Maryland voters will soon get the chance to decide the future of the state's congressional redistricting bid in less than two months.
After a bit of back-and-forth between lawmakers and two prior blocks from judges in Anne Arundel and Dorchester counties, the Maryland Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the Democratic-backed redistricting amendment can be added to the November ballot.
However, before officials can add the measure, lawmakers must rewrite the summary of the ballot question. The order stems from Republican accusations that the wording used in the amendment was misleading.
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Lower courts had previously ruled that lawmakers failed to abide by their own requirements when referring the amendment to the ballot.
At the heart of the case was a law passed earlier this year that set a July 1 deadline for the secretary of state to certify information about statewide ballot questions to the Maryland State Board of Elections. The same law also set a 15-day public comment period.
By the time lawmakers held their special session in August on House Bill 2100 and cleared the redistricting measure for Gov. Wes Moore's signature, the July deadline had long since passed.
Democrats previously argued that the deadline did not apply because lawmakers wrote the ballot summary themselves under constitutional authority.
Also flagged by Republican lawmakers was a violation of the single-issue requirement under the Maryland Constitution.
The state Supreme Court rejected the multiple-subject argument but concurred that the ballot wording was misleading. However, the court said that wasn't enough to prevent the amendment from going to the people.
Democrats already hold seven of Maryland's eight U.S. House seats. The proposed amendment would not change voting districts for this year's midterm elections.
But if approved by voters, it could free Democratic lawmakers to draw new congressional districts that give the party a shot at a clean sweep in the 2028 elections.
Following the Thursday ruling, Moore praised the move as a "massive victory for the people of our state and a powerful defense of our democratic process."
"This affirms what I have said from the very beginning: the final decision on how we draw our maps belongs in the hands of Marylanders, not politicians," he said in a statement.
"For over a year, I have warned that Donald Trump and Republicans across the country are working to rig the system, weaken voting rights, and make this pain permanent through aggressive mid-decade redistricting. We refuse to sit on our hands while Republicans engage in political redlining that guts decades of progress. Today's decision ensures Maryland will not be caught flat-footed against these national threats."
While redistricting efforts typically occur after new census data is released, a push for mid-decade redistricting emerged after President Donald Trump urged Republican-led states to redraw congressional districts so lawmakers could hold onto a slim House majority ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
State Del. Matt Morgan, who serves as the chair of the Maryland Freedom Caucus, blasted the court's decision in a statement, saying that "due process is something you can ignore."
"The General Assembly got caught lying on the ballot. The court did the homework for them. Two circuit courts found the question misleading and took it off the ballot," he said.
"The Supreme Court agreed that the language was misleading and violated due process. They then refused the only remedy that mattered. Instead of leaving a dishonest question off the ballot, the justices rewrote it. That is not judging a case. That is legislating from the bench."
Morgan said a review of the Thursday ruling is underway as lawmakers consider their next steps.
Republicans had hoped to gain as many as 16 additional seats this year from new U.S. House districts enacted in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee and Texas. But the Missouri Supreme Court on Thursday blocked the use of new congressional districts in the November election. Instead, it ordered a statewide vote in November on whether to uphold or reject the maps in response to a citizens' referendum petition.
Democrats hope to gain as many as five congressional seats from new districts in California and Utah this year.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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