Ohio’s fall redistricting issue sparked a fight over one word. So what is ‘gerrymandering,’ anyway?

Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — All the political wrangling over a statewide redistricting issue in Ohio has landed voters in a fix. They are hearing from the campaign behind Issue 1 that it would prevent gerrymandering. But the language they’ll see on ballots says gerrymandering would be required. It’s a war over the word “gerrymander.” Rarely have so many dictionaries been called into action during an Ohio ballot campaign. As opposed to more neutral words like “redistricting” or “reapportionment,” “gerrymander” has typically been used to suggest that string-pulling aimed at securing an unfair political advantage is afoot. This year, it’s more complicated.