Issue: Minority Voting Strength A new district could have racial/ethnic minority groups in large enough numbers to be a majority voting group. This scenario provides the minority group with a better chance to elect someone to best represent their specific interests. By contrast, a new district could also weaken the voting power of a racial/ethnic minority group by splitting it up among new districts. This is called cracking or minority dilution. This is a form of gerrymandering or redistricting to benefit one group by dividing districts in an irregular fashion. With the 1965 Voting Rights Act, minority dilution became illegal because it weakened the minority vote. In 1982, the Act was amended to allow creation of districts that give minorities a better chance to elect a particular candidate which supports their interests. However, court cases have ruled against these districts if the sole reason for drawing the lines a particular way is to favor minorities. However, minority voting strength can be considered along with other issues. The courts continue to make judgments on these issues in each redistricting process. Redistricting can also be used to place a minority group into a large district so that they have majority power in only one district. This will allow them to elect one representative to represent their interests. However, they will not be able to elect multiple representatives in several districts. This leaves them with less representatives to influence policies that support their interests. Designing election districts so that most members of a minority group are place in a single district is called packing. The minority group might have more representation if they were divided among more districts. Packing is another form of gerrymandering (drawing boundaries of a district to suit one groups interest). < Previous Issue Back to Summary > Site Map | Discussion Board | NYcitizens.org | Contact | Interactive Maps | Home | Best if viewed in Netscape 4.75 / Internet Explorer 4.01 or later browser version. ©2002 WXXI Public Broadcasting Council