With the clock ticking toward a Sept. 8 deadline for Missouri courts to order changes to the November ballot, Republicans are reusing tried-and-true delay tactics in an attempt to kill a voter referendum on the GOP’s latest gerrymander.
If voters were to approve the measure, it would allow Democrats to redraw Maryland’s congressional map to counter recent GOP gerrymanders ahead of the 2028 presidential election.
In what could signal an alarming new precedent, a Texas county revealed it plans to move some local candidates to new districts under a revised map drafted between the primary and general elections.
Currently, Republicans hold only one seat in the Maryland congressional delegation, but the redistricting proposal aims to flip that seat to Democrats.
Voting advocates filed a lawsuit Tuesday asking a state court to quickly put a redistricting referendum on the November ballot.
Maryland lawmakers approved a proposed constitutional amendment that would clear a major legal obstacle to redrawing the state’s congressional map before 2028, giving voters the final say on whether Maryland can fight back against President Donald Trump’s expanding wave of GOP gerrymanders
Nearly a year after voting advocates launched a campaign to prevent a pro-GOP gerrymander from taking effect in Missouri, Secretary of State Denny Hoskins (R) officially blocked the citizen-initiated referendum on the new congressional map from appearing on the ballot in November.
If the bill passes the Senate — and is then approved by voters in November — it would allow lawmakers to draw a new map to dismantle Maryland’s lone GOP-majority district ahead of the 2028 presidential election.
The Democratic-controlled legislature’s goal is to eliminate the state’s only GOP-held district, in order to counter Republican gerrymanders in Texas, Florida and other states.
The volume presents a dramatic reversal of prior Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s tenure, when he restored less than 10,000 voter’s rights during his entire four-year term.