Maryland's top court clears Democratic redistricting amendment for November ballot

The Wire: The Maryland Supreme Court ruled Sept. 3 that Democrats' congressional redistricting amendment can appear on the November ballot, reversing two lower court decisions that had blocked it. However, the justices ordered the ballot summary rewritten for clarity.

Why it counts: The ruling revives a measure that could let Democrats redraw the state's map and target its lone Republican, Rep. Andy Harris, in a future cycle. It keeps Maryland in the national redistricting arms race, though nothing changes for this November's midterms.

The margin: Democrats already hold seven of Maryland's eight U.S. House seats and are angling for a clean sweep. The high court reversed the bulk of the lower courts' rulings, requiring only a wording change, after lawmakers referred the amendment to the ballot last month with no Republican votes.

The fine print: The legal fight turned on process. A circuit court had blocked the measure Aug. 26, finding lawmakers ignored their own rules, including a July 1 certification deadline and a 15-day public comment period that had lapsed by the time they approved the amendment in early August. The Supreme Court held those deadlines did not invalidate the referral, but agreed the ballot language was unclear about what voters would be approving and directed that it be rewritten. The amendment itself would apply the state constitution's compactness and "natural boundaries" requirements only to legislative districts, not congressional ones, undoing the basis of a 2022 ruling that struck down an earlier Democratic map as extreme partisan gerrymandering.

The counter: Republicans, who sued to keep the measure off the ballot, took the ruling as a partial vindication and a broader loss. State Senate Minority Leader Steve Hershey said he was glad the court found the wording unfair but argued it was not the judiciary's job to fix lawmakers' work, accusing the justices of having "provided political cover for the General Assembly" by leaving what he called a misleading amendment on the ballot.

The backdrop: The saga began when Gov. Wes Moore formed a redistricting commission in late 2025, and a new map cleared the House 99-37 in February before dying in the Senate, where President Bill Ferguson refused to bring it up. Ferguson reversed course over the summer after the Supreme Court's Louisiana v. Callais decision weakened the Voting Rights Act, and Moore called the August special session that referred the amendment to voters. The push mirrors a nationwide fight touched off when President Trump urged Texas Republicans to redraw their lines, a contest that has since spread to states including Missouri, where the state's high court just blocked a GOP map days earlier.

Looking ahead: Voters decide the amendment Nov. 3, on the same ballot where Maryland's current districts stay in place for the midterms. Approval would clear the way for a mid-decade redraw as soon as 2028, potentially stretching a district across the Chesapeake Bay to unseat Harris, the House Freedom Caucus chairman. Rejection would halt the effort and leave the 7-1 map intact.