Maryland House approves constitutional amendment clarifying redistricting rules

Campaign Maryland House approves constitutional amendment clarifying redistricting rules Comments: by Julia Mueller - 08/04/26 2:04 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Julia Mueller - 08/04/26 2:04 PM ET Comments: Link copied

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Lawmakers in the Maryland House on Tuesday passed a constitutional amendment to clarify rules around redistricting as the national fight over congressional lines promises to rage beyond the midterms.

Delegates voted 96-38 to pass House Bill 2100, which now heads to the Maryland Senate for approval. The Senate’s Education, Energy, and the Environment panel was debating their version of the bill on Tuesday afternoon.

If approved by the Senate, the proposed amendment would go before voters in the next election. The bill must pass by Wednesday to meet a deadline to make the ballot this cycle.

The bill could give Democrats more latitude to draw congressional lines in their favor. It clarifies that certain parameters on redistricting, related to a 2022 court decision that struck down a 2021 map, apply only to state Assembly districts, not congressional maps. It authorizes the General Assembly to give the Maryland Supreme Court “original jurisdiction” to review congressional redistricting plans.

“This legislation does not draw congressional districts. It does not change a single line on a map. And it does not affect the upcoming 2026 election,” said Maryland House Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk in a statement to multiple local outlets.

“It simply clarifies Maryland law and gives voters the opportunity to decide whether our Constitution should provide the same legal framework available to other states as they confront the realities of congressional redistricting.”

Democrats already hold seven of the state’s eight House districts, but lawmakers have been debating moves that could give them total control of the delegation after Republican-friendly redistricting has padded the GOP’s margins in other states.

Republicans in the state Assembly broadly oppose the plan being considered, but Democrats hold the majority in both chambers and the proposal is expected to eventually advance to voters.

Democrats in Maryland earlier this year tried and failed to advance a separate redistricting proposal that would have redrawn congressional lines in their favor, after Gov. Wes Moore (D) spearheaded a redistricting commission late last year to explore redrawing the state’s congressional map mid-decade. The bill cleared the state House but stagnated in the Senate, despite pressure from national Democrats.

The conversations and proposals are part of a broader fight after Republican-friendly redistricting in Texas and a Democrat-led response in California ramped up a nationwide arms race over district lines.

Republicans have a 218-213 hold on the U.S. House, and Democrats would need to net just three seats in November to flip the lower chamber this fall, raising the stakes for redistricting changes in this and future cycles.

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