Section 2-201 - General provisions. - Maryland Statutes

§ 2-201. General provisions.
 

(a)  Number of districts.- The State of Maryland is divided into 47 districts for the election of members of the General Assembly of Maryland. 

(b)  Number of Senators and Delegates from each district.- Each legislative district shall elect 1 Senator and 3 Delegates. 

(c)  Subdivision of districts.- Each legislative district may be subdivided into 3 single member delegate districts or into 1 single member delegate district and 1 multimember delegate district. 

(d)  Residence of Delegates in districts containing more than 2 counties.- In any legislative district which contains more than 2 counties: 

(1) where Delegates are to be elected at large by the voters of the entire district, a county, or part of a county, may not have more than 1 Delegate residing in that district; and 

(2) where Delegates are to be elected by the voters of a multimember subdistrict which contains more than 2 counties or parts of more than 2 counties, a county or a part of a county may not have more than 1 Delegate residing in that subdistrict. 

(e)  Descriptions are to geographical boundaries existing on April 1, 2000.-  

(1) The descriptions of legislative districts in this order, including all references to: 

(i) election districts and wards are to the geographical boundaries of the election districts and wards as they existed as of April 1, 2000; and 

(ii) precincts are to the geographical boundaries of the precincts as reviewed and certified by the local board of supervisors of elections or their designees, before they were reported to the U.S. Bureau of the Census as part of the 2000 Census Redistricting Data Program and as those precinct lines are specifically indicated in the P.L. 94-171 data or shown on the P.L. 94-171 census block maps provided by the U.S. Bureau of the Census and as reviewed and corrected by the Maryland Department of Planning. 

(2) Where precincts are split between legislative districts, census tract and block numbers, as indicated in the P.L. 94-171 data or shown on the P.L. 94-171 census block maps provided by the U.S. Bureau of the Census and referred to in § 2-202 of this subtitle, are used to define the boundaries of legislative districts. 

(f)  Applicability of order.- For purposes of elections, the provisions of this order shall be applicable to elections for members of the General Assembly beginning with the primary and general elections of 2002 and, for purposes of representation, shall be applicable beginning with the second Wednesday of January 2003. 
 

[271 Md. 320; 1982 J.R. 1; 1984, ch. 284, § 2; 1992 J.R. 9, § 2; J.R. 10, § 2; 1994, ch. 742; 2000, ch. 209, § 2; 2002 J.R. 1, § 2; J.R. 2, § 2; 2009, ch. 60, § 5.]