Congressional districts are drawn by state legislatures, which means the people in power draw the lines that keep themselves in power. We saw this directly in 2025/2026. The result is a map that looks like abstract art and functions as an incumbency protection system. Safe districts produce extreme candidates. Extreme candidates produce a Congress that doesn't represent the people who elected it.
Two approaches worth implementing together: first, move to statewide ranked-choice voting for House seats, where a state's representatives are the candidates with the most votes statewide, eliminating district manipulation entirely. A state with 20 House seats sends the 20 candidates with the most votes. They all represent the state. The people should get to vote for all of them.
Second, as a complementary constraint if for some reason districts must exist: no district may have more than four sides, with state borders counting as one side. (Let me draw you a picture if you need.) Both rules make outcomes harder to manipulate and more directly responsive to the voters who are supposed to be choosing their representatives.