
Maryland’s third congressional district is one of the least-compact in the country, and three of the Old Line State’s other districts are similarly nonsensical.
The Examiner reports that a geospatial analysis firm has again rated the country’s congressional districts for “compactness,” and Maryland doesn’t fare particularly well. The third district is the worst, meandering somewhat aimlessly from Montgomery County all the way to the northern suburbs of Baltimore and south to Annapolis. The sixth district placed ninth on the least-compact list, followed by the second in eleventh place and first in twenty-fifth place.
Maryland’s map is the product of 2011 redistricting in which Democrats were accused of gerrymandering districts so as to protect incumbent Democratic legislators and oust Republicans. Gov. Martin O’Malley has defended the map, saying that most residents stayed in their districts and that compact districts are hard to come by in a state like Maryland.
Still, many state Democrats, including State Comptroller Peter Franchot, have come out against the redistricting, and are urging Maryland voters to reject it when they get to vote on it on November 6.
Martin Austermuhle