UPDATE (August 20, 2024): The ACLU of Maryland and Baltimore County partners wrote a letter to the County Council detailing how, while the purpose of the council expansion is to expand opportunities for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color voters and promote fairer representation, the Council's ballot measure has flaws that will cause it to thwart those goals.
LAWSUIT UPDATE (May 9, 2022): Judge Griggsby has ruled, deciding to dismiss the plaintiffs' lawsuit without prejudice, which means we can refile after the July 19 primary, if needed. This one of the outcomes that plaintiffs suggested in the last status update. Following the primary, the plaintiffs’ expert team will analyze the results for evidence of racially polarized voting and then plaintiffs will decide whether it is necessary to refile.
LAWSUIT UPDATE (February 22, 2022): In the federal court challenge to an illegal redistricting plan, brought by Black voters in Baltimore County and several civil rights organizations, Federal Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby granted a preliminary injunction blocking implementation of the County’s plan and ordering them to submit a new plan that complies with the Voting Rights Act by March 8.
A group of Baltimore County voters joined with the Baltimore County Branch of the NAACP, the League of Women Voters of Baltimore County, and Common Cause - Maryland to file a federal lawsuit, Baltimore County Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, et al. v. Baltimore County, Maryland et al., challenging the racially discriminatory and unlawful redistricting plan approved by the Baltimore County Council on December 20, 2021.
Despite a massive outcry from local voters and many options to create a fair plan offered by civil rights groups, the County Council voted for a plan that violates the racial fairness commands of the Voting Rights Act, which are meant to protect against diluting the voices of Black, Indigenous, and other Voters of Color, as well as BIPOC candidates. Black voters challenging the illegal redistricting plan are Charles Sydnor, Anthony Fugett, Dana Vickers Shelley, Danita Tolson, Sharon Blake, Gerald Morrison, and Niesha McCoy.
Get more in about the campaign to uphold the Voting Rights Act in Baltimore County.
