A terrifically amusing example of how even the best-laid plans of political manipulators can blow apart at the seams comes to us from Columbia, Mo. That's where property owners along a commercial strip plotted to create a voting district without voters, only to discover belatedly, that the boundaries they drew actually included one lone voter--and she's not in favor of their political goal.
The mess has been well chronicled by the Columbia Daily Tribune, here and here.
Gerrymandering, or the manipulation of electoral district boundaries to benefit incumbents or their parties, is one of the most discreditable features of the American political system.