Maryland lawmakers on Thursday — under the threat of litigation — approved new state legislative district lines that solidify Democrats’ control of the state General Assembly for the next decade.

       The House of Delegates voted along partisan lines, with Republicans describing the lines drawn as racially, demographically and politically unfair and blatant gerrymandering that is designed to benefit incumbents and the majority party.

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       Opponents of the maps say they are poised to sue, just as they are planning to do over the congressional maps that were approved by the 188-member General Assembly last month during a special session.

       “[The legislative leaders] have done everything in their power to uphold the status quo and continue rigging our voting system in their favor,” said Doug Mayer, a spokesman for Fair Maps Maryland, a nonpartisan organization that has fought against gerrymandering and is contemplating litigation.

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       Lawmakers in states across the country have been engaged in bitter battles over the redrawing of boundary lines for legislative and congressional maps. In recent months, dozens of lawsuits have been filed on claims of maps being racially discriminatory or partisan gerrymandering. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, at least 40 cases have been filed challenging legislative and congressional maps in over a dozen states.

       The action by the House on Thursday is the final approval since the Senate voted last week and there is no action, under the state constitution, needed from the governor for the maps to become effective.

       “If you go forward with the map drawn by politicians, for politicians, we will see it in court and I believe it will be overturned,” said Del. Kathy Szeliga (R-Harford).

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       Majority Leader Jason C. Buckel (R-Allegany) said he couldn’t predict what judges will ultimately decide on whether the legislative map passes constitutional muster. In 2002, Maryland’s highest court threw out Democratic Gov. Parris Glendening’s legislative map, ruling that it violated the state constitution because the circuitous boundaries of several districts cut across county lines or leaped over natural barriers and split long-standing communities. Decades ago, the state’s congressional map reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which determined that the federal courts were not the appropriate venue to rule on partisan gerrymandering.

       The debate in the House lasted more than three hours and included two unsuccessful attempts by Republicans to amend the map. One would have done away with multimember districts, in which three delegates represent a legislative district.

       While Republicans argued that multimember districts are unfair to voters, including people of color, Democrats, including some like Del. Kumar Barve (D-Montgomery), pushed back arguing that multimember districts helped get them elected and helped to make the General Assembly more diverse.

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       The other would have replaced the map created by the Maryland Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission with one offered by Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, who appointed a bipartisan group of citizens to create a map.

       Lawmakers must redraw legislative and congressional maps every 10 years to reflect population shifts recorded by the U.S. Census.

       Del. Susan W. Krebs (R-Carroll) began the debate by peppering Majority Leader Eric G. Luedtke (D-Montgomery), who served on the legislative panel, with questions about the process.

       “Did the seven of you work on the document?” she asked. “What parameters were used and is there any documentation of that work?

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       Luedtke answered, then in a moment of frustration asked, “If you know the answers to the questions why are you asking?”

       “Just trying to get it on the record,” she said.

       Del. C.T. Wilson (D-Charles), chairman of the Economic Matters Committee, said he is confident that the map will stand. “The map will be found legally sufficient,” he said. “You can take it to court … but that doesn’t mean you’re going to win. That doesn’t mean you have standing or that it will pass legal muster.”