Test your gerrymandering skills with this interactive game.

Cracking and packing are gerrymandering techniques. Cracking splits opposing voters across districts, diluting their power. Packing concentrates their votes into a few districts, wasting them in overwhelming majorities for one party.

Based on input from redistricting experts and political scientists, this resource identifies and ranks the most extreme congressional gerrymanders of the 2020s, examining how map design, cracking, and packing reduce competition and distort representation across states.

In a 2016 interview, journalist David Daley explained how Republicans used data-driven targeting after the 2010 census to lock in durable advantages, comparing modern gerrymandering strategies to the analytics revolution in baseball.

Computational methods are convincing a number of judges that some state district maps are drawn illegally. Here's a simple overview of how it works.

This podcast explored whether courts can rein in partisan map-drawing, focusing on North Carolina's 2023 redistricting battle, the Moore v. Harper case, and the controversial "independent state legislature" theory.

Studies of the 2020 redistricting cycle show that map-drawing strategies locked in predictable outcomes. The result was fewer competitive races, more incumbents shielded from challengers, and representatives less responsive to broader voter preferences.

The National Conference of State Legislatures maintains a live tracker showing where mid-decade congressional redistricting is underway, detailing which states are pursuing new maps, the legislative and constitutional methods being used, and how courts are responding as the 2026 elections approach.

Every 10 years, states redraw congressional and legislative districts based on census data to ensure equal population. Legislatures usually control the process, though some states use independent commissions to curb partisan influence.

The term "gerrymandering" arose when Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry approved a state senate map with a district so contorted it resembled a salamander. Critics dubbed it the "Gerry-mander," cementing the term for partisan map manipulation.

In several states, citizen or bipartisan panels draw congressional and legislative districts based on neutral criteria like population and geography. Learn more about how these commissions increase competitiveness in elections.

In 2022, Ohio lawmakers repeatedly drew congressional districts that the state Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional. This defiance violated a voter-approved reform intended to prohibit partisan gerrymandering.

In response to Republican mid-decade redistricting efforts, Democratic leaders in California, New York, Illinois, and Maryland signaled plans to revisit their own congressional maps.

This interactive experience casts you as a high school journalist uncovering how the Thanksgiving narrative has become simplified. Through animations, maps, primary sources, expert interviews, and text-message riddles, the game turns historical investigation into an engaging, hands-on mystery.

The US Census Bureau's data visualization team created a game—laid out like a March Madness basketball bracket—where you try to decide which metro area of two has the greater population. Test your knowledge of relative city populations and see...

The En-ROADS tool lets you role-play as a global decision maker to explore the long-term effects of various policy ideas on climate. More than 341,000 people worldwide, including over 130 members of Congress, have used the simulation.

In this application, users can modify the demand of fictional cities and the supply of various generators, including a nuclear power plant and a wind farm, which can be disconnected from the grid. Notice that current may flow into or out of external systems to compensate for available generation. See what it takes to cause a blackout in different cities or shut down the entire grid.

Republican consultant Thomas Hofeller quietly shaped US politics for decades by engineering partisan maps nationwide. His files, released after his death, revealed strategies to maximize GOP advantage and diminish Democratic influence.

Beginning in Texas, Republican-controlled legislatures in Missouri, Florida, Ohio, and North Carolina moved to redraw maps before 2030—an uncommon mid-decade effort aimed at securing additional congressional seats.

Analysts expect GOP-led states to net seats through mid-decade redistricting, while Democratic states face greater hurdles due to commissions and legal limits—tilting the likely outcome toward Republican gains in 2026.

You are at the head of the Social Democratic Party in Germany in 1928 and must use parliamentary politics, the media, and more to oppose the ascendant National Socialists. This text-based, narrative simulation becomes a lesson in the complexities of political history.

The red–blue color scheme used on election night maps emerged in the 20th century as television networks adopted color graphics to make results easier to follow. The association of red with Republicans and blue with Democrats later became standardized.

The highly-respected Cook Political Report rates how partisan--and therefore, how safe--every district in the US is. Hover over your home district to see the score.

In Shelby County v. Holder, the Supreme Court struck down the Voting Rights Act's preclearance formula, reducing federal oversight of voting laws—including redistricting—and allowing changes to take effect without prior approval.

This tool lets you model the populations of individual countries by adjusting key demographic inputs. See how changes in birth rates, mortality, and migration affect the size and structure of future populations.

The "crystal ball" game reveals how well you would do trading stocks and bonds if you could see the front page of the Wall Street Journal one day in advance.

Ever wondered what really goes on behind the scenes at a popular social media company trying to keep users, businesses, and workers safe? Now you can try out your own ideas for moderation and management with this fun and informative game designed to...

This Pudding interactive analyzes every mention of "democracy" in the Congressional Record over 145 years, charting how the word shifted from a partisan label to a concept, and tracking when lawmakers warned the system itself was under threat.

In this interactive, users can apply layers to various base maps to display natural and human features, including geological activity, biomes, ocean currents, population densities, and light pollution. Custom legends, markers, and drawings can be used to highlight prominent features.

This interactive shows how different algorithms shift elements in a randomized set to order them from smallest to largest. By comparing the different procedures and their corresponding functions, users can explore how runtimes vary across algorithms that complete the same task.

Thirty-six states are holding gubernatorial races this November. Here's a breakdown of which states are holding elections, who is running, and which way the race is leaning.

Ever wonder how much of each group make up the American voting bloc? Find raw data from the '16 and '18 elections broken out by a variety of factors (click on "validated voters database" link).

This interactive tool lets users explore the outcomes of every US presidential election from George Washington's uncontested 1789 victory through 2024, showing how electoral votes, state results, and shifting coalitions shaped each race.

Conducted once every 10 years, the US Census determines how House seats are reapportioned among the states. The 2020 results shifted representation as state population growth and decline altered the geographic balance of political power.

In this article, Silver weighs the Electoral College's flaws—especially popular-vote inversions—against its advantages, arguing it can limit the effect of surplus votes in heavily one-sided states and encourage broader competition.

Analysts reported that the 2022 midterms featured the lowest share of competitive congressional districts since 1970, reflecting how modern redistricting has increasingly produced safe seats and reduced voter choice.

In this 2016 podcast episode, Harvard's Alex Keyssar and UVA's James Ceaser debate why the Electoral College was created, how parties reshaped it, and what reforms—national popular vote, runoffs, district allocation—could replace it.

This article breaks down demographic data to show what it means for American elections. According to the latest US Census, the US is growing increasingly diverse. As the population becomes more diverse, so does the electorate. Analyzing the...

What’s actually at stake when someone casts their vote in a US election? CNN’s “Election 101” podcast series provides ten episodes summarizing some of the basics of democratic elections. The ins and outs of voting are highlighted in 15-minute episodes on voter registration and voting by mail. Additional segments highlight how the electoral system works, how ballots are counted, the Electoral College, why it takes so long to get election results, and more.

States have generally redrawn districts only once per decade following the census, with mid-decade redistricting occurring infrequently and usually prompted by court orders or unusual political circumstances.

This interactive project from MIT challenges users to distinguish between AI-generated images and real ones.

The Community Explorer is an interactive tool that brings the power of big data and machine learning to the equity-related policy discussion. Search by economic profile and county and see the country from a different lens.

In this simulation, users can adjust the tornado's diameter and rotation speed to see its impact as it passes through a series of trees and a one-story home.

Elbridge Gerry, a Massachusetts statesman and vice president under James Madison, signed the Declaration of Independence. He is also the only signer buried in Washington, DC, interred at Congressional Cemetery.

This podcast episode traces how the Electoral College emerged from rushed compromises, slavery-era power politics, and party maneuvering—showing why the system looks the way it does today and why efforts to change it have repeatedly stalled.