From the office of the Maryland Comptroller:
Comptroller Peter Franchot, today spoke out against Question 5, the Congressional Districting Plan being voted on in next month’s statewide ballot. Instead, he called for a new approach to congressional and legislative redistricting that takes the process and the decision out of the hands of partisan politicians and turns it over to a bipartisan commission. He made the announcement on WBAL Radio’s The C4 Show and is expected to make a similar call at this afternoon’s Institute of Internal Auditor’s District Conference in Linthicum.
“The people of Maryland should send a message to their leaders in Annapolis by voting no on Question 5. Our leaders were driven by partisan motives when coming up with the proposed map and not by the public interest,” Franchot said. “The map that resulted from the redistricting process has embarrassed our state, diminished public access to their elected representatives and further eroded public confidence in our political process,” he added.
The Comptroller is calling for Maryland to join the ranks of several other states which take the legislative and congressional redistricting process completely out of the hands of those with vested interest in the outcome and give it instead to a bipartisan commission that is divided equally between Democrats, Republicans and Independents.
In addition to the flawed process, the Comptroller criticized the sprawling and oddly-shaped districts that are created under the current plan. According to a non-partisan study released by Azavea, earlier this month, Maryland now has the least compact congressional districts in the nation. In fact, one federal judge called the third district “reminiscent of a broken-winged pterodactyl, lying prostrate across the center of the state.”
“I am a Democrat, and I like to win elections as much of the next guy- but not by fixing the outcome and not by compromising our state’s reputation by making a mockery of the electoral process,” Franchot said.
Combined with the Comptroller’s call last month for new, real-time campaign finance reporting, this proposal would put Maryland on the forefront of political transparency and fairness.
“This is a wake-up call for Maryland. The fair-minded people of this state need to step up and demand that we take this process back from the politicians and special interests who have the most at stake and in the outcome,” said Franchot.
I was planning on voting against this anyway, but to hear Franchot’s argument, as an elected Democrat, against this Democratic monstrosity just clinches the deal. If the Republicans ever controlled the process, you would end up with Baltimore City being parcelled out into 5 different districts to minimize its impact, with similar butcher jobs done on PG and Montgomery counties.
Just say no… to question 5.
And all of the other questions as well.
Franchot is looking more and more like he will be the candidate for governor when we get rid of the one we are currently suffering under. But I remain unconvinced. Time will tell. I haven’t voted for a Democrat for governor since William Donald Schaefer but this could be the time if the Republicans can’t find a strong candidate.
I’m a Republican and I like what I hear coming from Mr. Franchot not just on this issue but others he has chosen to disagree with the Democrat power structure in Annapolis. To date I haven’t seen any potential Republican candidate that excites me and that would include Mr. Craig.
The thing that Craig has going for him is the support of the Republican organization and they will likely accept him rather than doing the very hard work that is needed to really find someone that can both run AND win AND govern. In my view Craig can’t win and if he somehow would win the people like Miller and Busch would eat him alive.
I can’t believe our representatives could submit that districting map with a straight face. It looks like something drawn by a cartoonist. Vote NO for sure!
It is actually quite easy to believe when you recognize just how corrupt politics are in this state. Martin Owe’Malley’s reign of terror will come to an end not soon enough. I think it is possible to consider him the worst governor in this state’s 350+ year history. I’m just saddened the English language does not contain sufficient words or phrases to fully encompass just how bad he is. This map only provides a visual reference of how corrupt his vision really is.
Franchot is one of the few Dems I would vote for. After the 2 special sessions, one just to get a casino in PG Co., nothing that the buffoons in Annapolis try would surprise me. Since M O M is leaving to go to DC maybe we can get rid of the rest of the Dem. incumbents.