Legal Question in Civil Rights Law in Maryland

Re: Fair Election Practices for MD Senate Election

While I may not agree with your politics, and particularly with the characterization of services as "socialist," I agree that there are advantages to the U.S. Senate model (one state/two votes, or one county/one vote), but the U.S. Supreme Court has held that the states are required to have one person one vote at all levels. The only exceptions to the one person one vote principle are the U.S. Senate and electoral college, which are exceptions to that constitutional principle because they are specifically set forth in the constitution.

Maryland's state constitution had the structure you call for, but it was declared unconstitutional under the U.S. constitution, and now (even if the Supreme Court would change its mind about one person one vote, which is doubtful), it would be nearly impossible to get the MD legislature or voters to change back. There would be no basis in either the state or federal constitution to support a legal argument that a one county/one vote system is required. Permissible, perhaps, but not required. So even if the U.S. Supreme Court changed its mind it would not be politically possible to change.

This is a real problem for rural populations in states with overwhelming urban populations as more and more people move to urban centers. There may be arguments to be made politically that different parts of the state should be treated differently, and that laws enacted for the benefit of urban areas should not apply in rural areas and vice versa. Maryland in fact does have a strong tradition of defering to the counties on local matters. Because of differences among urban legislators, coalitions can be built. And certainly the fact that Cas Taylor (from Cumberland) is the House Speaker shows that rural areas do not completely lack influence.