As the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission builds toward unveiling legislative maps, the governor is encouraging public participation.
Gov. Larry Hogan, in a news release, said he is encouraging the public to get involved in order to maintain free and fair elections in the state. The redistricting commission is made up of Republicans, Democrats, and people not affiliated with either party and no members are elected officials nor are candidates for office.
“This is what real nonpartisan redistricting looks like: fairness, transparency, and accountability,” Hogan said in the release. “While the Citizens Commission has already published draft maps and held dozens of public meetings, the legislature’s backroom partisan process is run by career politicians, has released no draft maps, and has no map portal for citizen input. I encourage all Marylanders to take part in the process and comment on the independent Commission’s maps. We want to make sure that this time the people of Maryland are actually drawing these maps – not the politicians or the party bosses.”
The commission recently sent an update to Hogan, according to the release, regarding how it is engaging the public.
“As a mix of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, our members have embraced our charge to create new district boundaries that are free from political influence and offer the opportunity for free and fair elections in Maryland,” the Commission stated in a recent update to the governor. “We are continuing to engage the community and urge their participation in this very open, public, and transparent process. We will finalize our commission’s map plans and present them to you for your consideration. You can expect these final map recommendations by early November.”
The commissioner had held 32 public meetings and has received more than 80 maps from members of the public.
In an Oct. 15 letter to the governor from commission members Dr. Kathleen Hetherington, Walter Olson, and Judge Alexander Williams Jr., the commission said it was entering the final stages of the project and has “worked diligently to meet the goals set forth” in Hogan’s executive order that created the commission.
The commission, who has been meeting since May 5, according to the release, is currently finishing up a second round of public meetings where residents were able to submit their maps for both state and federal offices.
Maps, according to the release, will be posted on the commission’s website for public review.
“We are encouraging the public to again submit their own map recommendations during the third round,” the letter reads, and there is time “left at the end of this last round to modify the maps as appropriate.”
The commission reported in the letter that more than 3,611 residents attended one of the virtual meetings and social media posts have garnered more than 45,138 impressions on Twitter and more than 80,000 views on Facebook.
