Why Are Political Districts So Weirdly Shaped?

Imagine you have a box of mixed fruit candies. If you want to make sure everyone gets the same number of strawberry candies, but the person handing them out can choose which candies go into which groups, they might stack all the strawberries together and give those piles to their friends.

In politics, politicians do something similar with maps. They cut up neighborhoods to pack their opponents' voters into one big messy blob or spread them thin so they waste votes. This makes their own districts look like long, snake-like worms instead of neat squares. When the map looks weird, it is often because someone was trying to win an extra seat.