Md. House passes Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission’s redistricting map

MARYLAND – Another step has been taken in Maryland’s redistricting process. Tuesday night, the House of Delegates voted to approve the district map proposed by the Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission’s map. The map was passed by the house with a 97 to 42 vote.

Before the vote, legislators debated about the fairness of each map. Delegate Eric Luedtke of Montgomery County argued that the Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission’s map would fit Maryland’s needs. “There a million ways to draw a map. And there are dozens of considerations you could take into account in drawing a map,” he said. “Under the rules that we have we created a Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission that undertook a thorough process of public input.”

Meanwhile, Governor Larry Hogan was backing a map put together by the Citizens Redistricting Commission. “This Commission allowed citizens, instead of politicians, to draw congressional and legislative district lines in a fair and impartial manner,” wrote Governor Hogan in his testimony to legislators. “The Commission created new district boundaries, reflected in Senate Bill 2 & House Bill 2, that are free from political influence and offer the opportunity for fair elections in Maryland.”

The Governor has promised to veto any redistricting map that he thinks is unfair. “Unfortunately, the General Assembly created the Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission, which consisted of elected officials who failed to operate in a transparent manner and created maps, resulting in House Bill 1 and Senate Bill 1,” wrote Gov. Hogan. “These maps were given an ‘F’ rating for fairness by the Princeton Gerrymandering Project, unlike the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission’s maps, which received an ‘A’ rating for fairness.”

The Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission’s map is now on to the Maryland Senate for another vote.