Maryland lawmakers are on track to push a new, Democratic-friendly congressional district map through the House of Delegates in the coming days, as the debate over whether the state should redistrict is reaching a fever pitch in Annapolis.

Democratic leaders have added a wrinkle: a ballot question on whether the map is in place solely for the 2026 congressional elections, or also for 2028 and 2030, which would also address legal questions about how congressional districts can be drawn.

Putting the choice in the hands of voters is meant as an attempt at compromise, to win over lawmakers uncomfortable with Maryland engaging in the national partisan redistricting back-and-forth, said Del. David Moon, the House majority leader.

“A number of lawmakers have indicated hesitation about undertaking this process at all,” said Moon, a Montgomery County Democrat. “I think it’s entirely fair and correct to have qualms about going down this road. I think many of us would prefer not to do mid-cycle redistricting.”

Hundreds of people signed up to testify at Tuesday’s hearing in the House Rules and Executive Nominations Committee, which will be followed by a vote.

Among those making their voice heard: Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat who has been pushing for months to redraw the map.

Moore has said he wants “fair” districts in Maryland, but he recently stood alongside U.S. House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, who has framed map redrawing as a partisan imperative to counter Republican President Donald Trump.

The issue has tested the governor’s relationships in Annapolis, where he has an ally in House Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk but a foe in Senate President Bill Ferguson.

“This approach allows Maryland to act now for the 2026 election cycle, while giving voters the final say on what comes next for the remainder of the decade,” Moore spokesperson Ammar Moussa said in a statement.

Ferguson, who has firmly opposed redrawing the maps now, declined to comment through a spokesperson.

Ferguson has cautioned that a new map might not hold up in court, and that by making other districts more competitive, Democrats face political risk.

Moon said the ballot question allows voters “to meet the moment caused by Donald Trump asking states to reopen their map process, but we would not make that a long-term thing.”

It would also clarify the standard for drawing districts.

The last time Democrats drew new congressional boundaries, in 2021, a judge ruled them invalid because they were not compact and didn’t consider existing boundaries like county lines. That standard, part of the Maryland Constitution, had historically been applied only to the General Assembly’s districts, not congressional districts.

The ballot question, if approved, would make clear that the standard does not apply to congressional districts.

That deeply concerns Republican lawmakers, who worry that Democrats would have carte blanche to further gerrymander congressional districts in the future.

“They want to get rid of the standards,” said Del. Jason Buckel, the Republican minority leader in the House of Delegates. “It’s a problem for anybody who believes that elections should fairly reflect the population of the state — of communities, of geography, of commonalities.”

In the map under consideration, the Eastern Shore-based 1st District would lose conservative voters in Cecil and Harford counties and pick up liberal voters from parts of Anne Arundel and Howard counties. The district would go from a 17-point margin for President Donald Trump in the last election to one that would have voted for Kamala Harris by 14 points.

That partisan swing will make it much more difficult for Andy Harris, chair of the House Freedom Caucus, to win reelection — potentially delivering Democrats an 8-0 map.

The map being considered also makes significant changes to the 3rd Congressional District, currently represented by U.S. Rep. Sarah Elfreth, a Democrat.

The 3rd currently is a primarily Howard-Anne Arundel district that favored Kamala Harris by 24 points, but would lose many of those voters and pick up new voters in parts of Harford, Cecil and Baltimore counties — creating a district that would have favored Kamala Harris only by 9 points.

None of the proposed new districts would be a political toss-up.

Del. C.T. Wilson, who is sponsoring the map-and-referendum bill, said delegates are reluctant to redistrict, but electing more Democrats to Congress is the only way to push back against Trump and Republicans.

“This fight was brought to our doorstep when the president said he deserves five more seats from Texas ... We’re not a fan of doing this, it’s just something we have to do,” said Wilson, a Charles County Democrat.

Republicans plan to go into Tuesday’s committee hearing and vote full of questions, but they acknowledge that they can’t derail the bill. Only Senate Democrats can stop it, Buckel said.

Buckel, an Allegany County Republican, said he was impressed when Ferguson made his anti-redistricting case to a group of Western Maryland residents at an event last week.

“I hope at the end of the day this is a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing,” Buckel said, quoting Shakespeare’s “Macbeth.” “But that is reliant on Sen. Ferguson and other Democratic senators holding to the principles they say they have.”

Data reporter Allan James Vestal contributed to this article.