2013-07-12
Explanation
This comic presents "A Simple Proposal to Stop Gerrymandering" in a mock-educational format. It lays out two rules: Rule 1 states that all districts in a state must have equal area (A_district = A_state / #districts). Rule 2 states that each district must be shaped like the word "GERRYMANDERING." The comic then explains that if the districts are not gerrymandered, the word "GERRYMANDERING" will be readable in its normal shape, but if they are gerrymandered, citizens will be able to tell at a glance because the letters will be distorted and warped.
The comic shows examples of what the warped letters would look like, making the gerrymandering visually obvious. A politician then protests, "They won't make gerrymandering impossible," and claims to "represent the proud people of Illinois District 4" (a reference to Illinois's famously gerrymandered 4th congressional district, which is shaped like a pair of earmuffs to connect two separate Hispanic communities). The final panel concedes that the system might "change the incentives a bit," showing a voter looking at three letter-shaped districts and asking which one is the middle one.
The votey shows a politician saying "We have been a proud people ever since we were unified 20 minutes ago," joking about the arbitrary nature of gerrymandered districts and how politicians pretend their bizarrely drawn districts represent coherent communities with shared histories. The comic is a satirical take on the real problem of gerrymandering in American politics, where district boundaries are drawn to favor particular parties or incumbents.