Redistricting map to go on ballot

The state’s highest court has said that opponents of Gov. Martin O’Malley’s congressional redistricting map can put the matter to a popular vote.

In a one-page order Friday, the Court of Appeals rejected the Maryland Democratic State Central Committee’s challenge to the referendum. The committee targeted Republican’s use of a website, MdPetitions.com, to obtain the signatures needed to put the matter to a referendum this November.

The committee’s lawsuit claimed that more than 5,000 signatures were invalid, putting the number below the 55,736 needed to put the map before voters. A judge in Anne Arundel County rejected that claim last week, and the Court of Appeals affirmed.

In its one-page ruling, the Court of Appeals promised to state its reasons at a later date.