Media Center

Yesterday evening, the Maryland Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission released four draft Congressional maps. The Commission committed to releasing draft maps by November 15 after Common Cause Maryland and partners called for greater transparency in the map drawing process.

Today, Common Cause Maryland will urge the Baltimore County Council to update draft redistricting plans to more accurately reflect the county’s rapidly growing diversity at a virtual Councilmanic Redistricting Hearing at 6:00 p.m. ET. Common Cause will urge the council to create a second minority majority district to reflect the 2020 Census population data showing Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) communities make up 47 percent of Baltimore County.

Today, the Maryland Legislative Advisory Redistricting Committee will hold a virtual public hearing at 3:00 p.m. The meeting will include an overview of the redistricting process and the state’s population data gathered from the 2020 Census. The public will be invited to provide testimony, during which Common Cause Maryland will advocate for fair maps that prioritize the interests of voters ahead the interests of any one political party or elected official.

We urge the Redistricting Commissions to ensure the mapmaking process is fair, transparent, accessible, and inclusive – allowing for timely and meaningful public input throughout the entire process.

While the Senate President and the Speaker have announced plans to host twelve in-person and virtual town hall meetings, they have not stated whether the Commission will comply with Maryland’s Open Meeting Act or whether they will solicit, accept, and consider maps submitted by the public.

We appreciate the Commission's commitment to ensuring Maryland’s line-drawing process centers community input, but are concerned the Central Region grouping may suppress the voices of Baltimore City residents.