Gerrymandering: How drawing jagged lines can impact an election - Christina Greer

傑利蠑螈：劃分邊界可以對選舉造成什麼樣的衝擊？ - Christina Greer

Transcriber: tom carter Reviewer: Bedirhan Cinar

譯者: Jephian Lin 審譯者: Geoff Chen

Most people have heard the word "gerrymandering" once or twice,

大部份的人可能多少聽過 「傑利蠑螈」（gerrymandering）這個詞，

probably during a presidential election.

可能是在總統大選期間。

What exactly is gerrymandering?

究竟什麼是傑利蠑螈呢？

Essentially, it's the process of giving one political party an advantage over another political party

就本質而言，它是藉由重劃選區

by redrawing district lines.

來讓一黨佔另一黨便宜的一種手段。

It's like Democrats trying to gain an advantage over Republicans,

好比說民主黨想佔共和黨便宜、

or Republicans trying to gain an advantage over Democrats.

而共和黨想佔民主黨便宜那樣。

You see, each party wants to gain as many districts as possible

你也知道，每個黨派都希望 得到愈多選舉人票愈好，

so they can do things like control the state budget,

所以它們會做一些事情， 像是控制各州預算，

or set themselves up to win even more districts in the future.

或是鞏固自己地盤， 以便未來在更多地區勝選。

So to understand how this process began, and how it continues today,

所以，如果要了解這手段的起源， 以及它今日的演變，

we must go back to 1812 in Massachusetts.

我們必須回到 1812 的麻薩諸塞州。

Elbridge Gerry, the governor of Massachusetts, supported and signed a bill to allow redistricting.

當時的麻州州長埃爾布里奇．格里（Elbridge Gerry） 主張並簽署一份允許重劃選區的法案。

That is, redrawing the boundaries that separate districts.

也就是說， 重訂邊界來分隔一些區域。

The catch? The new lines would favor Gerry's own political party,

用意是？ 這些新的劃分將有利於格里的政黨，

the Democratic-Republican party, which no longer exists.

也就是民主共和黨， 這政黨已經不存在了。

You see, Gerry wanted his party to win as many state Senate seats as possible.

你可以看出，格里希望他的政黨 贏得所有可能的州議會席次。

The more members of your party who vote, the more likely you are to win an election.

政黨能投票的席位愈多， 就越可能在選舉獲勝。

The new lines were drawn to include loads of areas that would help Governor Gerry in the future.

新的劃分囊括進許多地區， 這些地區對州長格里的未來有幫助。

They were so strange looking that someone said the new districts looked like a salamander.

因為它們的長像太奇怪了， 甚至有人說它們看起來像一隻蠑螈。

The Boston Gazette added Gerry's name to the word salamander,

波士頓公報把格里的名字和蠑螈合在一起。 （譯註：兩字合併以後發音變為傑利。）

and voilà! Gerrymandering,

瞧瞧，就成了傑利蠑螈，

the process of dividing up and redrawing districts to give your political party an advantage.

也就是指用重劃選區 來讓自己政黨有利的手段。

So how exactly does someone go about protecting their own political party,

所以，究竟要怎樣來保護自己的政黨

and actually gerrymandering a district?

並進行傑利蠑螈的手段呢？

There are two successful practices.

有兩種有效的方法。

Packing a district,

「集中選票」

and cracking a district.

以及「分散選票」。

Packing is the process of drawing district lines and packing in your opponents like cattle,

集中選票是指 重劃選區將對手像城堡那樣

into as few districts as possible.

集中在盡可能少的選區裡。

If more districts equals more votes, the fewer the districts there are,

如果較多的勝選區等同於較多的票數， 那麼對手擁有的選區愈少，

the fewer votes the opposition party will get.

他們所得的票數也就愈少。

Packing, then, decreases the opponent's voter strength and influence.

集中選票這就降低了 對手選票的強度與影響力。

Cracking is the opposite:

分散選票則是相反

taking one district and cracking it into several pieces.

──把一個選區分散成許多塊。

This is usually done in districts where your opponent has many supporters.

這通常是發生在 對手有許多支持者的情況下。

Cracking spreads these supporters out among many districts,

分散選票把這些支持者 分散到許多不同選區裡，

denying your opponent a lot of votes.

這否定了對手有大量選票的事實。

When you have a large number of people who would generally vote for one type of party,

當有一大群人固定會投給某一個政黨時，

those folks are known as a voting bloc.

我們把他們稱為選票聯盟（voting bloc）。

Cracking is a way to break that all up.

分散選票就是一種把他們打散的方法。

So when would a party choose to pack their opponent's districts rather than crack them?

那什麼時候一黨會選擇集中對手選票 而不是分散他們呢？

Well, that really depends on what the party needs.

這個嘛，真的要取決於這政黨的訴求。

To dilute your opponent's voters, you could pack them into one district

如果想要沖淡對手的選票， 你可能會把他們集中在某一區

and leave the surrounding districts filled with voters of your own party.

然後用你政黨的選民來填滿它的四周。

Or, if you and your party are in power when it's time to redraw district lines,

或者，當要重劃選區的時候 你和你的政黨正好是當權者，

you could redraw districts and crack up a powerful district

那你可以重劃選區 並把一個強大的選區打散，

and spread your opponent's voters out across several neighboring districts.

讓對手的選民分散在鄰近的不同選區。

So, Governor Gerry in 1812 wanted to gain an advantage for his party,

所以，在 1812 年 州長格里想要為自己政黨佔便宜

and redrew district lines in his state in such a crazy way we have a whole new word

並將麻州的選區重劃成奇怪的樣子， 這讓我們

and way of thinking about how political parties can gain advantages over their opponents.

有一個全新的詞彙與思維， 來思考一個政黨如何佔對手便宜。

Politicians think of creative ways to draw districts every few years.

政客們每幾年就會想出一些 有創意的劃分方法。

So the next time an election comes around,

所以當下一次選舉到了

and politicians ask people to vote,

而政治人物拜託選民投票的時候，

be sure to look up the shape of your district and the districts that surround it.

記得確認一下你選區的形狀， 還有你附近的選區。

How wide does your district stretch across your state?

你的選區有多寬？

Are all of the districts in your state relatively the same shape?

你那州裡的選區 形狀看起來都差不多嗎？

How many other districts does your district touch?

你的選區附近接到了幾個其他選區？

But always be sure to ask yourself,

但永遠要記得問自己：

does my district look like a salamander?

「我的選區長得像蠑螈嗎？」