June 26th, 2015 by WCBC Radio
A government watchdog group filed a federal lawsuit this week challenging the constitutionality of Maryland’s congressional district map. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Baltimore by Judicial Watch, contends Maryland has some of the most gerrymandered districts in the nation. Gerrymandering is the process in which officials draw congressional districts to help their party. The lawsuit specifically cites Maryland’s 6th Congressional District in western Maryland. In the state’s 2011 redistricting process added a big chunk of Democrat-heavy Montgomery County in the suburbs of the nation’s capital to what had been a Republican stronghold in western Maryland. Critics at the time argued the move was made to target 10-term Republican Roscoe Bartlett to draw him out of office. He ended up losing the 2012 election to Democrat John Delaney, giving Democrats a 7-1 majority in the state’s eight congressional seats. Ironically, Delaney is one of the strongest critics of current re-districting system and has introduced federal legislation calling for significant changes…
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