Racial Politics, Community Concerns Dominate Redistricting Hearing - Southern Maryland Headline News

Racial politics and concerns about community cohesion dominated a three-hour hearing Thursday as scores of people from across Maryland came to Annapolis to condemn, offer suggestions and even praise the new legislative district map drawn by Gov. Martin O’Malley’s Redistricting Advisory Committee.

The map, which was the product of census data and comments from a dozen hearings across the state this summer, was first unveiled online last Friday. O’Malley said he had the hearing to give the people a chance to see and comment on it before he sends it to the General Assembly next month.

O’Malley listened to all of the testimony and said no one would likely say that the new map was better than the old one, but it was made necessary by shifting populations found in last year’s census. He said he would try to address as many concerns as possible before finalizing the map and presenting it to the legislature.