Eastern Shore Undercover Thoughts On Question 3

There is a question on your ballot this November that I want every voter on the Eastern Shore to understand. Question 3 would change our state constitution. It deals with how Maryland draws the districts that decide who represents us in Congress.

Here is how the question now reads, according to the State Board of Elections:

"FOR the purpose of clarifying that certain requirements apply only to districts for the election of members of the Senate of Maryland and the House of Delegates; authorizing the General Assembly to grant original jurisdiction to the Supreme Court of Maryland to review the congressional districting plan of the State; and providing that nothing in the Maryland Constitution provides applicable criteria for the boundaries of a congressional districting plan."

If you think that is hard to follow, you are not alone. On September 3, 2026, the Supreme Court of Maryland found the original wording was misleading in part and replaced it with the language above.

Simply put, a vote for Question 3 takes away the rules in our constitution for drawing congressional districts. Today those districts are expected to be compact, connected, and mindful of county lines.

The full amendment goes further than the ballot tells you. It says nothing in our constitution, "including the Declaration of Rights," sets rules for congressional district lines. Those words are in the amendment, but they are not on your ballot.

Why does this matter? In 2022, a Maryland judge threw out the state's congressional map, calling it "a product of extreme partisan gerrymandering." That ruling said our constitution requires fair, compact districts, and Question 3 would remove the rules that ruling relied on.

Earlier this year, Governor Wes Moore and House leaders pushed for a new map that could give Democrats all 8 of Maryland's seats in Congress. One concept map stretched our 1st District across the Bay Bridge into parts of Anne Arundel and Howard counties. The State Senate would not go along with it.

So in August, lawmakers returned to Annapolis for a special session to pass HB2100, the bill that put Question 3 on your ballot.

I believe that if Question 3 passes, a new map will follow, and the Eastern Shore will be split up and joined with areas across the bay. Voters are supposed to pick their politicians, not the other way around.

We should have the opportunity to pick our leaders because what is good for citizens of the Eastern Shore, certainly may not be what leaders across the bridge feel are best for citizens.

In the 2024 election, more than 1 million Marylanders voted for Republican candidates for Congress. Under a map built for an 8 to 0 result, I believe those voters would have almost no voice.

This would also be hard to undo. Fixing it later would take another amendment, and in Maryland, citizens cannot gather signatures to put one on the ballot. Only the General Assembly can do that.

Maryland has had a constitution since 1776. Changes to it should be clear to voters and should never make it easier for those in power to choose their own voters.

This is not about one party or one person. It is about fair representation for every family on the Shore.

This is why we are strongly against Question 3.

On our ballot, we will be marking the box for "Against the Constitutional Amendment."