Ballot booths are ready on April 7 for an election in Madison, Wis. An election system that promotes proportional representation would blunt the effect of gerrymandering.

In the run-up to the 2026 midterm elections, the political parties in many states are working to redefine their congressional district maps to gain every possible edge. From California and Texas to Tennessee and Virginia, redistricting efforts have taken center stage. The Supreme Court has sanctioned partisan gerrymandering, and the system has evolved to one in which state legislature majorities get to determine who is most likely to fill those seats in Congress.

In short, gerrymandering has become a central feature of the system, not a bug. But what if we rethink the structure entirely? 

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At the moment, the most common mechanism in the U.S. for deciding our congressional representation is winner-takes-all, single-member districts. Each House district has a single representative to look after its interests in Washington, D.C. This puts a lot of power in the hands of one representative, who is not held to account until the next time they want your vote. 

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In many democracies, the voting rules are engineered to promote proportional representation, with respect to political parties and more generally across a variety of demographic interests. For example, in Germany, the Bundestag election has each voter make two choices, one for an individual running in their district and another for a party list, and parties with at least 5% of........

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