On A Quiet First Day Of Early Voting, Officials Make A Lot Of Noise About Question 3

By William J. Ford, Maryland Matters

October 23, 2026

Inside the centers on the first day of early voting Thursday, the process appeared smooth and largely calm as voters lined up in relatively short lines to cast their ballots. Outside, it was a slightly different story at select centers.

At the Silver Spring Civic Building, Democratic elected federal, state and local officials gathered to argue for Question 3, the proposed constitutional amendment that would loosen rules on how lawmakers draw congressional districts. The argument was simplified on signs that sprouted up next to the center: “Stop Trump. Votes Yes on 3.”

“Question 3 is about making sure that Marylanders are in charge of our democracy and not Washington, D.C. and not [Republican President] Donald Trump,” Gov. Wes Moore (D) said Thursday at the Silver Spring center, standing alongside Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-8th) and other Democratic officials.

“What Donald Trump has been doing for the past year is trying to manipulate elections. He’s been trying to cancel mail-in balloting. He’s trying to do middecade redistricting in Republican states, but not Democratic states. He is making this systemic,” said Moore, who’s also on the ballot for reelection.

About 48 miles north, the vibe outside the Honeygo Run Regional Park in Baltimore County was different, and so were the signs. Instead of “stop Trump,” the signs urged voters to cast their ballots against Question 3 to “stop gerrymandering. Save our voice.”

“I think you need a law degree because the smartest lawyers in Maryland wrote the question,” Del. Kathy Szeliga (R-Baltimore County) said outside the Honeygo Community Center. “It’s unfortunate, but we hope people will know that if you don’t want partisan, political gerrymandering, you need to say no.”

With few major contests on the ballot this fall, and few seats in doubt, Question 3 is expected to grab most of the attention over the next few weeks. It’s the continuation of a fight that has gone on for a year, as Maryland lawmakers debated mid-decade congressional redistricting to counter Republican-led states that had redrawn their maps for partisan advantage, at Trump’s urging, ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections.

Szeliga’s point about lawyers refers to the involvement of the Supreme Court of Maryland, which rewrote the ballot question that was passed during a two-day special session of the General Assembly in August.

Two circuit court judges in Anne Arundel and Dorchester counties struck down the bill. The Supreme Court agreed with the lower courts that the question was misleading as written. But rather than strike it down, a divided court decided in early September to rewrite the question and let it go before voters.

Ballot Question 3

“FOR the purpose of clarifying that certain requirements apply only to districts for the election of members of the Senate of Maryland and the House of Delegates; authorizing the General Assembly to grant original jurisdiction to the Supreme Court of Maryland to review the congressional districting plan of the State; and providing that nothing in the Maryland Constitution provides applicable criteria for the boundaries of a congressional districting plan.”

If approved by voters, Question 3 would amend the Maryland Constitution to change the rules applying to the ways congressional districts are drawn, making it easier for the party in control to draw a map that favors it. Currently, seven of Maryland’s eight congressional districts are held by Democrats — the only Republican seat is held by eight-term Rep. Andy Harris (R-1st), representing the Eastern Shore-centered First District.

The changes would not take effect until the 2027 legislative session, and would not affect congressional races until 2028 at the earliest.

A poll released earlier this month showed a more people opposed to the question than in support of it. But some voters interviewed Thursday morning backed Question 3, and Moore’s explanation that it goes against the Trump administration.

“I support him [Moore] totally,” said Lee Holland, a Democrat from Baltimore County, one of the first voters to cast a ballot at Honeygo Community Center.

Vanessa Davis, a Democrat from Montgomery County, was more blunt.

“I want every Republican running to lose,” Davis, 71, said outside the Silver Spring Civic Building. “Donald Trump is trying to make everything for the Republicans … We got to fight back some kind of way, and if Republicans are going to back every single thing Donald Trump wants to do, we have to at least make [an] attempt to slow it down.”

In addition to Question 3, voters this fall are faced with a choice between reelecting Moore or backing Republican nominee Dan Cox in a rematch of the 2022 race between the two that Moore won easily. Voters will also weigh in on other contests, including the race for attorney general, state comptroller, the state’s eight U.S. House members and all 188 members of the General Assembly.

Voters who didn’t vote by mail, and don’t want to wait until Election Day on Nov. 3 can cast their ballots at one of 94 early voting centers around the state. State law allows counties to open one additional early voting location: Anne Arundel, Calvert, Garrett, Harford, Montgomery, Queen Anne’s, St. Mary’s and Washington counties did so this year.

Turnout for the first day was not immediately available Thursday evening, but was expected to be posted some overnight. Four years ago, nearly 45,000 voters cast ballots on the first day of early voting. Maryland State Elections Administrator said Thursday that it had been a “smooth first day [of] voting.”

Early voting runs through Oct. 29 with polls open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Polls open at the same time on Election Day.

Maryland Matters is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501(c)(3) public charity. Maryland Matters maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Steve Crane for questions: scrane@marylandmatters.org. Follow Maryland Matters on Facebook and Twitter.