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A Maryland judge Friday threw out the Democrat-controlled state legislature’s congressional district map on account of “extreme partisan gerrymandering” and ordered it to draw a new one by March 30.
The scathing opinion, written by Anne Arundel Circuit Court Senior Judge Lynne A. Battaglia, marks a massive victory for two GOP-backed lawsuits against the state’s congressional maps.
The legislature passed that map and overrode a veto from Republican Gov. Larry Hogan late last year. The map got an “F” from the Princeton Gerrymandering Project and has the potential to eliminate Maryland’s last Republican congressman.
The Historic Maryland State House In Annapolis Was Built In 1772. (iStock)
MARYLAND COURT BLOCKS EFFORT BY DEM CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE TO DEFEND GERRYMANDERED CONGRESSIONAL MAP
“The 2021 Congressional Plan in Maryland is an ‘outlier,’ an extreme gerrymander that subordinates constitutional criteria to politician considerations,” Battaglia wrote.
The opinion said that “the right for all votes of political participation in Congressional elections, as protected by Article 7 [of the Maryland Constitution], was violated by the 2021 plan.”
“The voice of Republican voters was diluted and their right to vote and be heard with the efficacy of a Democratic voter was diminished,” it added. “The 2021 Congressional Plan is unconstitutional, and subverts the will of those governed.”
An image of the three Baltimore City congressional districts in the Maryland Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission’s final 2021 proposed map, which was adopted by the Maryland legislature. (Maryland Legislative Redistricting Advisory Committee)
HOYER SAYS DEMS SHOULD GERRYMANDER TO PREVENT ‘UNFAIR COMPETITION,’ SINCE REPUBLICANS DO IT TOO
Battaglia scheduled a hearing for April 1 at 9 a.m. to consider whether a new map drawn by the legislature complies with the Maryland Constitution and Declaration of…