Press Release
Maryland Maps Must Protect Fair Representation and Meet Common Cause Fairness Criteria
Annapolis, MD — Common Cause, the nation’s premier redistricting reform leader, is urging Gov. Wes Moore and Maryland state lawmakers to ensure that any mid-decade redistricting meets the organization’s six fairness criteria after the governor announced this week he is launching a Redistricting Advisory Commission.
“Common Cause opposes gerrymandering and has remained consistent throughout the mid-decade redistricting fight,” said Joanne Antoine, executive director, Common Cause Maryland. “But we also recognize these are unprecedented times. If this is the route the Maryland legislature decides to take, we urge them to follow our fairness criteria. We’re the People’s Lobby, and we’ll always work to protect the people’s voices.”
“President Trump set off a cycle of mid-decade redistricting when he directed Texas to find him five more Republican seats,” said Dan Vicuña, Common Cause Senior Policy Director for Voting and Fair Representation. “We developed fairness criteria to give every state engaging in a counterbalance to President Trump’s partisan power grab a clear, consistent standard that prevents long-term harm to fair representation.”
Common Cause does not endorse partisan gerrymandering and created its fairness criteria as a national framework to guide states as they navigate this escalating redistricting cycle. The criteria were developed to prevent partisan reactions—Democratic and Republican alike—from entrenching long-term inequities in representation. To date, Common Cause has evaluated mid-decade redistricting in three states: California, Missouri, and Texas. States must meet all six criteria to avoid Common Cause’s opposition.
Common Cause’s Six Fairness Criteria:
- Proportionality: Any mid-decade redistricting should be a targeted response proportional to the threat posed by mid-decade gerrymanders in other states.
- Public participation: Any redistricting must include meaningful public participation, whether through ballot initiatives or open public processes.
- Racial equity: Redistricting must not further racial discrimination or dilute the political voice of Black, Latino, Indigenous, Asian American, and Pacific Islander, or other communities of color.
- Federal reform: A public endorsement of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act, including provisions banning mid-decade redistricting and partisan gerrymandering.
- Endorsement of independent redistricting: Leaders pursuing mid-decade redistricting must publicly endorse fair, neutral redistricting processes, such as citizen-led independent redistricting commissions.
- Time-limited: Any new redistricting maps must expire following the 2030 Census.
To read more about Common Cause’s fairness criteria, click here.
To read Common Cause’s “50 State Report on Redistricting,” click here.
###