Maryland voters approve Democratic redistricting measure to counter Trump gerrymanders

Maryland voters approved a ballot measure that changes the state’s constitution so Democrats can more easily redraw congressional districts and counteract a Trump-backed wave of Republican gerrymanders across the country, according to the Associated Press.

The result tees up state Democrats to draw a new congressional map for the 2028 election that eliminates the state’s sole Republican district.

The ballot measure asked voters to approve a constitutional tweak that would change the rules governing how the state’s congressional districts are drawn. That would simplify the redistricting process for Democrats who want to redraw electoral lines.

The measure made its way onto the ballot after the state’s Democratic lawmakers passed a proposed constitutional amendment on redistricting in August. The rule change clarifies that the state’s constitutional requirements for compact districts that respect natural and political boundaries apply only to state legislative maps, not congressional ones.

That detail is key: If districts need not adhere to compactness rules, Democrats will have more freedom to redraw them in pursuit of electoral outcomes.

Democrats currently hold seven of Maryland’s eight U.S. House seats, while U.S. Rep. Andy Harris (R) represents the Eastern Shore-based 1st Congressional District. With the rule change, Democrats can now draw a new map that dismantles Harris’ district, potentially giving them an extra seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Republicans sued to stop the proposed amendment from appearing on the midterm ballot, but the Maryland Supreme Court upheld Democrats’ plan to put it to a vote. 

Numerous polls before Election Day showed that most voters seemed skeptical of the ballot measure. The measure’s confusing ballot language — which was drafted by the Maryland Supreme Court — initially seemed to turn off voters. A controversial dark-money group spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on ads urging voters to reject the measure, which was included as “Question 3” on Maryland voters’ ballots, but to vote to reelect the state’s Democratic Gov. Wes Moore — a tactic to create a false sense that the state’s governor opposed the ballot measure.

In reality, Moore pushed Democratic lawmakers to take action on redistricting.

“I continue to believe that our country needs national redistricting reform,” Moore said in August. “But until that happens, inaction is not an option. Maryland will not be caught flat-footed while Republicans engage in political redlining that guts decades of progress that the generations before us fought for.”

In the final days of early voting, former President Barack Obama urged Maryland voters to vote yes Question 3, which helped the measure pass.