As much as Russia may have worked to influence
how Americans voted, America already has a system
that invalidates many people's votes before they're even cast.
REPORTER: Gerrymandering, the drawing and redrawing
of local districts to help ensure that a particular party
gets a majority of votes and House seats.
In both parties, there are congressional districts
that are set up by the states to keep the parties in power.
The rigged system of redistricting allows politicians
to choose their people, rather than vice versa.
That's right. With gerrymandering,
the politicians choose their voters.
The voters don't choose them.
That's-that's weird. It's back to front.
It's like getting to your Uber,
and then, your driver's in the backseat, and he's like,
-"Start driving, asshole! I'm late!" -(laughter)
Like, this chart from the Washington Post shows
how gerrymandering works.
Now, constitutionally,
the power to draw district lines belongs
to the state governments, right?
Usually their legislatures do the work, and that's normal.
That's when they draw those districts
in a fair and representative way.
Then, in a state where, let's say,
Democrats won 60% of the vote,
they would get 60% of the seats in that state.
That sounds right.
But the law defining what's fair is pretty unclear.
So if a legislature wanted to rig the system for Democrats,
it could draw the lines so that, with only 60% of the vote,
Democrats could get 100% of the seats.
Or if they wanted to rig it for Republicans,
they could do the complete opposite, right?
You draw some much more complicated lines,
and actually give the Republicans a majority,
even though they only won 40% of the votes.
Or if you draw the lines in a different way,
-you can get a dick, yeah. -(laughter)
-Which is also bad for democracy. -(laughter)
And here's the thing.
This isn't just some fancy pixel penis theory.
This has been happening in America in real life.
One of most extreme examples of gerrymandering is
the congressional map drawn by North Carolina Republicans
after 2010.
It's a map that delivered the GOP an overwhelming
ten-three advantage in House seats by 2014,
turning a roughly 50% statewide support into a 77% advantage.
Good Lord. It's like they found the cheat code to elections.
Gerrymandering is like, up, down, up, down,
AB, select, start. Boom!
Republican majority, baby!
Now, gerrymandering has been around for 200 years,
but when lawmakers started using modern computing power
to draw districts, they took it to the next level,
'cause that's what computers do, right?
It's the same way how back in the day,
you were decent at stalking your ex.
But now, thanks to computing power and social media,
-you can stalk your ex like a pro. -(laughter)
Yeah, like now it's not like,
"Ah, I think she might be there."
It's like, "Oh, I know she's at an all-inclusive resort
sipping mai tais with Jeremy who said he was just a friend!
-(laughter) -"But you know what?
I don't even care 'cause I don't even follow her."
Anyway, gerrymandering.
Today, lawmakers can draw districts so precise
that it includes the voters
that they want down to the block, and it results
in some suspicious-looking district shapes.
MAN: One commentator compared Maryland's Third to
"a broken-winged pterodactyl."
MAN 2: This is Illinois' Fourth District.
Stand it on end, and what does it look like?
MAN 3: "They call it 'the earmuffs.'"
MAN 4: Observers say North Carolina 12th District,
straddling Interstate 85, is so narrow,
you could open your car doors and kill everybody in it.
-(laughter) -Whoa.
That description got really dark.
I feel like those maps are also a Rorschach test.
It's like, "What do you see?" "Earmuffs."
"And what do you see?"
"An opportunity to murder people using my veh-icle."
"I think you need help, man."
Like, who-who thinks like that?
"The national debt is so high,
"you could push your spouse off of it,
-and no one would ever know." -(laughter)
"Yo, you really need to get help, man."
Now, you don't need to be an expert to see
that something's not quite right with these districts.
I mean, look at these shapes.
It's like when two relatives have a kid together.
-Something is clearly off. -(laughter)
And recently, recently,
the American court system has started to agree.
Pennsylvania's Supreme Court has thrown out
the state's congressional map, ruling that it,
"clearly, plainly and palpably
violates the state constitution."
Critics have pointed out the shape of District 7,
just outside of Philadelphia,
has been likened to Goofy kicking Donald Duck.
(laughter)
Okay, you see, now, that, that's a problem.
For two reasons. One, there's no way
that... that that district represents anything
except the interests of the people who drew it.
And two, Goofy kicking Donald Duck is Disney's copyright.
Yeah. And you don't want to mess with the mouse.
I've seen Mickey break a dude's knees
just for wearing red shorts.
He's like, "Oh, oh, the first one's a warning,
"the second's one for me, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh!
Try me, asshole. Oh, oh, oh!"
And it would be... it would be one thing...
Yeah, Mickey beating up people is fun.
It's, like, a fun idea.
"Come on, asshole, let's do it, oh, oh, oh, oh!
You want some of this?"
And it would be one thing if it was just Pennsylvania,
but federal courts have also struck down
blatantly biased district maps.
Maps in Wisconsin, and just last month, North Carolina.
In fact, North Carolina Republicans,
they really raised the game,
because they didn't just gerrymander around party lines,
they drew their lines specifically
to discount black people's votes.
Yeah. Which was really awkward for biracial people. You know?
It was like, "The white half of you votes over here,
"the black half... half of you votes over here.
Now, go on, get out of here, nig."
-(laughter) -Now, look, I'm gonna be honest with you.
For me, this shit is way bigger than Russia.
Because while Russia is sending a bunch of misleading memes,
legislatures in America are predetermining
actual election results.
And then they're making sure that they stay in power
even when the voters clearly want change.
Like, for me, that's your election hacking right there.
Yeah. Because with gerrymandering,
you may as well tape Sharpies to a bunch of Roombas,
and it would be a lot more democratic
than the shit that we've got now.