On the latest episode of the Conduit Street Podcast, Kevin Kinnally and Michael Sanderson explain the significance of new 2020 Census data for state and local redistricting, break down the nuts and bolts of Maryland's redistricting process, and detail key timelines in the scramble to draw new boundaries in time for next year's midterm elections.
The timing of Census data, somewhat delayed by the pandemic, will make the upcoming district design an unusually compressed process. While the U.S. Census this week released raw, untabulated Census data, adjusted data won't be available until September -- according to the discussion on the Conduit Street Podcast earlier this year – leaving district-drawing commissions at every level with a short timetable to develop their final work.
In Maryland, the General Assembly has principal authority to draw both congressional and state legislative district lines.
The governor, aided by an advisory commission, submits a state legislative redistricting proposal. The legislature may pass its own plan by joint resolution. If the legislature fails to approve its own plan, the governor’s plan takes effect. Congressional lines are drawn solely by the legislature.
In a landmark decision, the United States Supreme Court ruled that partisan gerrymandering challenges to electoral maps are political questions and thus beyond the reach of the federal courts, dismissing challenges by voters in Maryland and North Carolina.
The ruling held that Maryland did not have to redraw congressional election districts before the 2020 elections. Instead, the maps must be redrawn in time for the 2022 elections, in accordance with 2020 Census data.
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Previous Conduit Street Coverage
December Special Session May Loom to Tackle Congressional Re-Districting
Conduit Street Podcast: Data and Districts with Planning Sec. McCord
SCOTUS: Federal Courts Have No Role in Partisan Gerrymandering Cases
Hogan Executive Order Establishes New Redistricting Commission
President Ferguson, Speaker Jones Announce Legislative Redistricting Commission