Maryland lawmakers on Monday opened a three-day special legislative session to advance a constitutional amendment that would remove existing rules for drawing congressional districts, a measure set for a public vote on November 3.
In a 32-15 vote in the Senate, Democrats secured the required three-fifths majority needed to place the amendment on the ballot. The House of Delegates is expected to take up the measure later this week, where Democrats also hold a supermajority. Senate President Bill Ferguson stated before the session that he believed the votes were secured to move forward.
The proposed amendment would eliminate constitutional requirements that congressional districts be compact, connected, and drawn with regard for natural boundaries, county lines, and city lines. Current rules apply to both state legislative and congressional districts, but the amendment would restrict those standards to state legislative maps only.
Supporters of the change argue that the existing rules are outdated and that the state’s highest court has already questioned their application to congressional districts. Senate President Ferguson cited a 2022 Maryland Court of Appeals ruling that struck down a Democrat-drawn congressional map as an example of judicial overreach. He described the court’s decision as “not a binding precedent” and emphasized that voters in the 1960s rejected a similar proposal to enshrine congressional district standards in the constitution.
Opponents, including House Minority Whip Jesse Pippy, criticized the session as overly narrow and exclusionary. Pippy argued that lawmakers should address affordability issues and other legislative priorities instead of focusing solely on redistricting. “That is outrageous,” Pippy said at a news conference. “We're going to force them to vote against reducing the cost of living on our citizens, because our citizens are demanding it.”
Protesters gathered outside the State House in Annapolis, calling for lawmakers to include new congressional maps in the amendment or to address other policy concerns such as budget cuts for developmental disability services. Advocacy groups like the Meet the Moment Maryland Coalition urged legislators to clarify what voters would be deciding in November if the amendment passes.
The special session began with supporters of congressional redistricting rallying under the banner “Redistrict now,” demanding that lawmakers include specific maps in the ballot question. The amendment, if approved by voters, could clear the way for future congressional maps that favor Democrats in all eight of Maryland’s districts, according to critics of the measure.
The legislative push follows a 2021 redistricting cycle in which Democrats passed a congressional map that stretched the 1st District—represented by Republican Rep. Andy Harris—across the Chesapeake Bay to incorporate Democratic-leaning suburbs. The Maryland Court of Appeals later invalidated that map as an instance of “extreme partisan gerrymandering,” leading to a court-ordered replacement in 2022. The sponsors of the amendment contend that the court’s ruling does not set a binding precedent for future redistricting efforts.
Legislative leaders have stated that no other issues will be considered during the special session, a decision that has drawn criticism from both Republican lawmakers and advocacy groups. The amendment requires approval from both chambers before it can be placed on the November ballot.