ICYMI: Maryland Should Lead on Redistricting Reform

From The Star Democrat

Editorial Board - “The nation needs redistricting reform, and so does Maryland. So let Maryland lead the way."

“Maryland’s congressional districts weave and dip in bizarre shapes, looking more like they were scrawled by a 2-year-old on a sugar high than drawn by people serious about Maryland’s vote. The state might be better served by selecting its representatives with a game of darts in a pub.

“So when Gov. Larry Hogan appointed a panel to make recommendations on how to fix the system, it was about time. No matter what the panel came up with, it would likely have been better than the current system. …

“The current districts, drawn during the administration of Gov. Martin O’Malley, do no harm to the interests of the state’s Democratic Party, which promptly blasted the panel in a partisan and clearly self-serving statement.

“‘Larry Hogan’s hand-picked commissioners received their marching orders on the day they were appointed. The outcome was predetermined by a small group of Republican insiders, the process lacked transparency, and the recommendations are fundamentally flawed,’ the Democrats said.

“What were these fundamentally flawed suggestions? …

“The Democrats did not explain what was so fundamentally flawed about this idea. …

“The Democrats were not finished with their righteous indignation, though.

“‘Congressional districting is a national issue, and it deserves a national solution. Republicans drew the lines in six of the nation’s ten most gerrymandered states and eight of the nation’s ten most gerrymandered districts. If Larry Hogan is serious about reform, he should ask his allies in the GOP-controlled Congress to schedule hearings on legislation to provide a national solution,’ they said.

“So the logic here is that Republicans do it too, and we should wait for the federal government?

“Democrats did not offer a similar critique to Gov. Martin O’Malley when he failed to wait for federal action on gun control, a move that he now touts as groundbreaking. So their current objections are transparently petty. …

“If the governor gets to appoint the nonpartisan members, that would compromise the commission’s fairness. But the recommendations are not final. So if Democrats have any serious input they’ve been saving for later, they should bring it out now.

“We can’t think of a single compelling reason to refuse to make changes on the state level until the federal government goes along. The nation needs redistricting reform, and so does Maryland. So let Maryland lead the way.”