United States of America

Court Rules Maryland Redistricting Amendment Must Go on Ballot

Will this let voters rightfully have the final say on their maps or are judges rewriting rules to lock in one-party rule?

Published SEP 4

Court Rules Maryland Redistricting Amendment Must Go on Ballot

Story

Above: Voting Pikesville, Maryland on June 23. Image credit: Lloyd Fox/Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Service/Getty Images

The Facts

The Supreme Court of Maryland ruled Thursday that a proposed constitutional amendment on congressional redistricting must appear on the November ballot, reversing two lower court rulings that had blocked it. The court also ordered the ballot summary rewritten.
NBC
CBS News
The justices ruled 5-2, rejecting the argument that the measure improperly combined multiple subjects, while agreeing that the ballot wording was misleading. The court directed lower courts to have elections officials use different language for the question.
NBC
The Baltimore Banner
The amendment would clarify that constitutional standards on compactness and natural boundaries apply only to General Assembly districts, not congressional maps, and would let the legislature grant the state's highest court original jurisdiction over redistricting reviews.
NOTUS
The Hill
Democrats hold seven of Maryland's eight U.S. House seats. The measure would not affect this year's midterms, but if voters approve it, lawmakers could draw new districts giving the party a chance at all eight seats in 2028.
Roll Call
MS Now
The amendment will appear as Question 3, and campaigns are organized on both sides. State elections administrator Jared DeMarinis said that ballot printing had been on hold pending the ruling and that mail-in ballots will go out starting Sept. 17.
Politico
The Baltimore Banner

Sources Split

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The Spin

Democratic narrative

Marylanders deserve the final say on how their maps get drawn. Republican-led states spent the past year ramming through gerrymanders at President Donald Trump's request and gutting the Voting Rights Act, so unilateral disarmament makes no sense here. Question 3 belongs on the November ballot, where voters — not partisan lawsuits — settle the question.

Chris Van Hollen on X

Democracy Docket

Wes Moore on X

Republican narrative

Democrats blew past legal deadlines and skipped required procedures, then got a court to rewrite their own ballot language for them — that's judges acting as the legislature. Despite negative polling, Democrats are determined to erase the last Republican House seat and lock in one-party rule that silences more than a million Marylanders.

Mike Howell on X