The completely legal ways US politicians bend redistricting rules – a visual guide

This is why many politicians see redistricting as a way to rig the system in their favor.

Political strategists have long known that they can manipulate the electoral redistricting process.

In 1991, Republican mapmaker Thomas Hofeller said: “I define redistricting as the only legalized form of vote-stealing left in the United States today.” In the following decades, he drew gerrymandered maps that gave Republicans electoral advantages across the country.

What Hofeller knew was that the rules around redistricting are flexible. The constitution requires states to draw new electoral districts every 10...