This really interesting article is published by The Washington Post. Here is an excerpt:

Politicians in all but a few states have something urgent to quarrel about these days: maps! Control of the U.S. House is on the line — or within the lines. Here’s the deal: The once-a-decade census determines how many people from each state go to Washington, D.C. And states get to fiddle with the boundaries of those congressional districts. How the maps are drawn can make a big difference in which party winds up on top.

There are some rules intended to keep all of this gerrymandering — manipulating the lines to give one side an advantage — on the up and up. But maps often wind up in court. That already has happened lots of times this cycle. Barring court challenges, the new maps will be used for the first time in primaries this spring.

So why don’t you take a shot? Try your hand at reading these carved-up congressional districts by playing them as nine holes of mini-golf. Think of us as your caddie: We’ll show you how the district shapes are the result of careful calculation and offer help to spot gerrymandering in the wild. Can you beat par — and other Washington Post readers — in our first-ever Gerrymander Invitational?

Read the full article here.