By Steve Crane | Editor-in-chief
“The General Assembly claimed the prerogative to draft the question; it should bear the consequences of drafting a misleading one. It is not our job to rewrite the question for the General Assembly.” - Maryland Supreme Court Justice Steven Gould, dissenting from his colleagues who said a misleading ballot question on redistricting could still be presented to voters if the question was rewritten, which the court did.
It was just one month ago that lawmakers muscled a constitutional amendment on redistricting through a special legislative session, and there are just two months until Election Day. Welcome to the eye of the hurricane. And thank goodness it’s Friday.
The Supreme Court of Maryland ruled Thursday that, despite flaws, a proposed constitutional amendment on congressional redistricting can go to voters this fall. The emergency ruling, which came over a sharp dissent from two justices, reversed two lower courts and kicks what could have been a ho-hum election season into high gear. Bryan P. Sears has that story.
Despite vowing to do “anything necessary” to secure this fall’s elections, including the possibility of deploying troops, President Donald Trump is actually sharply limited on what he can legally do, experts and elections officials say. But they’re still taking steps to safeguard elections against any federal intrusion, as Jennifer Shutt reports.
If that’s not enough, we also have the latest White House court maneuvering on mail voting, apologies from Prince George’s County school officials for bus headaches and continuing problems with Gunpowder River runoff, plus other headlines from the week. The weekend’s almost here. In the meantime read up, and enjoy!
Assistant Attorney General Daniel Kobrin argued to the Maryland Supreme Court that a proposed constitutional amendment on redistricting can go to voters this fall. Behind Kobrin, Republican state lawmakers who challenged the amendment listen to arguments. (Screenshot, Supreme Court of Maryland)
By Bryan P. Sears
A proposed ballot question that could set new standards for the way congressional maps are drawn in Maryland will go to voters in November, the Supreme Court of Maryland ruled Thursday evening.
The order from a divided high court overturned two lower courts that had sided with state Republicans who challenged the proposed amendment to the Maryland Constitution. The Thursday evening order also came as an end-of-the-day deadline to finalize the ballot for printing approached, ending a whirlwind month of legislative and judicial action over the proposal.
In an eight-page order, Chief Justice Matthew J. Fader agreed with judges in Anne Arundel and Dorchester counties who ruled that the ballot question as written by the General Assembly "is misleading” — but the remedy for that is for court to rewrite the question, which he did.
In a scathing dissent, Justice Steven B. Gould, writing for himself and Senior Justice Glenn T. Harrell, said it’s not the job of the courts to correct legislators’ errors, and the ballot question would have the effect of stripping away “sacred rights” guaranteed in the Maryland Declaration of Rights.
Karen Kost took part in the North Dakota primary election early voting available June 3, 2026, at City Hall in Casselton, North Dakota. (Photo by Dan Koeck/North Dakota Monitor)
By Jennifer Shutt
President Donald Trump said earlier this year he’d “do anything necessary to make sure we have honest elections” this fall, declining to rule out sending the National Guard or federal law enforcement officers to polling locations throughout the country. Those comments came a few months after Trump casually and briefly mentioned canceling the midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.
Any such actions would lie outside the bounds of presidential power and the law, according to experts interviewed by States Newsroom. With two months until voting ends on Nov. 3, the administration’s only publicly disclosed plan to monitor elections is a decades-old Justice Department program that sends federal workers throughout the country.
Nonetheless, one Democratic U.S. senator is sending letters to numerous members of the administration asking for commitments troops won’t be sent to the polls, and state officials say they are readying plans to keep voting secure.
IN OTHER NEWS
White House presses again for mail-in ballot restrictions: The administration again asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a lower court and let it enforce a U.S. Postal Service rule restricting mail-in voting that critics say will create electoral chaos.
Fussing over busing: Less than two weeks after about 10,000 students were left waiting for school bus assignments, Prince George’s County Public Schools leaders are apologizing to families and explaining what they’re doing to fix the problems.
GSA yanks hundreds of security clearances: The General Services Administration terminated security clearances of several hundred employees following an audit aimed at ensuring only GSA staff with a need to access classified information have clearance.
Muddy Gunpowder: Months after developers agreed to a record $4.1 million in penalties and compensation to settle a four-year run of alleged pollution violations, runoff from a housing development continues to foul Foster Branch and the Gunpowder River.
MATTERS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED
Cutting rates by cutting energy-efficiency program: Maryland utilities proposed cuts to the EmPOWER Maryland program, which could save customers $9 on monthly bills. But advocates warn that there are long-term costs to shrinking the program.
More scrutiny for Somerset school book policy: A Somerset County School Board policy that makes young adult books in school libraries unavailable to almost all county students is a violation of state law and the First Amendment, opponents argue.
Immigrant children adrift: The Trump administration's decision to pull funding for a network of nonprofits that represent children who immigrated without parents or papers has left immigrant and legal aid groups in Maryland scrambling to continue services.
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