News Clips

“Whether it is Democrats or Republicans manipulating the election maps, gerrymanders cheat voters out of true representation,” Karen Hobert Flynn, the president of Common Cause, said in a statement. “The Supreme Court has the opportunity to set a clear standard that will restore a meaningful vote to millions of Americans disenfranchised by gerrymanders in Maryland, North Carolina and across the country.”

Were these lawyers lying in 2017? Are they lying today? Either way, the Common Cause plaintiffs rightly argue that the General Assembly should be legally prohibited from making a claim that it flatly contradicted in court one year ago.

“As a state, we were a leader in voting rights, arguably, for the decade before the 2010 shift in power,” said Bob Phillips, the executive director of Common Cause in North Carolina, a nonpartisan government watchdog group.

"When politicians feel brazen enough to not just admit but to openly declare that they are drawing political lines to rig the elections and punish certain voters, we need the Supreme Court to step in and say enough is enough," said Kathay Feng, a lawyer representing the challenges from Common Cause.

The effort was applauded Friday by the government watchdog Common Cause. “Congress is finally listening to the growing demands for reform from the American people,” the group’s president, Karen Hobert Flynn, said in a statement. “On Election Day, voters from coast-to coast sent a clear message that we are ready for bold, comprehensive democracy reforms.”

Damon Effingham, director of the Common Cause Maryland nonprofit, praised Hogan's executive order to create a commission but said enduring redistricting changes were needed. "There are limits to the commission, as without a decision from the Supreme Court or legislation from the General Assembly, Marylanders aren't guaranteed to continue having an open, non-partisan process under future governors," Effingham said.