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Delegate Boucher proposes citizensconvention for redistricting; supporters call it antidote to gerrymandering
Summary
HB 56 would transfer redistricting authority to an elected body of 188 nonpartisan citizens who would draw districts after each census; sponsor said it restores citizen sovereignty while witnesses called it an important check against one-party control.
Delegate Chris V. Boucher presented House Bill 56, a proposal to transfer redistricting authority to a citizens convention of 188 elected, nonpartisan delegates who would hold hearings in counties and draw legislative and congressional maps. The sponsor said participants would be barred from running for the seats they draw for one election cycle.
"This turns the authority over to the citizens to draw our districts after every census," Boucher said, framing the proposal as a restoration of citizen sovereignty and a remedy to partisan redistricting that disenfranchises minority-party voters.
Lee Bradshaw, representing the Maryland Forward Party, testified in support and described gerrymandering as "the root cause of dysfunction" that empowers parties over voters. Bradshaw cited interstate examples of independent commissions and argued the citizens-convention model would prevent entrenchment and promote competition.
No formal committee vote was recorded at the conclusion of the public hearing; the bill will remain before the Rules and Executive Nominations Committee for further consideration.
What happens next: Committee staff will consider testimony; if reported favorably the measure would move to the full house for further debate and potential amendment.
