Maryland general election, November 3, 2026
Can you tell what Question 3 does?
The 69-word sentence on your ballot does not say what your vote does. Below, we take it apart and write that in.
Take it apart
Four phrases hide what it does.
Here is the sentence as printed. Switch to plain words to see what each highlighted phrase means.
FOR the purpose of clarifying1 that certain requirements2 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 jurisdiction3 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 criteria4 for the boundaries of a congressional districting plan.
- 1
clarifying
A judge called this word misleading.
The judge’s reason: in 2022 a court had already used these rules on congressional maps. So this is a change, not a clarification. The word stayed on the ballot anyway.
- 2
certain requirements
These are the rules for drawing districts.
Districts must be compact, connected and equal in population, and respect county lines and natural borders. The amendment keeps these rules for state legislature districts and drops them for Congress.
- 3
grant original jurisdiction
A court case over the map could skip the lower courts.
If someone takes the map to court, lawmakers could send the case straight to the state’s top court, the Supreme Court of Maryland.
Today
- Starts here
- Can end here
If Question 3 passes
- Skipped
- Starts here
- 4
nothing in the Maryland Constitution provides applicable criteria
The state constitution would set no rules for congressional maps.
That includes the Declaration of Rights, which a judge used in 2022 to throw out a map. The ballot leaves those words out. Two justices said voters wouldn’t understand that from this wording.
In this site’s words, not the ballot’s
What your vote does.
- A vote FOR
- The state constitution would set no rules for drawing districts for Congress. Lawmakers could send any court case over the map straight to the state’s top court.
- A vote AGAINST
- The state constitution keeps the rules it has today.
Go deeperThe state’s official summary
The state’s own summary, written by legislative staff and approved by the Attorney General. It’s published for voters but not printed on the ballot.
This constitutional amendment would clarify that the districting standards in Article III, § 4 of the Maryland Constitution apply only for the election of members of the Senate of Maryland and House of Delegates.
Currently, under Article III, § 4 of the Maryland Constitution, each legislative district must consist of adjoining territory, be compact in form, and of substantially equal population. Additionally, due regard is to be given to natural boundaries and the boundaries of political subdivisions. In a 2022 ruling, the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County held that those districting standards apply to congressional districts as well as districts for the election of members of the General Assembly.
Additionally, the constitutional amendment would establish that nothing in the Maryland Constitution, including the Declaration of Rights, provides applicable criteria for the boundaries of a congressional districting plan.
Finally, the constitutional amendment would grant the General Assembly the power to grant original jurisdiction to the Supreme Court of Maryland to review the congressional districting plans of the State. Under current law, a legal challenge brought in State court to a congressional districting plan must be made in a Maryland circuit court.
Side by side
The plain-language law passed without a single no vote. By August, Question 3 was exempted from it.
Senate 44–0, House 135–0, signed May 12. On August 3 a 99–36 amendment put Question 3 on the ballot “notwithstanding any other provision of law,” which the legislature’s own analysts said “effectively exempts” it from the rules on timing and wording.
- Feb. 5Senate, 44–0
- Apr. 13House, 135–0
- May 12Signed
- June 1In effect
July 1 deadline
- July 17Session called
- Aug. 3–5Exemption added
- By Aug. 14Posted, no for/against
- Aug. 26Judge blocks it
- Sept. 3Court rewrites it
- Nov. 3Election day
Dates from the General Assembly’s bill records, the State Board of Elections and the courts’ opinions. “Exempts” is the word of the legislature’s own analysts.
It didn’t have to read this way.
Questions 1 and 2 on the same ballot say what your vote does. Question 3 does not.
- Question 198 of 156 words
- Question 30 of 69 words
Question 1, as printed
Providing that each budget submitted by the Governor shall include proposed expenditures necessary to implement wages, hours, fringe benefits, health benefits, and other terms and conditions of employment in each collective bargaining memorandum of understanding with State employees, whether the State and State employees reached those terms and conditions by mutual agreement or through a neutral decider's order.
A vote FOR this amendment means that the Governor has to include money in the proposed State budget to pay for agreements between the State and its employees. Agreements might include changes to wages, hours, fringe benefits, health benefits, and other terms and conditions of employment. The Governor must put enough money in the State budget to cover the agreed upon pay and benefits for employees, whether those terms were negotiated or decided by a neutral decision-maker.
A vote AGAINST the amendment means that the law about funding agreements between the State and State employees stays the same.
- For the Constitutional Amendment
- Against the Constitutional Amendment
Question 3, as printed
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.
Nothing printed here. What it could have said, in this site’s words:
A vote FOR: The state constitution would set no rules for drawing districts for Congress. Lawmakers could send any court case over the map straight to the state’s top court.
A vote AGAINST: The state constitution keeps the rules it has today.
- For the Constitutional Amendment
- Against the Constitutional Amendment
Two judges ruled against the question as posted. On September 3, the Supreme Court of Maryland found one clause misleading and swapped in the bill’s own purpose paragraph. That is the sentence on your ballot, rewritten two months before the election. Two justices dissented.
“The General Assembly claimed the prerogative to draft the question; it should bear the consequences of drafting a misleading one.”
Go deeperThe law, and how Question 3 got past it
- 2020Senate Bill 56Passed the Senate 45–0. Died in the House.
- 2024Senate Bill 495Passed the Senate 40–7. Died in the House.
- 2025Senate Bill 615Passed the Senate 47–0. Died in the House.
- 2026Senate Bill 29Passed 44–0 and 135–0. Signed May 12. In effect June 1.
The law says each ballot question must describe its change in plain words and say what each vote would do. The Secretary of State certifies the wording by July 1, and the public gets 15 days to comment on it.
July 17. The governor calls a special session for August 3, sixteen days after that deadline.
August 3. A committee amendment, adopted 99 to 36, says the question goes on the ballot “notwithstanding any other provision of law.” The legislature’s own analysts wrote that this “effectively exempts the ballot question from existing statutory requirements governing the timing and content of ballot questions.” The question went up without any statement of what a vote for or against would do.
In court, the state argued that the law did not apply. Its reason: the legislature wrote the question itself. Judge Robert Thompson disagreed: “the legislature did not follow the very laws it enacted.” Senate President Bill Ferguson said the bill “keeps existing law whole.” Delegate Matt Morgan, who sued, said lawmakers “blatantly missed the dates, and then they tried to cover it up with some legal language.”
September 3. The Supreme Court of Maryland ruled the missed deadlines were not a reason to keep Question 3 off the ballot, and rewrote the question. Justice Steven Gould, dissenting: “The General Assembly claimed the prerogative to draft the question; it should bear the consequences of drafting a misleading one.”
Go deeperHow hard is it to read? A grade-level score
- Question 3, as printedGrade 34, off the scale
- Question 1, as printedGrade 28, off the scale
- Question 1’s “what your vote means”Grade 12
- This site’s sentence in plain wordsGrade 6
- This site’s “what your vote does”Grade 6
You’re not alone
I don’t understand the amendment.
The most common answer in a poll for the campaign that supports Question 3. Both sides’ polls read voters the exact text.
Supporters’ poll
Asked with the ballot’s own words
- 40 for
- 25 undecided
- 35 against
Opponents’ poll
Asked with the ballot’s own words
- 28 for
- 31 undecided
- 40 against
- 1 not reported
Independent poll
Asked in plain words
- 25 for
- 19 undecided
- 53 against
- 3 not reported
“A vote FOR Question 3 eliminates the state’s requirement that congressional districts be compact and connected, removing constraints on how state lawmakers can draw congressional district lines. A vote AGAINST keeps those requirements in place.”
Read the ballot’s words, and a quarter to a third of voters can’t decide. Asked in plain words, a majority is against it.
Go deeperHow to read these polls
UMBC asked a different question from the two campaign polls. It read voters a plain description of each vote instead of the ballot’s words. So the numbers aren’t a direct comparison. UMBC’s note: “Official ballot language is often written to meet legal requirements, not readability.”
Each campaign paid for its own poll, and each has a margin of error of about 4 points. In the Fight Back Maryland poll, support rose to 53% and undecided fell to 11% after voters heard an argument for it. How the question is explained changes the answer.
Why we’re against it
It removes the rules that stopped Maryland’s last gerrymander.
In 2022, a Maryland judge threw out the state’s congressional map. She used two parts of the state constitution to do it: its rules for drawing districts and its Declaration of Rights. Question 3 would make neither apply to congressional maps.
“the 2021 Plan is an outlier and a product of extreme partisan gerrymandering.”
First it came with a map. Then it came alone.
The map reached across the Bay. It took out Cecil and Harford, which voted for Trump, and added parts of Anne Arundel and Howard, whose counties voted for Harris by 14 and 41 points.
- Feb. 2The House passes House Bill 488: Question 3’s first two clauses plus a new map of all eight districts.
- ThenThe Senate never votes on it.
- Aug. 3–5A three-day special session passes the first part on its own. That is Question 3.
- Sept. 3The Supreme Court of Maryland rewrites its ballot wording.
The map that came with Question 3The 1st District, held by Republican Rep. Andy Harris. Hover or tap a county for its facts.
Eastern Shore’s share of the district 59%
Today’s 1st District 771,925 people
- CarolineTrump +38
- CecilTrump +31
- Queen Anne’sTrump +28
- WorcesterTrump +22
- SomersetTrump +17
- DorchesterTrump +15
- HarfordTrump +14
- WicomicoTrump +5
- KentTrump +3
- TalbotEven
- Part of Baltimore Countycounty-wide voteHarris +24
- The whole district todayTrump +17
County votes: State Board of Elections, 2024, the whole county for the parts. District figures: The Banner’s analysis, Feb. 2, 2026.
Our view: this is the kind of map Question 3 clears the way for. It reaches across the Bay for counties that voted the other way, so the Eastern Shore, which went for Trump by 19 points, would be outnumbered in its own district.
Supporters say
Republican-led states have redrawn their maps mid-decade, and Maryland should not hold itself to stricter rules than they do. Voters, not courts, should decide.
Our answer
Other states redrawing their maps is a reason to push for fair rules everywhere, not to give up Maryland’s own. And a change this large should not reach voters on a ballot that does not say what it does.
Today
Seven Democrats and one Republican. Andy Harris holds the 1st, the only seat his party has in the state.
Under House Bill 488
The 1st becomes a district Harris carried by 14 points, by The Banner’s analysis. The bill redraws the other seven too.
Our view: a map drawn for eight seats of eight.
Delegation: House Clerk, October 2026. Votes: State Board of Elections, 2024. The 1st under the bill is House Bill 488’s, by county, parts hatched; its lean is The Banner’s analysis, Feb. 2, 2026.
Go deeperWho lives in the district, and what The Banner found
- Eastern Shoreall nine counties
- 59%455,409 people
- Harford and part of Baltimore County
- 41%316,516 people
- Eastern Shoreeight counties; Cecil moved out
- about 46%351,446 people
- Parts of Anne Arundel and Howardacross the Bay
- about 54%about 420,500 people
Population from the 2020 Census as adjusted by Maryland. House Bill 488 prints no district totals, so its shares are estimates.
The bill would trade Cecil, Harford and part of Baltimore County for parts of Anne Arundel and Howard, across the Bay. The Banner described it as “excising Cecil and Harford counties” and “adding more liberal voters from parts of Anne Arundel and Howard counties.” By its count, that turns a district Donald Trump won by 17 points into one Kamala Harris would have won by 14.
Go deeperBefore the bill, and what each side said
The 1st District has elected Andy Harris since 2010. The House passed House Bill 488 on February 2, 99 to 37. Its summary opens with nearly the same two clauses as Question 3’s ballot text, then redraws all eight districts for 2026 through 2030.
This January, the governor’s redistricting commission voted 3–2 for a map concept that would stretch the 1st District, the state’s only Republican-held seat, from the Eastern Shore over the Bay Bridge into Anne Arundel and Howard counties. Senate President Bill Ferguson, who voted no, said it “breaks apart more neighborhoods and communities than our existing map.” That concept did not become law. Question 3 would remove the state rules a map like it could be challenged under.
House Minority Leader Jason Buckel said the commission’s aim was “to rid Maryland of any Republican representation in Congress and disenfranchise voters in Western Maryland and the Eastern Shore.”
The bill’s lead sponsor, Del. C.T. Wilson: “This map is not about getting eight Democrats. It’s about getting eight congressmen — Republicans or Democrats — to stand up against this poorly veiled autocratic autocracy.”
Maryland Matters, January 21, 2026; The Banner, February 2, 2026.
Go deeperThe district maps: the 1st District by county, and all eight districts
- Whole county in the district
- Part of the county
Drawn by county from the official district lists; not precinct-exact.
Question 3 doesn’t draw a new map. It changes the rules the next one has to follow. In the 2022 court case, the challengers’ expert counted 21 county splits in the 2012 plan; for today’s plan, the State’s lawyer counted 9 and the challengers 9 or 10. Different people counted with different methods, so they are not a like-for-like comparison.
Map shapes: U.S. Census Bureau.
Go deeperHow it got here, day by day
- Governor’s commission backs a map concept, 3–2
- House passes HB 488: a new map plus Question 3’s clauses
- Plain-language ballot law signed
- Deadline to certify ballot questions
- Governor calls a special session
- Early voting
- Election day
- Special session passes Question 3
- Judge blocks it: “clarifies” is misleading
- Second judge rules against it
- Supreme Court rewrites the ballot text
The governor signs a plain-language law for ballot questions. Each question must now say, in plain words, what a vote for and a vote against would do. It takes effect June 1.
The new law’s deadline to certify this year’s ballot questions.
The governor calls a special session for August 3.
A committee amendment, adopted 99 to 36, says the question goes on the ballot “notwithstanding any other provision of law.” The legislature’s analysts: it “effectively exempts the ballot question from existing statutory requirements governing the timing and content of ballot questions.”
The General Assembly passes the amendment in a three-day special session. It writes its own ballot question. That question says the amendment “requires the criteria for boundaries of congressional districts to be determined by applicable federal laws.”
An Anne Arundel County judge blocks the question. He finds the word “clarifies” misleading and notes the question does not explain what a vote for or against means.
A Dorchester County judge also rules against it.
The Supreme Court of Maryland finds the federal-law clause misleading and a violation of due process. It rules the missed deadlines are not a reason to block the question. A majority swaps in the bill’s own purpose paragraph. That is the text above.
Justice Gould dissents, joined by Senior Justice Harrell: the replacement “remains misleading,” and the legislature “should bear the consequences of drafting a misleading one.”
Voters decide.
It’s happened before
92%
of Maryland’s statewide ballot questions passed from 1996 through 2020, and all six in 2022 and 2024. Most passed easily. These three were fought over for their wording, and all three passed.
1996–202033 of 36 passed
2022–20246 of 6 passed
Your turn: three real lines Maryland wrote for its ballots. One at a time.
1 of 3
On the ballot, 2012
Establishes the boundaries for the State’s eight United States Congressional Districts based on recent census figures, as required by the United States Constitution.
What did a vote for this do?
2012 · Question 5
Passed, 64.05%
The question never said the map was contested, or who drew it.
Read the ballot (23 words)
Establishes the boundaries for the State’s eight United States Congressional Districts based on recent census figures, as required by the United States Constitution.
23 words1 sentence Opponents had petitioned this map to the ballot to repeal it. The text never said it was contested, or who drew it. Seven editorial boards urged a no vote.
Six years later at the U.S. Supreme Court, Chief Justice Roberts raised the challengers’ claim that the wording was “opaque.” Justice Breyer read it aloud and said, “It doesn’t even tell you there what establishes it.”
2008 · Question 2
Passed, 58.7%
“To Fund Education,” said the title. Less than half the money went to the education fund.
Read the ballot (103 words)
Authorizes the State to issue up to five video lottery licenses for the primary purpose of raising revenue for education of children in public schools, prekindergarten through grade 12, public school construction and improvements, and construction of capital projects at community colleges and higher education institutions. No more than a total number of 15,000 video lottery terminals may be authorized in the State, and only one license may be issued for each specified location in Anne Arundel, Cecil, Worcester, and Allegany Counties, and Baltimore City. Any additional forms or expansion of commercial gaming in Maryland is prohibited, unless approved by a voter referendum.
103 words3 sentencesHighlighted word added by court order The draft said the licenses were “for the purpose of raising revenue for education of children in public schools.” Less than half the proceeds, 48.5%, went to the education fund. The League of Women Voters objected and opponents sued. The courts’ fix was one word.
Governors of both parties then used the casino money to replace existing school funding. In 2018, 89% of voters passed a “lockbox” amendment to require what many thought they had approved ten years earlier.
2024 · Baltimore City Question F
Passed, 60.15%
One sentence. A judge found it not easily understandable.
Read the ballot (131 words)
Question F is for the purpose of amending the provision dedicating for public park uses the portion of the city that lies along the Northwest and South Shores of the Inner Harbor, south of Pratt Street to the water's edge, east of Light Street to the water's edge, and north of the highway to the water's edge, from the World Trade Center around the shoreline of the Inner Harbor including Rash Field with a maximum of 4.5 acres north of an easterly extension of the south side of Conway Street plus access thereto to be used for eating places, commercial uses, multifamily residential development and off-street parking with the areas used for multifamily dwellings and off-street parking as excluded from the area dedicated as a public park or for public benefit.
131 words1 sentence A circuit judge found the language was not easily understandable and barred the votes from being counted. Challengers cited descriptions of it as “word salad.”
The Supreme Court of Maryland reversed on October 10, 2024, and the votes counted.
Go deeper2012 Question 5, county by county
22 of Maryland’s 24 jurisdictions voted for the one-sentence map question. Carroll and Garrett voted against.
- Under 50% (Against won)
- 50–60%
- 60–70%
- 70% and up
| County | For | Against | Percent for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Allegany | 13,250 | 12,671 | 51.1% |
| Anne Arundel | 129,658 | 106,702 | 54.9% |
| Baltimore City | 161,888 | 59,572 | 73.1% |
| Baltimore County | 207,349 | 141,082 | 59.5% |
| Calvert | 25,502 | 15,150 | 62.7% |
| Caroline | 7,021 | 4,894 | 58.9% |
| Carroll | 37,161 | 42,459 | 46.7% |
| Cecil | 24,501 | 13,178 | 65.0% |
| Charles | 50,217 | 18,722 | 72.8% |
| Dorchester | 8,324 | 4,942 | 62.7% |
| Frederick | 59,538 | 45,863 | 56.5% |
| Garrett | 5,423 | 6,193 | 46.7% |
| Harford | 67,184 | 47,506 | 58.6% |
| Howard | 89,821 | 48,050 | 65.1% |
| Kent | 4,948 | 3,776 | 56.7% |
| Montgomery | 261,122 | 139,546 | 65.2% |
| Prince George’s | 269,072 | 76,914 | 77.8% |
| Queen Anne’s | 12,254 | 10,227 | 54.5% |
| Somerset | 6,066 | 2,846 | 68.1% |
| St. Mary’s | 27,887 | 14,967 | 65.1% |
| Talbot | 10,409 | 7,953 | 56.7% |
| Washington | 28,414 | 27,776 | 50.6% |
| Wicomico | 26,349 | 10,593 | 71.3% |
| Worcester | 16,153 | 7,986 | 66.9% |
State Board of Elections county results. Shares computed by this site.
Before you vote
Read it for yourself.
The full amendment, the state’s summary and your own sample ballot are one click away. You have seen what the ballot leaves out. Decide with the whole picture.
- Oct. 22–29Early voting, 7 am to 8 pm, including the weekend
- Oct. 27Last day to request a mail ballot sent by mail
- Oct. 30Last day to request a mail ballot to download and print
- Nov. 3Election day, polls open 7 am to 8 pm. Mail ballots must be postmarked or in a drop box by 8 pm.
- Read the full amendmentChapter 881, the exact constitutional text Question 3 would add. PDF, Maryland General Assembly.
- Read the state’s summaryThe official summary of all three questions, approved by the Attorney General. PDF, State Board of Elections.
- See your own sample ballotLook yourself up to view your ballot and check your registration. State Board of Elections.
Sources
Question 3: text, summary and courts
- State Board of Elections, 2026 specimen ballot (Kent County)
- General Assembly, Chapter 881 (House Bill 2100), full amendment text
- Department of Legislative Services, 2026 ballot question summaries
- Supreme Court of Maryland, order, Sept. 3, 2026
- Order and dissent, Sept. 3, 2026 (State Court Report)
- Anne Arundel County Circuit Court opinion, Aug. 26, 2026
- State Court Report case tracker, Question 3 cases
Voting dates
Polls
The plain-language law
Maps and county results
- U.S. Census Bureau, 2024 cartographic boundary files (counties, 119th Congress districts)
- U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 cartographic boundary files (116th Congress districts, the 2012 plan)
- Maryland Department of Planning, 2022 congressional districts (SB 1012)
- Maryland Department of Planning, 2011 congressional districts (SB 1)
- State Board of Elections, 2012 Question 5 results by county
- General Assembly, House Bill 488 (2026)
- General Assembly, SB 1012 congressional plan, county components
- The Banner, House approves congressional map, Feb. 2, 2026
- Maryland Matters, commission recommends map concept, Jan. 21, 2026
- Rep. Andy Harris, official biography
- Office of the Clerk, U.S. House, Maryland members
- Wesberry v. Sanders, 376 U.S. 1 (1964), equal population for congressional districts
- Voting Rights Act, Section 2 (52 U.S.C. § 10301)
- State Board of Elections, 2024 general election data files (county results, PG24_NNCountyResults.csv)
- Szeliga v. Lamone, memorandum opinion and order, March 25, 2022 (scan)
- Szeliga v. Lamone, supplemental findings, April 1, 2022 (scan)
The track record
- Ballotpedia News, Maryland measure approval rates 1996–2020
- State Board of Elections, 2022 ballot question results
- State Board of Elections, 2024 ballot question results
- State Board of Elections, 2012 Question 5 results
- Benisek v. Lamone, oral argument transcript, 2018
- Maryland Matters commentary on 2012 Question 5
- State Board of Elections, 2008 Question 2 text
- State Board of Elections, 2008 Question 2 results
- League of Women Voters letter on the slots question, 2008
- Maryland Coast Dispatch, court adds “primary” to slots question
- WYPR, casino money and the 2018 lockbox
- WUSA9, lockbox passes with 89%
- State Board of Elections, 2024 Baltimore Question F text
- State Board of Elections, 2024 Baltimore City results
- Baltimore Brew, Harborplace measure will count
- Appellees’ brief, Baltimore Question F