Maryland election officials are being sued by a group of state residents who say the state’s newly adopted congressional redistricting map discriminates against blacks and other minorities. The lawsuit, filed in federal court on Thursday, charges that gerrymandering was used to underrepresent minorities in the state’s new map, which the General Assembly approved in a special session last month. The suit names as defendants Linda H. Lamone, the state administrator of elections, and Robert L. Walker, the chairman of the State Board of Elections.

“This plan intentionally discriminates against minority groups by drawing districts that fracture minority communities for the benefit of white incumbents,” according to the lawsuit, which nine citizens filed jointly in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt.