We need to come up with some basic mathematical rules for what can constitute a valid electoral district. The first one that comes to mind that would address obvious abuses like this is to set a maximum ratio for circumference (ie total combined length of the district’s border in km) divided by the area in square km. The ideal ratio would be that of a circle or π [ C / (2 π ) ]**2 = A. So we set some realistic multiple of that we can attain while also having every district contain the same amount of constituents +/- something like 2% and let a computer crunch it down to a best fit.

my congressional district is a goddamn travesty pic.twitter.com/zo4lfbaDrr

— Simon Maloy (@SimonMaloy) January 10, 2018