Single-Member Districts

Single-Delegate Districts

As someone who testified at the recent redistricting hearing, I wanted to clarify my remarks as they appeared in the Star-Democrat regarding a Caroline County resident delegate.

There have been several legislative proposals over the years to try and gain a resident delegate for Caroline, but none of these have been framed in a way that guarantees equal representation for voters.  Legislative redistricting is our opportunity to redraw the lines to create a single-member delegate district centered in Caroline County, and this is the most likely way that we would give our friends in Caroline a Delegate in the General Assembly.

My further testimony was in support of single-delegate districts elsewhere as the most local, fair, and direct level of representation possible. Current practice in multi-delegate, multi-county districts on the Eastern Shore requires that no two delegates reside in the same county.  However, this practice is misguided, as it unfairly gives weight to a county where there may not be as many voters as in another county.  If the top two vote-getters in a multi-delegate election were from the same county, the second place finisher would not be given a Delegate seat.  Instead the seat would go to the next highest vote-getter in another county.  This issue would not exist if the Eastern Shore enjoyed single-delegate districts.

Redistricting is our best opportunity to get a Caroline Delegate and
guarantee fair, local representation through the use of single-delegate districts, and I urge map-makers to strongly consider this approach.