“Annapolis Democrats spent taxpayer dollars on a special mission for one reason: To rewrite the Maryland Constitution and eliminate the last remaining Republican congressional seat,” state Del. Matt Morgan (R-St. Mary’s) said in a press release announcing the lawsuit. “Like a banana republic, they suspended the rules, ignored statutory deadlines, and treated the Constitution as an obstacle to be removed.”
Maryland conservatives have filed a lawsuit against a proposed redistricting initiative that, if approved, could lead to the elimination of the state’s last remaining Republican-held congressional seat.
According to Maryland Matters, the lawsuit was filed shortly after lawmakers ended a special legislative session to pass the ballot question. If the referendum is approved by voters in November, it could give Democrats the power to redraw the state’s congressional map, effectively eliminating Republican Rep. Andy Harris’s district.
“Annapolis Democrats spent taxpayer dollars on a special mission for one reason: To rewrite the Maryland Constitution and eliminate the last remaining Republican congressional seat,” state Del. Matt Morgan (R-St. Mary’s) said in a press release announcing the lawsuit. “Like a banana republic, they suspended the rules, ignored statutory deadlines, and treated the Constitution as an obstacle to be removed.”
Maryland Democrats have floated redistricting as a means to push back against President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly and explicitly called for Republican-dominated states to gerrymander their own maps. Some states, like Maryland, California, and Virginia, introduced their own redistricting initiatives in response.
The Maryland lawsuit is largely technical, arguing that Democrats missed a July deadline for putting questions on the November ballot, among other procedural errors and oversights. It names defendants including Gov. Wes Moore, Attorney General Anthony Brown, and the state Board of Elections.
“They hurt due process. They hurt peoples’ rights to weigh in on this,” Morgan said. “They blatantly missed the dates, and then they tried to cover it up with some legal language.”
Maryland Matters notes that the bill passed earlier this week contains language indicating that the ballot question should be presented to voters “notwithstanding any other provision of law.” Republicans say this caveat is insufficient, as it would take “ordinary legislation” to change the deadline and permit for the late introduction of a referendum item.
“This error is not harmless because the deadlines are integral to voter’s [sic] Due Process Clause rights,” the lawsuit alleges.
Attorney General Moore, for his part, said that Maryland Democrats are prepared to defend the legislation as necessary.
“So we’ve been working very closely with not just members of the General Assembly, not just with the Attorney General’s office, but also constitutional experts—both Maryland and federal constitutional experts—because we wanted to make sure that we didn’t just get this done, but that we got this done right,” Moore said on Wednesday.
Sources
House Freedom Caucus sues to block Maryland redistricting referendum from November ballot
Maryland Republicans file lawsuit challenging redistricting ballot question
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