Press Release - November 13, 2018

The League of Women Voters of Maryland and member Leagues across the state are celebrating the U.S. District Court’s November 7th decision to require our state to redraw the boundaries of the 6th Congressional District. The Court’s decision follows one day after voters in Michigan, Colorado and Missouri voted to get rid of Gerrymandered boundaries by margins of 61%, 71% and 62% respectively.  

 Tame the Gerrymander is a grassroots effort.

We rely on our dedicated volunteers to help us advocate during session, plan fun events to raise awareness, and learn more about how to bring Marylanders together to find the best plan to end gerrymandering.

The League of Women Voters of MD is joined by Common Cause MD, Represent.MD and Gerrymandered.org in this coalition dedicated to establishing a fair and open process for drawing election districts in Maryland

LWVMD with the Tame the Gerrymander Coalition has been working for many years to fight gerrymandering in Maryland. We have continually worked to support good redistricting reform legislation that has been introduced in the General Assembly throughout the years via grassroots advocacy and testimony, but here are a few more ways we are trying to win Fair Maps for all Marylanders since 2011:

2011: Testified at public hearings on redistricting all around the state on the most recent set of district maps.

2012: Educated Marylanders by hosting a series of showings of “Gerrymander the Movie” statewide.

2013: Hosted possibly the First Ever birthday party for Elbridge Gerry, the Father of Gerrymandering, establishing a trend that has unified reformers across the nation in protest of gerrymandering on July 17th. We also supported bipartisan legislation to create a Task Force to study Redistricting Reform.

2014: We sponsored Political cartoon contest in conjunction with our 2nd birthday party for Elbridge Gerry producing this thought-provoking design which demonstrates the importance of how the lines are drawn.

AND we hosted probably the longest Gerrymander Meander on record - a 236-mile relay run around Congressional District 3 AND hosted a Redistricting forum with the Brody Institute for Public Policy at the University of Maryland - It was a busy year!

2015: We saw our nominees from both LWVMD & Common Cause Maryland appointed to the Governor’s Redistricting Reform Commission, promoted and attended the Commission hearings, and published a recipe for Gerrymander Cake (yuck!).

2016: Supported the reform legislation that resulted from the Governor's Redistricting Commission's comprehensive recommendations.

2017: Hosted the Gerrymander Meander 2 celebrating Elbridge Gerry's birthday by traveling 13 miles, through 1 county to 4 events crossing Congressional district lines 5 times, began a Selfie Petition in Order to Show the Maryland General Assembly the Face of Redistricting Reform in Maryland, and created a platform for Marylanders to tell us what THEY would do about gerrymandering in Maryland.

2018: We gave Maryland's Congressional districts a voice in front of the Supreme Court as the oral arguments were being held on Benisek v. Lamone on March 28th, and we will be hosting Bad Gerry's Birthday Bash: A Faire Maps Event on July 15th this year - with fun, games, and tools to enable grassroots advocates to fight for fair maps too!

You Too Can Act to support Taming the Gerrymander in Maryland Many different ways:

Sign the Petition - this is the first step to telling Maryland legislators that making every vote counts matters to you

Volunteer - From helping put on events, to gathering petitions, we need you to help us raise awareness and activate Marylanders!

Donate - in order to continue our work for reform we rely on donations to support volunteers with materials, put on events, and support advocacy - even $5 can help our mission to Tame the Gerrymander!