LA PLATA, Md. (July 14, 2011)—At the request of the Charles County Legislative Delegation, the College of Southern Maryland is hosting a public forum to explain the process that will occur for Congressional and Legislative redistricting within the state of Maryland. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m., Tuesday, July 26 on the La Plata Campus, Center for Business and Industry (BI Building), Room BI-113, 8730 Mitchell Road, La Plata.
Results from the recent U.S. Census showed changes in Maryland's population, and consequently a newly appointed Governor’s Redistricting Advisory Committee (GRAC) will be reviewing Census results in relationship to the state’s Congressional and Legislative Districts. Each legislative district in Maryland consists of one senator and three delegates. The GRAC will provide recommendations for the redistricting of the state’s legislative districts to the Governor that fairly and accurately reflect the population changes as well as recommendations for the redistricting of Maryland's eight congressional districts.
“This meeting will be strictly informational on the redistricting process, so as to provide an opportunity for our residents to understand the reasons behind the need for redistricting, how the process occurs and the timetable for that,” said Maryland Delegate Peter Murphy, who serves as chair of the Charles County Legislative Delegation.
”I am very pleased that the College of Southern Maryland has agreed to provide this opportunity for the public to hear how the redistricting process will unfold and how efforts are in place to ensure that redistricting efforts are carried out in a fair and representational manner,” said State Senator Thomas “Mac” Middleton.
Presenting information on the process which will result in setting each legislative district within the state as well as Maryland’s Congressional districts will be Secretary of State John McDonough and Karl Aro, executive director with the Maryland Department of Legislative Services.
It is anticipated that the General Assembly will consider the Governor's Congressional redistricting plan in a special session the week of Oct. 17. Additional information is available at
mlis.state.md.us/Other/Redistricting/redistricting.htm and
www.mdp.state.md.us/Redistricting/.
A representative will also be present to outline Charles County’s redistricting process and to answer any questions with regard to the County Commissioner district boundaries.
For information on the state legislative and congressional redistricting, contact Del. Murphy’s office at peter.murphy(at)house.state.md.us or State Sen. Thomas “Mac” Middleton’s office at Thomas.mclain.middleton(at)senate.state.md.us or 301-932-0909. For information on the Charles County Commissioner Redistricting, contact Amy Blessinger in the Charles County Planning Office at 301-645-0650 or BlessingA(at)CharlesCounty.org. For directions to the College of Southern Maryland’s La Plata Campus, visit
www.csmd.edu.