Maryland: State commission attacks redistricting reform | Baltimore Sun

As the state’s redistricting reform commission held its first meeting at Towson University on Tuesday, co-chairman Alexander Williams Jr. noted that the group was sitting in Maryland’s 3rd Congressional District. Yet other parts of the Towson campus, Williams said, are in the 2nd Congressional District. That fact illustrates the challenge facing Williams and other members of the commission: How to create a process for drawing political maps to avoid tangled and confused districts that critics say are among the most gerrymandered in the nation. Republican Gov. Larry Hogan created the commission last month, saying he wants a constitutional amendment to put before voters in 2016 that could change how the state’s congressional and General Assembly districts are drawn. Tuesday’s meeting was the first of five scheduled around the state, and the commission’s proposal is due by Nov. 3.
Maria Pycha, a member of Baltimore County’s Republican Central Committee, said she has campaigned with many candidates who are “constantly looking at a map” to figure out which neighborhoods are in their districts. Voters are equally confused, she said. “They get very aggravated with the system,” she said.
Several elected officials, political activists and a handful of citizens told commission members the system needs reform. Most said Maryland needs some form of independent commission to draw boundaries for the political districts.
Jennifer Bevan-Dangel, executive director of Common Cause Maryland, advocated for a system similar to one used in California, where a citizen commission holds more than 100 public meetings across the state before drawing new maps.
Full Article: State commission attacks redistricting reform – Baltimore Sun.