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Maryland will have a new set of state legislative districts for the next election regardless of how court challenges against the recently adopted map shake out 鈥� leaving some incumbents and challengers alike wondering whether they live in the district they鈥檙e vying to represent.
Regardless of who ends up in which district, one of the questions that will face voters on their ballots in November is whether Maryland should change its rules for how to determine where a candidate 鈥渓ives.鈥� And lawmakers are considering still more tweaks in the 2022 General Assembly session.
Maryland legislators are required by law to reside in the district they represent 鈥� but whether they must regularly sleep in their district has been questioned in the past.
The Maryland Constitution聽 for at least a year before the general election. In the case of a new district set up at least six months before the general election, lawmakers are required to have lived in that district at least six months before the general election.
In 1998, former Del. Frank D. Boston Jr. (D) filed a lawsuit arguing that then-Senate Majority Leader Clarence W. Blount (D), a trailblazing Black political leader in Baltimore City, lived primarily in Pikesville rather than in his northwest Baltimore District. An Anne Arundel County judge said Blount couldn鈥檛 run for office in his district, 聽at the time, because an 鈥渙verwhelming鈥� amount of evidence pointed to Blount not living there.
Blount kept an apartment in northwest Baltimore with no telephone and only a futon to sleep on, but the Maryland Court of Appeals later overturned that ruling, arguing that a 鈥渄omicile鈥� doesn鈥檛 necessarily mean a lawmaker鈥檚 primary residence.
鈥淚f the residency requirement for representing a particular legislative district in the General Assembly were that one must have his or her primary place of abode in that district, we would have affirmed the judgment of the court below,鈥� Court of Appeals . 鈥淯nder such a requirement, many prior cases in this Court would have been decided differently. The requirement, however, is that one must be domiciled in the district, and domicile is not synonymous with the primary place of abode.鈥�
Eldrige wrote that it was 鈥渘ot unreasonable鈥� for Blount, who was 77 years old at the time, to want to spend most of his time in Pikesville to be with his family and recuperate from surgeries.
鈥淗is conduct in this regard is explained by his wife鈥檚 decision to make the Pikesville condominium her sole place of abode,鈥� Eldrige wrote. 鈥淚n light of this, Senator Blount鈥檚 conduct is not inconsistent with his intent to remain a domiciliary of Baltimore City until he retires.鈥�
The late Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D), who was close to Blount, concurred with the high court鈥檚 ruling, The Baltimore Sun reported at the time.
鈥淵ou can sleep in Rehoboth, if you want, at your beach house, as long as you go to your district office every day and you vote in your district,鈥� and pay taxes there, Miller said. 鈥淚 think they are saying they are willing to look at the totality of circumstances.鈥�
Eldridge鈥檚 decision came to be known as 鈥渢he Clarence Blount Rule,鈥� and it has come to guide some candidates鈥� decisions about the districts where they choose to run 鈥� and influences certain court decisions as well.
But voters could change that in November: A proposed state constitutional amendment will appear on the ballot that would require candidates to 鈥渕aintain a primary place of abode鈥� in their prospective district for at least six months before the general election.
That proposed amendment, put forward by Sen. Charles E. Sydnor III (D-Baltimore County), was passed by lawmakers last year. In testimony supporting that measure, Sydnor argued that if lawmakers spend most of their time living outside of their district, it would 鈥減revent a true understanding of the issues that their constituents鈥� day to day experiences.鈥�
Sydnor said in his testimony that the Blount ruling 鈥渉arms constituents because it opens up the possibility that they may be represented by someone who does not understand the needs of their community and may not have their best interests at heart.鈥�
If voters approve that measure, it would take effect in 2024.
Some Maryland lawmakers are also looking to require state officials to look at more factors when determining whether someone actually lives in the district.
, sponsored by Sens. Delores G. Kelley (D-Baltimore County) and Clarence K. Lam (D-Howard), and cross-filed as聽聽by Del. Jheanelle K. Wilkins (D-Montgomery), would require state election officials and courts to consider a slew of additional factors when determining whether a lawmaker meets the constitutional residency requirement.
Factors included for determining residency under that legislation are:
- The address listed on a the candidate鈥檚 driver鈥檚 license or state-issued identification card.
- Whether a candidate receives mail at their claimed address.
- Whether the building claimed as a lawmakers鈥� address is zoned for residential use.
- Whether a candidate owns, rents or leases the property claimed as their address.
- If a candidate can prove they paid for and used utilities at their claimed address.
- If any children of the candidate are registered for school at the address.
- If a candidate鈥檚 spouse or immediate family members live at that address.
- Whether that address is also listed in records like income tax returns and employment records.
- And whether a candidate is an active-duty member of the military.
Wilkins said in an interview that the bill wouldn鈥檛 add new requirements, but rather is meant to add specific factors for officials to consider when determining whether someone actually meets the residency requirement.
鈥淪ome of the ones that are more obvious probably are considered by the courts, but nothing is in law currently around what some of those considerations are,鈥� Wilkins said. 鈥淪o I think that what this bill does, it makes it clear for all parties involved.鈥�
If enacted, the new residency factors would go into effect on Oct. 1, 2022. That means those factors would be considered for the newly drawn legislative districts passed by the General Assembly in January. The new districts largely mirror previous ones, though the city of Baltimore includes one less Senate district and other boundary shifts increase Democratic voters in closely contested districts. The state鈥檚 new legislative map is set to be challenged in the Court of Appeals after several聽聽were filed against the plan.
The Senate version of the residency bill received an airing in the Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee on Jan. 26, and the House version had a brief hearing in the House Ways and Means Committee on Feb. 8.
At the Jan. 26 hearing, Kelley said the legislation would also be helpful for the General Assembly counsel鈥檚 annual review of lawmakers.
鈥淲e all look bad when the public thinks that we aren鈥檛 abiding by the law,鈥� Kelley said at that hearing.
While the Maryland Constitution requires that state lawmakers reside in the districts they represent, the same is not true for Congress. The Constitution requires representatives to live in the state they represent, but聽.
