A Maryland judge has ruled that Democrats’ congressional redistricting initiative cannot go on this November’s election ballot, pending an appeal.
Anne Arundel County Circuit Court Judge Robert Thompson issued the ruling Wednesday after a court hearing on the matter earlier this week.
Thompson ruled that the effort to redraw Maryland’s congressional map did not follow the state’s legal procedures for proposing such an amendment.
The case is expected to move to the Maryland Supreme Court, with the state expected to appeal the judge’s decision.
The redistricting plan would likely eliminate Maryland’s lone Republican-held seat.
🚨 A Maryland judge blocked a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow Democrats to redraw the state’s congressional map, ruling lawmakers violated ballot procedures and used misleading language. The ruling is paused pending appeal. pic.twitter.com/Dc0RHDD2BH
— SCOTUS Wire (@scotus_wire) August 26, 2026
CBS News shared further:
Gov. Wes Moore signed the measure into law earlier this month after the Democratic-controlled state legislature approved it during a special legislative session. The bill needed three-fifths approval from both chambers to move forward, and it cleared the House 96-38 and the Senate 32-13.
The Oversight Project, a conservative advocacy group, the Maryland Freedom Caucus and other Republican lawmakers then sued to block the measure from the ballot.
“The General Assembly acted because we believe Maryland voters should have the opportunity to decide whether these standards belong in our Constitution. Today’s ruling has been stayed pending appeal, and we will allow that legal process to proceed. We remain confident in the authority of the General Assembly and believe Maryland voters should have the final say,” Maryland House Speaker Joseline A. Peña-Melnyk reacted to Wednesday’s ruling.
“The court also finds that the Legislature has passed laws to codify the ordinary process and procedure for submitting proposed constitution amendments to the people and that procedure defines the ordinary due process (notice) when the people are asked to weigh in on something as important as modifying the state’s constitution,” the judge wrote in his opinion, according to WBAL-TV.
“Because the Legislature did not follow the very laws it enacted, the court finds the enactment of HB2100 to be legally deficient,” he added.
“Jeffries PERSONALLY traveled to Maryland to lobby Democrat state lawmakers to do it,” journalist Nick Sortor wrote.
🚨 JUST IN: A Maryland judge SHOT DOWN the Democrat attempt to ELIMINATE the state’s sole Republican Congressional district on the ballot this November
Jeffries PERSONALLY traveled to Maryland to lobby Democrat state lawmakers to do it.
Looks like it was for nothing 😆
Now on… pic.twitter.com/NGNE4PttJ6
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) August 26, 2026
WBAL-TV has more:
The amendment would have paved the way for Democrats to redraw Maryland’s congressional districts ahead of the 2028 elections.
Lawmakers approved sending the amendment to the ballot, seeking to sidestep a court ruling that struck down a previous Democratic redistricting plan in 2022. It would declare that a constitutional requirement for districts to be compact and take into account “natural boundaries” applies only to state legislative districts, not congressional ones.
Such language would allow Democratic state lawmakers to draw congressional districts that cross the Chesapeake Bay, reshaping a district east of the bay that is held by the state’s sole Republican member of Congress, U.S. Rep. Andy Harris, R-District 1, who is the chair of the conservative House Freedom Caucus.
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