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Maryland Supreme Court Allows Democratic Redistricting Measure on November Ballot/ TezzBuzz/ WASHINGTON/ J. Mansour/ Maryland’s Supreme Court ruled that a Democratic-backed congressional redistricting amendment must appear on the November ballot. The court reversed two lower court decisions but ordered officials to rewrite the measure’s misleading ballot summary. Approval could allow Democrats to redraw congressional districts and pursue all eight of Maryland’s House seats in 2028.

Quick Look

• Maryland’s highest court allowed the redistricting amendment to proceed to voters.
• The ruling overturned two lower court decisions blocking the measure.
• Justices ordered changes to the ballot summary after finding it misleading.
• The amendment would not affect the 2026 midterm elections.
• Democrats already control seven of Maryland’s eight congressional seats.
• Approval could facilitate another congressional map before the 2028 elections.
• Republicans argue that the proposal would enable extreme partisan gerrymandering.
• The dispute is part of a nationwide struggle over control of the U.S. House.

Deep Look

Maryland Voters Will Decide Redistricting Amendment

Maryland voters will decide in November whether to approve a constitutional amendment that could give Democratic lawmakers greater freedom to redraw the state’s congressional districts before the 2028 elections.

The Maryland Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the proposal must appear on the ballot, reversing two lower courts that had blocked it. The justices nevertheless agreed that the measure’s ballot summary was misleading and ordered officials to revise the language presented to voters.

The decision represents a significant legal victory for Democrats as the two major parties pursue redistricting strategies intended to influence control of the U.S. House.

Amendment Could Affect the 2028 Elections

Democrats currently hold seven of Maryland’s eight House seats. The proposed amendment would not change the districts used in the November 2026 midterms.

If voters approve it, however, Democratic lawmakers could gain an opportunity to adopt a new congressional map designed to make the state’s sole Republican-held seat more competitive in 2028.

That seat belongs to Rep. Andy Harris, chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus.

The amendment could permit congressional districts to cross the Chesapeake Bay, potentially allowing lawmakers to combine Democratic-leaning communities with areas in Harris’ Eastern Shore-based district.

Republicans Criticize Court’s Decision

State Senate Minority Leader Steve Hershey was among several Republican lawmakers who challenged the measure.

Hershey said he welcomed the court’s conclusion that the original ballot language was unfair but argued that the judiciary should not have repaired a measure approved by the legislature.

Republicans contend that the amendment would clear the way for another aggressively partisan congressional map in a state already dominated by Democrats.

Proposal Would Circumvent Earlier Gerrymandering Ruling

Democratic Gov. Wes Moore called lawmakers into a special legislative session in August to place the amendment before voters.

The proposal is intended to overcome the legal foundation of a 2022 ruling that invalidated an earlier Democratic congressional map as a “product of extreme partisan gerrymandering.”

In that case, a judge concluded that a provision of Maryland’s constitution requiring compact districts that respect “natural boundaries” applied to congressional maps as well as state legislative districts.

The proposed amendment would specify that those geographic requirements apply only to state legislative districts. That distinction could give lawmakers more flexibility when drawing congressional boundaries.

Court Rejects Deadline Challenge

The lower courts had concluded that lawmakers failed to comply with their own procedural requirements when they referred the amendment to voters.

A law enacted earlier in 2026 required Maryland’s secretary of state to certify information about statewide ballot measures to the State Board of Elections by July 1. It also established a 15-day period for public comments.

Both deadlines had passed when lawmakers approved the proposed redistricting amendment on Aug. 4.

Attorneys representing Democratic Attorney General Anthony Brown argued that the deadlines did not apply because lawmakers had exercised their constitutional authority to write the amendment’s ballot summary themselves.

The Maryland Supreme Court agreed that the lower courts had wrongly applied the statutory deadlines.

Justices Find Ballot Language Misleading

Republican plaintiffs also argued that the proposed amendment violated Maryland’s constitutional rule limiting ballot measures to a single subject.

The amendment addresses congressional district requirements while also granting the Maryland Supreme Court original jurisdiction over lawsuits challenging congressional maps.

The state’s highest court rejected the claim that the measure improperly combined multiple subjects.

However, it agreed with the challengers that the original ballot summary was misleading. Rather than remove the amendment from the ballot, the justices directed officials to revise the wording voters will see.

National Redistricting Battle Continues

Redistricting normally occurs once every decade following the census. But a nationwide mid-decade struggle began after President Donald Trump encouraged Republican-led states to redraw their congressional districts to strengthen the party’s narrow House majority.

Republicans had hoped to gain as many as 16 seats through new maps in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee and Texas.

That effort has encountered legal and procedural obstacles. The Missouri Supreme Court blocked the state’s new districts from being used in the November elections and ordered a statewide referendum on whether the maps should remain in effect.

Democrats, meanwhile, hope to gain as many as five seats from new districts in California and Utah.

An attempted Democratic redistricting in Virginia was struck down in May after the state Supreme Court ruled that lawmakers violated procedural requirements when placing a constitutional amendment on the ballot.

Maryland’s proposed amendment would have no immediate effect on the current election, but its passage could make the state an important part of the next phase of the national redistricting fight.

Republicans had hoped to gain as many as 16 seats through new maps in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee and Texas.

That effort has encountered legal and procedural obstacles. The Missouri Supreme Court blocked the state’s new districts from being used in the November elections and ordered a statewide referendum on whether the maps should remain in effect.

Democrats, meanwhile, hope to gain as many as five seats from new districts in California and Utah.

An attempted Democratic redistricting in Virginia was struck down in May after the state Supreme Court ruled that lawmakers violated procedural requirements when placing a constitutional amendment on the ballot.

Maryland’s proposed amendment would have no immediate effect on the current election, but its passage could make the state an important part of the next phase of the national redistricting fight.

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