If you have been following what I have written here regarding the mid-cycle redistricting, you will know exactly where I stand on the issue.
When writing about Texas last July, I wrote:
this all creates a level of chaos in the proceedings of the House of Representatives. Are we really going to ask each state to redistrict every two years? Are we really ok with creating an unstable House of Representatives where nobody knows what district they will be living in two years from now? Are we ok with creating a level of instability in Washington that consolidates power in the Executive Branch? Are we really good with making retention of your seat in Congress dependent on the whim of the President? Because that is where we are headed if Texas really does go through this nonsense scheme.
Here in Maryland, we have been talking about this nonsense for well over a year. Despite threatening a multi-state lawsuit against Texas for mid-cycle redistricting, Wes Moore wants Maryland to join the fray of mid-cycle redistricting. But he is going about it in a novel way.
Due to machinations from Senate President Bill Ferguson and legal precedent regarding the partisan gerrymandering of Congressional Districts, Moore and legislative Democrats railroaded a Constitutional Amendment through a Special Session of the General Assembly when nobody was paying attention. The amendment does the following:
The amendment basically lets the General Assembly pass whatever Congressional Redistricting bill it wants, regardless of compactness or contiguity.
Of course, due to the single-minded partisanship of the Democrats, this amendment is ALSO removing the same restrictions on County Council districts, City Council Districts, Board of Education Districts, and any other electoral district in the state. After all, Maryland Democrats must serve Wes Moore’s Presidential interests first and foremost at the expense of literally everything else.
Anybody who understands what’s going on knows this is a terrible change to make. But what makes matters worse is the fact that any regular citizen who reads text of Quesiton 3 will have no idea what the hell is going on.
The language, rewritten by the Maryland Supreme Court1, says:
Pursuant to the Supreme Court Order dated September 3, 2026, in Maryland State Board of Elections, et al. v. Lindsay Wheatley, et al. and Maryland State Board of Elections, et al. v. Michael L. Howell, et al., the language of Constitutional Amendment Question 3 now reads:
FOR the purpose of clarifying that certain requirements apply only to districts for the election of members of the Senate of Maryland and the House of Delegates; authorizing the General Assembly to grant original jurisdiction to the Supreme Court of Maryland to review the congressional districting plan of the State; and providing that nothing in the Maryland Constitution provides applicable criteria for the boundaries of a congressional districting plan.
(Amending Article III of the Maryland Constitution)
For the Constitutional Amendment
Against the Constitutional Amendment
While anybody who pays attention to this stuff knows what the Amendment does, regular voters who tune into politics right before the election will have no idea that this Amendment legalizes rampant, unrestricted partisan gerrymandering that serves the interests of Congressional Democrats and not the people of Maryland.
This Amendment is a hellacious combination of bad policy, poorly written legislation, and an obfuscating question that clouds voter intent. There aren’t many things on this year’s ballot that I can give my full-throated recommendation on, but this is one. The Duckpin urges a NO Vote on Question 3. The stakes are too high to let this kind of partisan chicanery pass.
Which should still be the Maryland Court of Appeals, but isn’t thanks to another stupid Constitutional Amendment.