On Friday, the revised legislative districts went into effect, defining the General Assembly contests beginning in 2014. Under Maryland law, unless the General Assembly acts by the 45th day of the session in which new districts are proposed by the special commission to recommend them, they become law automatically.

The Annapolis Capital coverage also speaks to possible legal challenges still lying ahead:

Gov. Martin O’Malley’s state redistricting map will become law tomorrow without a single hearing, and Marylanders have been denied a say, the state Republican Party and the Fannie Lou Hamer Political Action Committee, an African-American group, said yesterday.

The two organizations teamed up to unsuccessfully challenge O’Malley’s congressional redistricting plan in federal court, and they plan to swiftly challenge the legislative map in the Maryland Court of Appeals on federal and state constitutional grounds

See the Sun coverage (free limited access).

See the Department of Planning’s redistricting website with the new interactive district maps here.