Key facts
- The Maryland Supreme Court ruled that a constitutional amendment on redistricting can appear on the November ballot.
- The amendment, if approved by voters, would change the rules for drawing congressional districts in Maryland.
- Democrats proposed the amendment to potentially redraw districts for the 2028 election.
- The court found that lower courts erred in blocking the amendment entirely but agreed the language needed rewriting.
- Republicans had challenged the amendment, citing legal deficiencies and missed deadlines.
The Maryland Supreme Court has ruled that a proposed constitutional amendment concerning redistricting can appear on the November ballot, a decision that favors state Democrats. This ruling reverses a lower court's decision that had blocked the measure, which Republicans had challenged on grounds of legal deficiency and procedural errors.
The amendment, if approved by voters, would alter the criteria for drawing congressional districts in Maryland. Specifically, it would stipulate that the state's constitutional requirements for compactness and respecting natural and political boundaries apply only to state legislative maps, not congressional ones. Democrats argue this change is necessary to counteract gerrymandering efforts in Republican-led states and could allow them to potentially secure all eight of Maryland's U.S. House seats, currently held by seven Democrats and one Republican, Andy Harris.
State Republicans had filed lawsuits to prevent the measure from reaching the ballot, contending that the legislature missed certification deadlines and that the amendment's language was confusing and would deceive voters. The Supreme Court acknowledged that the language of the proposed amendment, referred to as 'Question 3,' was problematic and needed to be rewritten by the State Board of Elections. However, the court determined that barring the question entirely was an error and that the General Assembly's authority to propose amendments should be respected.