Help End Prison Gerrymandering
Prison gerrymandering funnels political power away from urban communities to legislators who have prisons in their (often white, rural) districts. More than two decades ago, the Prison Policy Initiative put numbers on the problem and sparked the movement to end prison gerrymandering.
Can you help us continue the fight? Thank you.
—Peter Wagner, Executive DirectorDonate
Can you help us continue the fight? Thank you.
—Peter Wagner, Executive DirectorDonate
Articles by Zack Goldberg
- Census residence rules mean formerly incarcerated Connecticut resident was counted in one town while registered to vote in another
The Census Bureau’s practice of counting incarcerated persons as “residents” of their correctional facilities, instead of their hometowns, harms all of Connecticut’s communities.
Jul 12, 2016 - Professor and expert in electoral geography explains why counting incarcerated people at prison sites produces inequitable results during redistricting
An example of prison gerrymandering in Wyoming shows that counting incarcerated people as residents of a prison produces inequitable results in the redistricting process.
Jul 11, 2016
Recommended Reading:
About the Prison Policy Initiative
Learn more about the organization behind the Prison Gerrymandering Project.
The Racial Geography of Mass Incarceration
The transfer of Black and Latino incarcerated people to communities very different than their own is a nationwide problem.
Do prisons draw in Census money for their host communities? No.
We explain that prison gerrymandering is bad for democracy but federal & state aid are not impacted.
Prison-based Gerrymandering in Anamosa, Iowa
How a prison helped one man get elected with just two votes.