ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A bill to allow vacancies in the General Assembly to be filled by special election passed on the House floor today, but with an amendment that made it a hard pill to swallow for Republican members.
When SB5 came out of the Senate, it would have put just the question of allowing special elections on the ballot. It passed 43-1.
PRIOR COVERAGE: How'd They Vote: SB5
But the House saw more opposition after the Government, Labor, and Elections Committee added an amendment.
Proponents of the amendment say it would clarify the Maryland Constitution, allowing the state's Supreme Court to have the first review of any questions on a redistricting map, and that some redistricting requirements only apply to state-level redistricting, not congressional redistricting.
Republicans in the House argued that this was a power grab and an attempt to make it easier for Democrats to gerrymander in the future.
"For too long, legislative vacancies have been filled behind closed doors, leaving voters on the sidelines," said Joanne Antoine, Common Cause’s Maryland Executive Director. "We have led a nearly 20-year effort to improve this process because Maryland residents have sent a clear message: they want the right to choose their representatives through special elections. The House of Delegates should remedy their mistake by immediately passing a clean special elections bill."
According to Common Cause, a nonpartisan organization that works to create open, honest, and accountable government, 23% of the current lawmakers in the General Assembly were not originally elected to their seats.
Maryland state lawmakers serve four-year terms.
One Democrat, Del. Sheree Sample-Hughes, joined 32 Republicans Friday in voting against the bill with the amendment, including some who had supported the original bill.
Ninety-three Democrats voted in favor, sending the bill back to the Senate, where the chamber will either accept or reject the change. If they reject it, the bill could go to a conference committee to try to work out the differences.
Here's a look at how the individual delegates voted on SB5 with the amendment:
