Baltimore City voters rejected a proposal to shrink the City Council, but some neighborhoods, many of them in the Black Butterfly, voted to approve the amendment, a Baltimore Banner analysis of precinct-level election results found.

For months, opponents of the measure backed by Sinclair Inc. executive and Baltimore Sun owner David Smith claimed shrinking the council from 14 to eight members would take away vital representation from Black residents and poor neighborhoods. Yet, it was the most impoverished communities who voted to approve the measure, precinct-level data shows.

Precincts that voted for the measure had an average poverty rate 10 points higher than precincts that voted against it. Half of the top ten most-impoverished precincts voted for the amendment, including the two most-impoverished precincts, representing voters in neighborhoods like Carrollton Ridge and Sandtown-Winchester. Meanwhile, majority-white neighborhoods nearly unanimously rejected the proposal.

An earlier Banner analysis had found that more than 75% of the people who signed it live in majority-Black neighborhoods, including many of the city’s poorest and most disinvested.

The proposal, which would have increased each district’s constituents from roughly 40,000 to 75,000, was the first ballot question rejected in two decades. Citywide, about 63% of voters cast their ballot “against the amendment,” carrying about 80% of precincts.

While Baltimore’s electoral politics can sometimes reflect the city’s racial segregation, as seen in May’s mayoral primary, Question H split precincts in the “Black butterfly.”

Precincts in majority-Black parts of the city, which represent about two-thirds of the city’s total population, voted the ballot measure down by an average margin of around 15 percentage points.

The “against” contingent carried 73% of majority-Black precincts — a far cry from the closely fought battle between incumbent Mayor Brandon Scott and former Mayor Sheila Dixon in many of the same precincts. In the May primary, Dixon carried a much larger share of precincts in the Black Butterfly, but not by enough of a margin to overcome Scott’s support in predominantly white precincts.

On the winning side, organizers credit grassroots efforts and a data-driven door-knocking operation meant to identify potential voters.

“We were incredibly focused on targeting conversations and doing education to people who we know historically would vote … and that was regardless of sort of geography, regardless of demographic,” said Fred Curtis, campaign manager for Stop Sinclair, a ballot committee supported by the mayor and several City Council members.

The precincts that most strongly rejected the ballot measure were largely those in communities along the spine of the city, within Baltimore’s “white L.” In neighborhoods like Hampden and Federal Hill, upwards of 80% voted to reject the proposal.

In Bolton Hill, opposition organizers handed out literature, posted signs and canvassed voters, many of whom, organizers say, recoiled at the thought of voting for something backed by Smith.

The proposal clearing the way for a new multifamily development at Harborplace, Question F, passed, but by a much smaller margin than most ballot measures. Very few precincts voted against the measure, The Banner’s analysis found.

Baltimore’s “Black buttterfly” was almost unanimously on board with the proposed redevelopment, with 94% of precincts voting in favor of the plan. The “white L” was split by geography. Uptown residents mostly voted the proposal down, while residents of downtown communities, like Canton and Fells Point, who would be closer to the new development, tended to support the proposal.