(The Center Square) – Maryland voters approved a constitutional amendment Tuesday removing state constitutional restrictions on how congressional districts are drawn.
Voters, at the time of the call, were for the measure with about 60% of the votes.
The amendment removes Maryland constitutional districting standards from congressional maps and allows lawmakers to give the Supreme Court of Maryland authority to hear map challenges directly.
Approval does not automatically redraw congressional boundaries. Any new map would require legislative action, and federal legal requirements would remain.
The proposal followed a 2022 court ruling that struck down a congressional map for violating state constitutional requirements.
On Sept. 3, a divided Supreme Court of Maryland allowed the amendment to remain on the ballot after two lower courts ordered its removal. The justices also ordered changes to ballot language they found misleading.
Democrats held seven of Maryland’s eight congressional seats entering the election. Republicans held the 1st District.
Voters also considered constitutional amendments involving state employee bargaining and judicial oversight. Both had majority support in unofficial results reported by the Maryland State Board of Elections.
The outcomes of those two questions had not been called at the time of publication.
Question 1, the state employee bargaining measure, had 74.3% support, with 25.7% opposed.
It would require governors to include funding for agreements with state employee unions in their proposed budgets.
Related legislation would replace nonbinding fact-finding with binding arbitration for covered state employees when the state and unions cannot reach an agreement. Those changes depend on voter approval of the amendment.
Legislative analysts estimated additional arbitration and staffing costs would likely total at least $150,000 annually beginning in fiscal 2028, potentially significantly more. The General Assembly would retain authority over appropriations.
Question 2, involving Maryland’s Commission on Judicial Disabilities, had 66.8% support, with 33.2% opposed.
It would allow temporary appointments when commission members are recused, disqualified or complete their terms without replacements being appointed.
The 11-member commission investigates judicial misconduct and can take certain disciplinary actions or recommend others to the Supreme Court of Maryland.
The amendment would allow the commission chair to recall qualified former members. At the chair’s request, the governor could appoint temporary substitutes or extend current members’ service until replacements are appointed.