Thursday, October 18, 2012
How will you vote on the Congressional redistricting plan on Nov. 6?
In addition to more notable referendum questions such as same-sex marriage, DREAM Act and expanded gambling, Maryland voters will also be asked to decide the fate of the state's recently redrawn congressional districts. Earlier this week, Comptroller Peter Franchot announced he intends to vote against the maps and asked voters to do the same. The comptroller said the recent maps drawn by Gov. Martin O'Malley and approved by the General Assembly are unfair and make Maryland "the poster child for gerrymandering." A spokeswoman for the governor noted that the maps have survived a number of challenges in the courts and that the process used to create them is legally sound. Voters on Nov. 6 will be asked to vote for the referred law or against …
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
A letter to the editor from Antonio Campbell, president of Marylanders for Coherent & Fair Representation.
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Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Over a year ago, Marylanders for Coherent and Fair Representation was formed as a 501c4 non-partisan organization to begin a dialogue of how the Congressional Districts of the State of Maryland should be drawn. Last fall, through the federal court case, we argued that a 3rd Majority-minority coalition district of African-Americans and Latino voters should be created in the suburbs of the District of Columbia. Earlier this year, MCFR began the petition effort to place the map before the voters of Maryland. After four months, with a lot of hard work by hundreds of dedicated volunteers, we were successful turning in over 65,000 signatures in July. This past week, several Democratic elected officials including the Comptroller of the State of…
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Comptroller says Maryland "is the poster child for gerrymandering" and urges voters to vote no on Question 5.
Democratic Comptroller Peter Franchot said Monday he supports his party's candidates but that recent redistricting of Maryland's congressional is too heavy-handed. "This map is way over the edge in terms of bare-knuckle politics," said Franchot. "I'm a proud Democrat. I support Democrats. I just want it to be fair and not fixed," Franchot said, comparing the redistricting process to "Boss Tweed-style Chicago politics." Franchot Tuesday called for an independent, non-partisan commission that would redraw the congressional and state legislative districts. The change would help restore faith in the political system, he said. The comptroller said the districts should be more compact in order to provide voters with better representation. He …
Dana Schwartz
2:33 am on Wednesday, November 7, 2012
How can there be so many jerks in this state? This was not about Dems vs Reps, it was about disenfranchisement and too much power in the hands of people we didn't vote for! Very disappointed. It's an embarrassment being "the most gerrymandered state in the US". It's time for an amendment instituting term limits for MD legislators! more ›