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
| County/City | Size of vote dilution caused by including prisoners in the population | Does government use districts or weighted-voting? |
|---|---|---|
| Chautauqua County | 22% | Districts |
| Chenango County | 14% | Weighted voting |
| Columbia County | 12% | Weighted voting |
| Erie County | 6% | Districts |
| Fulton County | 8.5% | Weighted voting |
| Jefferson County | 15% | Districts |
| Livingston County | 62% | Weighted voting |
| Madison County | 24% | Weighted voting |
| Monroe County | 0.4% | Districts |
| Oneida County | 41% | Districts |
| New York City | 8.1% | Districts |
| Saratoga County | 4.1% | Weighted voting |
| St. Lawrence County | 25% | Districts |
| Ulster County | 5.5% | Districts |
| Wayne County | 14% | Weighted voting |
| Westchester County | 4.2% | Districts |
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.
Are legislative maps hurting prison reforms?
Pam Adams explains how in her downstate Illinois column.
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.