gerrymander

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gerrymander manipulate the boundaries (of an electoral constituency) so as to favour one party or class. Recorded from the early 19th century, and deriving from the name of Governor Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts + salamander, from the supposed similarity between a salamander and the shape of a new voting district on a map drawn when he was in office (1812), the creation of which was felt to favour his party: the map (with claws, wings, and fangs added), was published in the Boston Weekly Messenger, with the title The Gerry-Mander.

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