Maryland judge blocks redistricting question from November ballot

Mennatalla Ibrahim, The Baltimore Sun on Aug 26, 2026

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BALTIMORE — An Anne Arundel County judge ruled Wednesday that Maryland’s proposed congressional redistricting amendment should be kept off the November ballot, handing Republican challengers a victory after finding that lawmakers failed to follow state election law when they rushed the measure through a special session earlier this month.

Circuit Judge Robert Thompson granted the plaintiffs’ request to block Question 3 and ordered the State Board of Elections not to include it on the Nov. 3 ballot. Thompson found that “the process used by the General Assembly to propose ballot Question 3 was deficient” and that the amendment itself improperly combined separate issues.

“While this court concludes it would be ideal for the Supreme Court of Maryland to have original jurisdiction in those cases, that is a separate issue from whether the Constitution’s compactness requirements apply to state or federal, or state and federal legislative districts,” Thompson wrote.

Thompson, at the defendants’ request, put his order on hold pending an appeal to the Supreme Court of Maryland. This means the referendum will not be immediately removed from the ballot while the state’s highest court considers the case. The ruling comes just days before election officials’ Aug. 31 deadline to certify ballots for printing.

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