SECONDNEXUS
percolately
georgetakei
comicsands
George's Reads
Gerrymandering—the practice of deceptively drawing congressional districts to give one party an electoral advantage—has plagued American democracy for over a century. Boundaries are drawn illogically for the sole purpose of including voters of one party in order to give that district a partisan hold.
In the United States, the unethical practice has largely benefitted Republicans. Just last month, the majority Republican-appointed Supreme Court ruled that the federal government can't intervene with partisan gerrymandering at the state level, despite gerrymandering producing an overwhelming amount of Republican state legislatures.
The Supreme Court ruling led to massive outcry, with Americans across the country urging their representatives to combat the practice.
One of the more creative methods of activism lies in a font which uses absurdly drawn districts to represent letters. The sad part is, it's pretty legible.
Here's an example below:
The font is called "Gerry" (short for gerrymandering) and its anonymous creator(s) are using it to get the word out to Americans about corrupt districting.
It's here. GERRY. A font created by your congressional districts. Log on to https://t.co/WkuVp7oDpu and use the fon… https://t.co/RYWrmEvgwl— Gerry (@Gerry) 1563889275.0
It's even calling out representatives in tweets of individual districts.
Hey, @JasonSmithMO. Thanks to #MO08, we have a 'D' for our gerrymandering font. Couldn't have done it without you!… https://t.co/41wUtiRgCU— Gerry (@Gerry) 1563888825.0
Shoutout to @RepSamGraves & #MO06 for their contribution to this hideous 'E' to our gerrymandering font. Thanks!! https://t.co/AmCt5Jxu16— Gerry (@Gerry) 1563888711.0
Just wanted to say thanks to @RepMarkWalker & #NC06 for making the warped 'H' in our gerrymandering font.… https://t.co/CdJqCMKEui— Gerry (@Gerry) 1563888409.0
The font—and its inventive purpose—has people talking.
At least something cool has come from #Gerrymandering. #UglyGerry https://t.co/jRkFWwsNKz— Copy & Design (@Copy & Design) 1564686775.0
As a social studies dept chair, I now have made the executive decision that all departmental communications shall u… https://t.co/wyxY2vYYcH— Jennifer LankauChase (@Jennifer LankauChase) 1564672125.0
Everyone trying to end gerrymandering please write to your legislators in this font 😂 https://t.co/ehrZXa9U08— Katie Fahey 👍✌ (@Katie Fahey 👍✌) 1564683987.0
More than talking, it has people speaking out.
@DarthJeff90 @SarahBurris Gerrymandering is undemocratic and should be unconstitutional.— ml8_ml8 (@ml8_ml8) 1564674825.0
@UglyGerry An alternate suggestion for Z—a single district! This was #LA04 for a brief while in the 1990s, represen… https://t.co/oG1p911O56— David Nir (@David Nir) 1564671980.0
You can download the font for free at uglygerry.com.