Maryland lawmakers announced Tuesday that the General Assembly will hold a special session early next month to consider legislation that could lead to the redrawing of its congressional map. File Photo by Mike Theiler/UPI | License Photo
Democratic lawmakers in Maryland announced Tuesday that the state legislature will reconvene for a special session next month to consider redistricting legislation, the latest move in the two parties’ gerrymandering arms race.
Democrats hold all but one of Maryland’s eight U.S. House seats, and the legislation to be considered during the Aug. 3-5 special session would propose a constitutional amendment that could pave the way for congressional redistricting, potentially making the state’s lone Republican-held district more favorable to Democrats.
Senate President Bill Ferguson and House Speaker Joseline Pena-Melnyk announced the special session in a joint statement saying the move is in response to the recent weakening of the Voting Rights Act by the Supreme Court and part of an effort to counter Republican redistricting in other states.
“Maryland needs a durable, transparent constitutional framework for congressional redistricting that reflects the evolving legal landscape,” the Democratic pair said in a statement.
“This special session gives the General Assembly the opportunity to respond thoughtfully to recent court decisions while ensuring that Maryland voters have the final say on any proposed constitutional changes.”
The measure would require approval from three-fifths of both the state’s Senate and House to pass, and if it does, Maryland voters would be asked in November to amend the redistricting rules to permit future congressional redistricting.
U.S. Rep. Andy Harris, Maryland’s lone GOP lawmaker in the lower chamber, has yet to comment, though the Maryland Republican Party said it plans to fight the special session.
“They want to eliminate all Republican representation and silence our voices,” it said in a late Tuesday statement.
“We will not allow that, and will fight this special session every step of the way.”
It does not appear that, if passed, the legislation would affect November’s midterm elections. However, it comes partly in response to the broader midterm redistricting fight.
President Donald Trump, who has frequently voiced concern about impeachment proceedings and investigations if Republicans lose the House, has urged GOP-led and -leaning states to redraw their maps to create new, Republican-aligned districts and increase their chances of holding onto the lower chamber.
Republicans hold a narrow 218-212 majority in the House, with one independent seat held and four vacancies.
Texas was the first to adopt the unorthodox mid-decade maps last summer. Since then, eight other GOP-led states and one Democratic-led states have changed their maps, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Though many other states have taken steps toward redistricting, some of those efforts have been held up by the courts while others, including in Georgia, were rejected by state politicians.
It also comes on the heels of a divided, conservative-leaning Supreme Court striking down Louisiana’s newly drawn congressional map as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander, and in the process weakening Voting Rights Act protections that bars election practices that dilute minority voters’ power, including by packing them into too few districts or spreading them across too many.
Among proponents of Maryland redistricting is the state’s Democratic governor, Wes Moore, who said Tuesday that his administration will work closely with the General Assembly “to ensure the state has the tools necessary to protect voters and defend fair representation.”
“Across the country, we are watching coordinated efforts to weaken voting rights, dilute Black representation and bend the rules of democracy for partisan gain — at the very moment when core protections of the Voting Rights Act have been gutted and the right to fair representation is under assault,” he said in a statement.
“Until we have national redistricting reform, Maryland will not be caught flat-footed.”
This week in Washington
News anchors are seen outside the Supreme Court of the United States as the court releases their final opinions before summer recess on Tuesday. The court upheld birthright citizenship and also state laws banning transgender women and girls from playing on school athletic teams. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
