AP: GOP Used Census Data To Gerrymander Districts For Greater Political Advantage

It’s “really hard for one party to win when the other party has designed the maps,” said political scientist Chris Warshaw.

Fresh off sweeping electoral victories a decade ago, Republican politicians used census data to draw voting districts that gave them a greater political advantage in more states than either party had in the past 50 years, according to a new Associated Press analysis. That advantage, measured by a formula designed to detect potential gerrymandering, allowed Republicans to hold decade-long majorities in some congressional delegations or statehouses even as Democrats in those states won top-of-the-ticket races for president or statewide offices. In short: Republicans won more seats than would have been expected based on the percentage of votes they received. The Washington Post via Getty Images In an era of increased political polarization among voters, the past decade showed that it’s “really hard for one party to win when the other party has designed the maps,” said Chris Warshaw, a political scientist at George Washington University.