Voters have questions on Question 3, the congressional redistricting amendment

If approved by voters, Question 3 would amend the Maryland Constitution to change the rules applying to the ways congressional districts are drawn, making it easier for the party in control to draw a map that favors it, and limiting court challenges.

Got that? Not all voters do.

The ballot question was the product of a two-day rushed special legislative session in August and it was subsequently rewritten a month later by the Supreme Court of Maryland after a two-hour hearing in which the justices found the question “misleading.” The rewrite came on the same day ballots had to go to the printer.

The rewritten version still leaves some voters, such as Linda Frazier, a Democrat from Prince George’s County, had having to read the question “two or three times” to comprehend it.

 

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For Frazier, the deciding factor was the support of Gov. Wes Moore (D), a vocal supporter of Question 3.

The measure was a response to President Donald Trump’s push get Republican-led states to redistrict this year, ahead of schedule, in an effort to gain a partisan advantage in this fall’s elections. It’s being championed by Moore and many other Maryland’s Democratic leaders with a simple message: It’s needed to combat Trump’s push in GOP-controlled state legislatures redraw maps and decrease voter representation.

For Frazier, hearing from Moore was enough. And Frazier, who voted Tuesday, said the Trump administration’s “not for the greater good.”

If passed, the bill would have no effect this year, but could affect elections in 2028, as Trump is scheduled to leave office. And the best Maryland Democrats could do is pick up one seat: Currently, seven of Maryland’s eight congressional districts are held by Democrats, with eight-term Rep. Andy Harris (R-1st) holding the only GOP seat.

Maryland’s Republican leaders are saying “partisan gerrymandering” and eliminating of their voices would be the result of Question 3 passing.

“It’s intentionally written to be confusing to the average person,” said Jason Scaggs, a Republican who’s seeking an at-large seat on the Board of County Commissioners in Calvert County.

“It gives ultimate control for all of the laws and tax and everything to one central power, and that’s not how our government was designed to work,” Suggs said on the last day of early voting Thursday. “Two [political] parties that fight and bicker back and forth … it kind of keeps everybody honest.”

Voters interviewed during the eight-day early voting period acknowledged they were confused and had to read and research the question several times. A Calvert County voter, who declined to be identified, called it a “reluctant vote” in favor of Question 3.

Even an expert in Maryland politics needed to conduct some research to understand Question 3.

“I’ve said it several times. I have a freaking Ph.D. in political science and American politics, and if I didn’t know what that amendment was about, I would have no idea what that amendment was about,” Todd Eberly, political science professor at St. Mary’s College, said in an interview this month.

“For the folks that will see it for the very first time in the voting booth, where they can’t even pull out their phone and try to Google, ‘What the heck does this mean?’” he said.