Maryland judge temporarily blocks redistricting question from ballot

An Anne Arundel County Circuit Court judge has ordered Maryland election officials not to place a proposed congressional redistricting amendment on the November 3 ballot, but the order is stayed while the state appeals.

Judge Robert Thompson ruled August 26 that lawmakers failed to meet a July 1 deadline for certifying statewide ballot-question content. He also found that the wording of Question 3 was intentionally misleading and that the proposal improperly combined multiple subjects in one constitutional amendment.

The order directs the Maryland State Board of Elections to keep Question 3 off the general-election ballot. Because the ruling has been stayed pending appeal, however, the amendment has not been permanently removed and could still appear if the state prevails.

Maryland Supreme Court faces the next decision

Maryland has filed an appeal, sending the dispute toward the Supreme Court of Maryland. The timing is significant: the State Board of Elections is scheduled to certify the content and arrangement of the general-election ballot on August 31, including ballot questions.

The court’s decision could determine whether Maryland voters see Question 3 when ballots are finalized. The immediate dispute is procedural and constitutional. It is not a ruling on whether voters would approve the amendment’s redistricting policy.

State officials and legislative supporters say Maryland voters should decide the amendment. The challengers, including Republican lawmakers and the conservative Oversight Project, argue that the legislature must follow statutory deadlines, ballot-language requirements and constitutional limits before asking voters to amend the state constitution.

What Question 3 would change

The Maryland State Board of Elections’ official text says the proposed amendment would clarify that certain standards in the Maryland Constitution apply only to districts used to elect members of the General Assembly. It would also require the criteria for congressional-district boundaries to be determined by applicable federal law and authorize the General Assembly to grant the Supreme Court of Maryland original jurisdiction to review the state’s congressional districting plan.

The legislature referred the amendment to voters, and Gov. Wes Moore signed the legislation on August 5. The proposal has not been approved by voters. It would not immediately redraw Maryland’s congressional districts or change the 2026 midterm elections.

If approved, the amendment’s potential effect would begin with congressional maps used for elections starting in 2028. The change could make it legally easier to draw congressional districts that cross the Chesapeake Bay, a possibility that has drawn attention because it could affect the district represented by Republican Rep. Andy Harris. The political outcome of any future map would remain uncertain.

Why ballot language is central to the case

Judge Thompson treated the ballot wording as a separate problem from the deadline dispute. He ruled that the summary’s description that the amendment merely “clarifies” Maryland’s redistricting standards was intentionally misleading. He also found that combining redistricting standards with a provision concerning the Supreme Court of Maryland’s original jurisdiction violated the state’s single-subject requirement.

Those findings are being challenged on appeal. They illustrate how voter-facing language and election-administration deadlines can become decisive parts of redistricting litigation: a court may prevent a proposal from reaching the ballot without deciding whether voters would ultimately support the policy itself.

For Maryland voters, the practical takeaway is that Question 3’s appearance on the November 3 ballot remains unsettled. The July 1 certification deadline is central to the lawsuit, while August 31 is the state’s deadline to certify the general-election ballot. The broader election-law question is whether procedural and constitutional challenges can determine when voters do—or do not—get to decide redistricting policy.

Sources

• Associated Press report on the August 26 ruling
• Maryland State Board of Elections ballot-question page
• CBS Baltimore report on the ruling and appeal