Federal Judge Rules In Baltimore County's Favor In New Redistricting Plan
TOWSON, Md. (WJZ) -- A federal judge on Thursday approved Baltimore County's new court-ordered boundaries for its seven councilmanic districts.
A coalition of groups, including the ACLU of Maryland, the Baltimore County branch of the NAACP, the League of Women Voters of Baltimore County, sued the county late last year, alleging an earlier proposal only included one district where Blacks would make up a majority of voters.
In February, a federal judge threw the county's earlier map out and ordered the county to draw new districts that comply with the Voting Rights Act
The coalition alleged the new map is biased, saying the new map does not address their concerns about representation for voters of color.
According to revisions provided by the council, District 2, which includes communities just beyond the northwest borders of Baltimore City, and District 4, along the Liberty Road corridor in the western part of the county, would have majority-minority voting populations.
Only District 4 would have a majority of Black voters, at 61.12%.
District 1, located in the southwest portion of the county, stretching from I-70 to I-95, would be almost evenly split, with non-white voters having a slim majority of the vote. Broken down by race, white voters would have a 49.87% plurality. Black voters would represent 27.39% of the voting population, and Asian Americans would have an 11.16% share of the vote.
Districts 3, 5, 6 and 7 would be majority white.
According to the county, white voters represent 55.12% of the population, compared with Blacks at 28.62%, Asian Americans at 6.29% and Hispanics at 5.99%. People who identify as being part of two or more races account for 3.27% of the voting population and residents whose race falls under "other" are 0.44%. Native Americans and Pacific Islanders are 0.24% and 0.03% of the voting population, respectively.
When you factor in children, whites are only a slim majority of county residents, at 51.2%, and 48.19% of all county residents are non-white, with nearly 30% of the population being Black.
"On behalf of my Council colleagues, we are very satisfied the Court recognized the commitment to diversity and hard work of the Council in approving our latest Redistricting Plan," said Baltimore County Council Chairman Julian Jones. "As we have seen all over the country recently, redistricting is an extremely difficult process, and my colleagues and I worked together in crafting a Map that was acceptable to the Court, while also staying true to the will of our communities."
The ACLU, who is representing the plaintiffs, said the redrawn map hasn't changed enough, and that it is considering its next steps.
"While the revised map that Baltimore County has now proposed is better, better is not enough to fulfill the racial justice requirements of the Voting Rights Act," the legal team said in a statement. "The facts remain that the County has almost one-third Black voters and almost half Voters of Color, and yet six out of seven council districts will continue to have majority white voters. How can that be fair? It's not. We are considering our next steps. Our commitment to the rights of Baltimore County voters remains firm."
The redrawn map now goes back to the county council to be officially passed.
