Poll finds opposition to Maryland redistricting ballot question

An effort by Democrats to re-write the standards for future Congressional redistricting efforts isn’t sitting well with a plurality of Maryland voters.

Roughly 4 in 10 voters said they oppose Question 3, according to a poll released by Protect Maryland Votes, a group that is opposing the proposed amendment to the Maryland Constitution. The poll comes just as mail-in ballots begin to go out to Maryland voters and roughly a month before early voting begins.

“This poll confirms what we have always believed, that Marylanders across party lines understand the difference between right and wrong,” Yuripzy Morgan, Republican voter and leader of Protect Maryland Votes, said in a statement.

The poll of 600 likely Maryland voters was conducted between Sept. 10 and 13 by two firms: Ragnar Research Partners and Lincoln Park Strategies, Republican and Democratic polling firms respectively. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4%.

In August, Democrats in the General Assembly pushed through an amendment to the Maryland Constitution.

Democratic super majorities in both the House and Senate easily passed the amendment along party lines.

The proposal would supersede a ruling by Judge Lynne Battaglia in a 2022 congressional redistricting challenge. Her ruling — which is not precedent — tied the recasting of congressional districts to compact and contiguous requirements in the Maryland Constitution.

Circuit Court judges in Anne Arundel and Dorchester Counties found problems with the question and ordered it stricken from the ballot. The Maryland Supreme Court similarly found problems with the question but opted to re-write it and allow it to go to voters.

Those who participated in the poll were read the question as it will appear on the ballot.

Forty-one percent said they would oppose the question while 28% said they would vote for the amendment to the Maryland Constitution. Another 3-in-10 voters said they were undecided.

“When voters hear what this amendment actually does, they reject it.,” Morgan said in her statement. “Stripping over 50 years of constitutional protections for fair and compact districts so partisan politicians can draw maps that can never be challenged in court again is wrong, and Marylanders know it.”

This story will be updated