The ruling is stayed while the state appeals, leaving the Democratic-backed proposal’s fate to Maryland’s highest court.
An Anne Arundel County Circuit Court judge on Wednesday barred a proposed Maryland constitutional amendment on congressional redistricting from the November 3 ballot, dealing a setback to Democratic lawmakers seeking to enable a new U.S. House map before the 2028 elections.
Judge Robert Thompson stayed his order to give the state time to appeal to the Supreme Court of Maryland. The state filed a notice of appeal shortly after the ruling, meaning the ballot question’s status remains unresolved.
The measure, known as Question 3, would have specified that state constitutional requirements concerning compact districts and natural boundaries apply to legislative districts, rather than congressional districts. It also would have allowed the General Assembly to give the state’s highest court original jurisdiction over challenges to congressional maps.
Democrats, who hold seven of Maryland’s eight U.S. House seats, advanced the amendment during an August special session called by Gov. Wes Moore. The proposal could have cleared the way for lawmakers to redraw the Eastern Shore-based district held by Republican Rep. Andy Harris.
Thompson concluded that lawmakers had not complied with a July 1 deadline for certifying summaries of statewide ballot questions. The state attorney general’s office had argued the deadline did not govern this amendment because the legislature drafted its own summary under its constitutional authority.
The judge also found the ballot language misleading in describing the proposal as a clarification and said the amendment ran afoul of the state constitution’s single-subject requirement because it paired redistricting standards with a jurisdictional change for the Supreme Court of Maryland.
The case is part of a wider mid-decade fight over congressional maps, as both parties pursue redistricting efforts that could affect the balance of power in the U.S. House.
