Legal Definitions - cracking

Cracking is a specific technique used in gerrymandering, which is the practice of drawing electoral district boundaries to give one political party an unfair advantage over another, or to dilute the voting power of a particular demographic group.

In the context of cracking, a group of voters who are geographically concentrated and large enough to potentially elect their preferred candidate in a single district are instead divided. Their population is split across multiple electoral districts, ensuring that they form a minority in each of those new districts. The purpose of cracking is to dilute the voting strength of this group, preventing them from having a significant impact on election outcomes in any single district.

Here are some examples to illustrate how cracking works:

• Example 1: Diluting a Political Bloc

  Imagine a city neighborhood where residents overwhelmingly vote for Party A. This neighborhood is large enough that if it were kept intact as a single district, it would almost certainly elect a representative from Party A. However, during redistricting, the mapmakers draw new boundaries that split this neighborhood into three different electoral districts. In each of these new districts, the portion of the neighborhood's Party A voters is combined with a larger number of voters from surrounding areas who predominantly support Party B. This strategy ensures that the Party A voters from the original neighborhood are outnumbered in all three new districts, effectively preventing them from electing a Party A candidate in any of them.

• Example 2: Fragmenting an Ethnic Community

  Consider a county with a significant and cohesive community of a particular ethnic minority group, primarily residing in the southern part of the county. This community, if kept together, would constitute a majority in one or even two legislative districts, allowing them to elect a representative who understands their specific concerns. Using cracking, the redistricting committee draws district lines that carve through this community, dispersing its members into four separate districts. Each of these new districts now includes only a fraction of the ethnic minority group, making them a small minority within a larger, more diverse population. This dilution prevents the community from having a strong collective voice or electing a candidate of their choice in any single district.

• Example 3: Splitting an Urban Voting Base

  A large, densely populated urban area within a state often has distinct voting patterns compared to the surrounding suburban and rural regions. If this urban area were to form its own district, it would likely elect representatives aligned with its unique political leanings. To diminish this influence, the urban core is "cracked" by drawing district lines that divide it into several pieces. Each piece of the urban area is then attached to a much larger, more conservative suburban or rural territory. As a result, the urban voters become a minority in multiple districts, and their collective voting power is significantly reduced across the state's electoral map.