics has exercised gerrymandering with the view to take advantage in the election.

1990: End of the military government rule in Chile

Until 1990, Chile was ruled by a military government.

1991: British Columbia solidifies power

Until 1991, British Columbia used a combination of single-member and dual-member constituencies to solidify the power of the British Columbia Social Credit Party.

1993: Seats with votes

In 1993, Pasqua's drawing resulted in 80% of the seats with 58% of the vote.

1994: PDS entered Bundestag

In 1994, the PDS entered the Bundestag under a specific rule.

1996: High Court of Australia confirms electoral systems legality

In 1996, the High Court of Australia, in McGinty v Western Australia, confirmed the constitutional legality of electoral systems with differently weighted constituencies, approving Western Australia's system.

1997: Snap election

In 1997, the Socialist enacted multiple pacts with smaller parties in order to win the snap election, as a coalition.

1998: PDS entered Bundestag

In 1998, the PDS entered the Bundestag under a specific rule.

1998: Savoyan League won one seat

In the 1998 regional election, the Savoyan League won one seat.

2000: 2000 census

As of July 2007, shortest-splitline redistricting pictures were available for all 50 states based on the results of the 2000 census.

2000: Deadlock in Missouri redistricting

Following the 2000 census in Missouri, equally numbered partisan appointees were unable to reach consensus on district lines, leading the courts to determine the district lines.

2000: Bipartisan redistricting effort in California

In 2000, a bipartisan redistricting effort in California redrew congressional district lines in ways that all but guaranteed incumbent victories.

2000: Redrawing of Electoral Constituencies

In 2000, the electoral constituencies in Germany were redrawn. The PDS accused the SPD, then in power, of gerrymandering by breaking up districts in East Berlin (a PDS stronghold) and combining them with West Berlin.

2000: Parties cooperatively redrew districts in California

In 2000, the two dominant parties in California cooperatively redrew both state and federal legislative districts to preserve the status quo, insulating the incumbents from unpredictable voting.

2002: Few challengers defeat incumbent members of the U.S. Congress

According to political scientists Norman Ornstein and Thomas Mann, in 2002, only four challengers were able to defeat incumbent members of the U.S. Congress, marking the lowest number in modern American history.

2002: PDS Lost Third Constituency

In the 2002 federal election in Germany, the PDS lost their third constituency and entered the Bundestag with only two seats, missing the threshold to qualify for additional seats.

2004: Criticism of U.S. Redistricting Process

In 2004, international election observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights criticized the U.S. congressional redistricting process and recommended a review to ensure genuine competitiveness in Congressional election contests.

2004: Use of Monte Carlo simulations in redistricting research

In 2004, political scientists like Moon and McDonald first used Monte Carlo simulations in redistricting research to assess how likely it was that district boundaries were manipulated to favor one political party.

2004: Savoyan League couldn't run for re-election

In 2004, the Savoyan League couldn't run for re-election because they now had to propose lists in every departments of Rhône-Alpes.

2004: No state or federal legislative office changed party in California election

In the 2004 election, no state or federal legislative office changed party in California, even though 53 congressional, 20 state senate, and 80 state assembly seats were potentially at risk.

July 2005: Approval of New Law for Electoral Reforms

In July 2005, a new law for electoral reforms was approved in Kuwait, cutting the number of electoral districts from 25 to 5 in an attempt to prevent electoral gerrymandering.

2005: Ohio ballot measure to create an independent commission

In 2005, the U.S. state of Ohio had a ballot measure to create an independent commission whose first priority was competitive districts, a sort of "reverse gerrymander". The measure failed voter approval due to voter concerns that communities of interest would be broken up.

2005: Elimination of unelected senators

In 2005, the unelected senators were eliminated in Chile through constitutional reforms.

2006: Controversy arises in Prince Edward Island

In 2006, a controversy arose in Prince Edward Island over the provincial government's decision to throw out an electoral map drawn by an independent commission and create new maps.

2006: Equitable split of two evenly split districts

In 2006, the term "70/30 district" came to signify the equitable split of two evenly split (i.e. 50/50) districts. The resulting districts gave each party a guaranteed seat and retained their respective power base.

July 2007: Shortest-splitline redistricting pictures available

As of July 2007, shortest-splitline redistricting pictures, based on the results of the 2000 census, are available for all 50 states.

2007: Creation of new regions

In 2007, two new regions were created in Chile, altering the composition of two senatorial constituencies.

2007: Provincial election results

In the 2007 provincial election in Prince Edward Island, only seven of 20 incumbent Members of the Legislative Assembly were re-elected and the government was defeated.

2008: Sudan's National Elections Act of 2008

According to Sudan's National Elections Act of 2008, no constituency can have a population that is 15% greater or less than the average constituency size.

2008: California referendum created redistricting commission

In 2008, a referendum in California created the California Citizens Redistricting Commission to draw California State Senate and Assembly districts.

2009: Study on congressional polarization

A 2009 study found that congressional polarization is primarily a function of the differences in how Democrats and Republicans represent the same districts rather than a function of which districts each party represents or the distribution of constituency preferences.

2009: Turkey Gerrymanders Istanbul Municipal Elections

In 2009, Turkey employed gerrymandering tactics in Istanbul during the municipal elections by dividing the city into new districts just before the election. This strategy involved bundling low-income neighborhoods with wealthier areas to help the AKP (Justice and Development Party) secure victory.

2009: Bundestag Election

In the 2009 Bundestag election in Germany, Angela Merkel's CDU/CSU gained 24 extra seats, skewing the results and leading the Federal Constitutional Court to declare the existing election laws invalid.

2009: Nationwide Delimitation

The last nationwide delimitation in India was done in 2009, but there is no conclusive evidence whether the exercise has benefited a particular political party or not.

May 2010: Republican National Committee redistricting training session

In May 2010, the Republican National Committee held a redistricting training session in Ohio where the theme was "Keep it Secret, Keep it Safe".

September 2010: Gerrymandering via Electoral Law Addendum in Venezuela

In September 2010, prior to the legislative elections, gerrymandering occurred in Venezuela via an addendum to the electoral law by the National Assembly. This resulted in Hugo Chávez's party winning over 60% of the National Assembly seats despite opposition parties collectively drawing 52% of the votes.

2010: Redistricting Committee Creation

Following the 2010 census, states like Washington, Arizona, and California created standing committees for redistricting. Rhode Island and New Jersey developed ad hoc committees tied to new census data.

2010: California referendum gives redistricting power to the California Citizens Redistricting Commission

In 2010, a referendum in California transferred the power to redraw congressional district lines to the California Citizens Redistricting Commission.

2010: Constitutional Court of Croatia report

In 2010, the Constitutional Court of Croatia stated in a report that population discrepancies among electoral districts is higher than ±5 percent and that districts' borders should be redrawn.

2010: Republican-controlled redistricting process in Pennsylvania

In 2010, the Republican-controlled redistricting process in Pennsylvania led to Democrats losing to Republicans in 13 of the state's 18 districts, despite Democratic candidates receiving more votes in the 2012 election.

2010: Creation of districts for expats

In 2010, the Sarkozy government created 12 districts for expats in France.

2010: Gerrymandering Examples Throughout Sudan

In the election of 2010, there were numerous examples of gerrymandering throughout the entire country of Sudan. A report from the Rift Valley Institute uncovered violations of Sudan's electoral law, where constituencies were created that were well below and above the required limit.

2010: Redistricting Transparency Acts of 2010

Redistricting transparency legislation has been introduced to US Congress a number of times in recent years, including the Redistricting Transparency Acts of 2010.

2011: Proposed Redesign of Hungarian Voting Districts

In 2011, Fidesz politician János Lázár proposed a redesign to Hungarian voting districts, which the opposition claimed would favor right-wing politics. The law was passed by the Fidesz-majority National Assembly.

2011: Republican legislature conducts redistricting in Michigan

In 2011, the Republican legislature in Michigan conducted redistricting, designing federal congressional districts to separate cities such as Battle Creek, Grand Rapids, Jackson, Kalamazoo, Lansing, and East Lansing into districts with large conservative-leaning hinterlands, diluting the Democratic votes in those cities in Congressional elections.

2011: Drawing of Wisconsin legislative districts

In 2011, the drawing of Wisconsin legislative districts occurred, which was later ruled against by a U.S. District Court in 2016 due to an efficiency gap.

2011: Redistricting Transparency Acts of 2011

Redistricting transparency legislation has been introduced to US Congress a number of times in recent years, including the Redistricting Transparency Acts of 2011.

2012: The Center for Public Integrity redistricting investigation

A 2012 investigation by The Center for Public Integrity reviewed every state's redistricting processes for both transparency and potential for public input, and ultimately assigned 24 states grades of either D or F.

2012: Wisconsin state legislature election

In the 2012 election for the Wisconsin state legislature, a significant gap in wasted votes resulted in one party securing 61% of the 99 districts with only 48.6% of the two-party votes.

2012: 2012 election results in Pennsylvania

The 2012 election in Pennsylvania saw Democratic candidates for the House of Representatives receive 83,000 more votes than Republican candidates; however, due to the Republican-controlled redistricting process in 2010, Democrats lost to their Republican counterparts in 13 of Pennsylvania's 18 districts.

2013: 13th General Election

During the 13th General Election in 2013, Barisan Nasional won 60% of the seats in the Malaysian Parliament despite only receiving 47% of the popular vote.

2013: Ruling on Überhangmandate

In 2013, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court ruled on the constitutionality of Überhangmandate, mandating that other parties receive seats to remedy disproportionate election results.

2013: Bill Defeated in the Senate

In 2013, a bill to split Camarines Sur into a new province called Nueva Camarines was defeated in the Senate, resulting from gerrymandering of districts.

2013: First election affected by minor change

In 2013, the first election to be affected by a minor change in senatorial constituency composition in Chile took place.

2013: Redistricting Transparency Acts of 2013

Redistricting transparency legislation has been introduced to US Congress a number of times in recent years, including the Redistricting Transparency Acts of 2013.

2014: Massachusetts passed a resolution

In 2014, Massachusetts passed a resolution that asked the Census Bureau to stop counting incarcerated people as residents in the district where they are incarcerated. Pennsylvania also voted to redraw districts in a way that avoids prison-based gerrymandering.

2014: Liberal Party NSW State Government gerrymanders City of Sydney council elections

In 2014, the conservative Liberal Party NSW State Government gerrymandered the City of Sydney council elections in an attempt to remove Clover Moore, but their efforts ultimately failed.

2015: Rewriting of Constitution of Nepal

In 2015, the government rewrote the Constitution of Nepal, including a rewriting of electoral boundaries. Parties in the southern region of Terai believed the new boundaries discriminated against marginalized groups, like the Madhesis, Tharus, and Janajatis.

2016: U.S. District Court ruled against Wisconsin legislative districts

In 2016, a U.S. District Court ruled against the 2011 drawing of Wisconsin legislative districts, citing an efficiency gap of 11.7 to 13.0%.

2017: Alexeev and Mixon proved that a small efficiency gap is only possible with bizarrely shaped districts

In 2017, Boris Alexeev and Dustin Mixon proved that "sometimes, a small efficiency gap is only possible with bizarrely shaped districts". This means that it is mathematically impossible to always devise boundaries which would simultaneously meet certain Polsby–Popper and efficiency gap targets.

2017: Open Our Democracy Act of 2017 submitted

In 2017, Representative John Delaney submitted the Open Our Democracy Act of 2017 to the U.S. House of Representatives as a means to implement nonpartisan redistricting. It ultimately did not pass.

2017: Electoral Act of 2017 (Rosatellum)

In 2017, a hypothesis of gerrymandering was theorized by constituencies drawn by the electoral act of 2017, so-called Rosatellum.

May 2018: 14th General Election

In May 2018, the opposing Pakatan Harapan (PH) won the 14th General Election in Malaysia despite perceived efforts of gerrymandering and malapportionment from the incumbent Barisan Nasional (BN).

2018: Gerrymandering in Election Results

Gerrymandering was observed in the 2018 election results in Hungary.

2018: Redistricting Reform Efforts in Michigan and Ohio

In 2018, Michigan voters approved a proposal to create an independent commission to draw new congressional maps following the 2020 United States census. Ohio voters also modified their redistricting statutes, although the state legislature retained the ability to draw congressional maps.

June 2019: Supreme Court Rules on Partisan Gerrymandering

In June 2019, the United States Supreme Court ruled 5–4 in Lamone v. Benisek and Rucho v. Common Cause that federal courts lacked jurisdiction to hear challenges over partisan gerrymandering.

2020: United States Census

Following the 2020 United States census, Michigan aimed to create an independent commission to draw new congressional maps.

2021: Abolishment of electoral region system

In 2021, after a landslide victory, the Labor Party in Western Australia abolished the gerrymandered electoral region system, replacing it with a statewide constituency.

2021: German Federal Election

In the 2021 German federal election, the Left party entered the Bundestag despite winning less than 5% of the vote due to a rule that allows a party to win seats if it wins at least three constituencies.

2021: Croatian census indicated differences in population

The 2021 Croatian census indicated even further differences in population with the difference in needed number of votes in the smallest (Electoral district IV) and the largest (Electoral district VII) district for a single parliamentary mandate being 10,5 thousands votes.

October 2022: Warning about constitutionality of elections

In October 2022, President of the Constitutional Court of Croatia Miroslav Šeparović warned that population discrepancies among electoral districts may jeopardize the constitutionality of the following elections in Croatia.

December 2022: Salvadoran president proposes municipal reduction

On 30 December 2022, Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele tweeted his belief that the country's 262 municipalities should be reduced to 50.

February 2023: Proposal to reduce municipalities evaluated

On 20 February 2023, Legislative Assembly President Ernesto Castro announced that the Nuevas Ideas (NI) political party was formally evaluating a proposal to reduce the number of municipalities in El Salvador.

2024: Redrawing of Electoral Districts

For the 2024 Lithuanian parliamentary election, the electoral districts were redrawn. 10 elderships of the Vilnius District Municipality which has a large Polish minority were merged with elderships of Vilnius to form the new Southern Vilnius district thus extending the total count of districts in Vilnius from 13 to 14.

2024: Victory of Emmanuel Tjibaou

In 2024, in New Caledonia, was the victory of Emmanuel Tjibaou.

2024: Accusations of gerrymandering

In December 2022, Opposition politicians accused president Nayib Bukele of attempting to gerrymander the municipalities and consolidate his power ahead of the 2024 legislative election.

2025: Study on empirical power analysis

A 2025 study on empirical power analysis examines the reliability of hypothesis testing to detect gerrymandering, demonstrating how certain conditions can lead to false negatives or inconclusive results.

2025: Supreme Court ruling on racial gerrymandering in Louisiana

In 2025, the Supreme Court ruled that a congressional district in Louisiana was unconstitutionally drawn to weaken Black voter influence, highlighting the judiciary's role in addressing discriminatory redistricting.