Question 3 Passes Statewide; Calvert, St. Mary’s Vote No

ANNAPOLIS — Maryland voters have given the General Assembly a freer hand to redraw the state’s eight congressional districts, approving Question 3 by about 60% to 40%. Southern Maryland split on it: Charles County voted yes, while Calvert and St. Mary’s voters rejected the amendment.

With 1,968 of 1,979 Election Day precincts reported, the State Board of Elections shows 1,080,354 votes for the amendment and 718,687 against. The Associated Press called the measure about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, when about 43% of the vote had been counted. The results remain unofficial until certified.

What Question 3 changes

The amendment, Chapter 881 of the 2026 session, rewrites Article III of the Maryland Constitution in three ways, according to the ballot language:

• The constitution’s requirements for compact, contiguous districts apply only to state Senate and House of Delegates districts.
• Nothing in the state constitution, including the Declaration of Rights, sets criteria for congressional district boundaries.
• The General Assembly may give the Supreme Court of Maryland original jurisdiction to review the state’s congressional map.

The question does not draw a new map, and current district lines stay in place. The Maryland Association of Counties noted after the August special session that no new map could take effect before the 2028 election.

How it got to the ballot

Lawmakers returned to Annapolis in early August for a special session on congressional redistricting and passed the amendment as House Bill 2100 after a single joint committee hearing. Earlier in 2026, the House of Delegates had passed a congressional map expected to produce an 8-0 Democratic delegation, but the Senate never voted on it, WYPR reported. Senate President Bill Ferguson, who initially opposed that map, later backed sending the amendment to voters.

The question survived a court fight on the way. Lower courts ruled that the legislature missed procedural deadlines and that the ballot language was misleading. On Sept. 3, the Supreme Court of Maryland reversed both rulings and allowed the question on the ballot with revised wording.

Supporters, including Gov. Wes Moore, Democratic leaders and labor groups, campaigned for a yes vote this fall. The practical stakes center on Rep. Andy Harris, Maryland’s only Republican in Congress: approval would let the Democratic-controlled legislature draw a map that adds Democratic voters to his district, according to WYPR’s reporting. After the AP call, Moore said in a campaign email that Marylanders had used their votes to push back.

The Southern Maryland vote

The three Southern Maryland counties together favored the amendment, 68,820 votes to 58,252, but that total rests on Charles. Its 21,600-vote yes margin outweighed no votes in its two neighbors.

The county split tracks how each county voted at the top of the ballot. Republican Dan Cox carried Calvert and St. Mary’s in the governor’s race, while Charles gave Moore more than 70%. In the 5th Congressional District race, which covers all three counties, Republican Chris Chaffee carried Calvert and St. Mary’s and Democrat Adrian Boafo carried Charles.

Voters in all three counties approved the other two constitutional amendments. Question 1 requires the governor’s budget to fund state employee labor agreements, including terms set by a neutral arbitrator, and Question 2 allows temporary appointments to the Commission on Judicial Disabilities. Question 2 was close in Calvert and St. Mary’s, passing in each with about 51%.

Any new congressional map would still have to pass both chambers of the General Assembly. For county-level results, see the Chronicle’s coverage of Calvert, Charles and St. Mary’s.