Maryland General Assembly wants to change election laws. Here's how

BALTIMORE — Even when she was incarcerated, Gwendolyn Levi was an advocate.

Levi, who spent 16 years in prison, remembered years of gathering with other incarcerated women to talk about pending legislation that impacted all aspects of their lives, both inside and out of the correctional facility.

“We contacted our family, we wrote legislators, we lobbied organizations to offer our input and to have some information,” she said at a House Ways and Means Committee hearing on Tuesday. “The one thing we couldn’t do, that would ultimately make a difference, was vote.”

But under House Bill 710, a measure sponsored by Montgomery County Del. Jheanelle Wilkins, a Democrat and vice chair of the committee, people convicted of a felony and serving a prison sentence could be allowed to register to vote.

Republican delegates, however, questioned the logistics of the bill, which would allow incarcerated people to register to vote in the place they consider to be their residence, or the last known address for people serving life sentences, Wilkins said.

“It’s really hard to tell when someone’s in jail for five years, seven years, 15 years, where they’re going to live the day they get out because they don’t know until the very end of their time,” said House Minority Leader Jason Buckel, who represents Allegany County. “The life that they had before they got incarcerated, that may be gone — their family, their connections to that community, may not exist anymore.”

The measure is one of several bills Maryland lawmakers are considering this year to change election laws. Democratic-sponsored bills aim to increase access to voting and create more transparency in the processes to fill vacancies in the General Assembly, while Republican-sponsored legislation focuses on verifying voters’ identities and signature requirements on absentee ballots.

Expanding access to voting

Several bills introduced by lawmakers in this session would expand access to voting.

Senate Bill 66 and House Bill 781 would require the state board of elections to create guidelines for local boards to accommodate and expedite voting for older people and people with disabilities through dedicated lines, signs and priority seating. Election judges would also receive training.

Charles County Sen. Arthur Ellis, a Democrat sponsoring the Senate bill, said some older and disabled voters who showed up to the polls last year asked for accommodations but were told they had to wait in line with other voters. To Ellis, it’s “unacceptable” to have so many voters disenfranchised.

“They should have a choice to vote the way they want to vote, and not to be insulted by election workers or anybody else telling them … ‘Please go away, you’re not needed here,’” he said.

Senate Bill 615 and House Bill 816 would make ballot questions posed to voters easier to understand by eliminating legal jargon and adding a statement to explain the outcome of each choice.

Sponsored by Montgomery County Sen. Cheryl Kagan and Howard County Del. Jessica Feldmark, both Democrats, the bills would also require simpler language for petitions seeking to put a question on the ballot. State and local boards of elections would have to post the complete text of ballot questions at least 65 days before the general election.

Additional legislation, House Bill 253 and Senate Bill 991, would automatically send absentee ballots to registered voters in pretrial detention at correctional facilities without them having to submit absentee ballot applications.

Del. Kevin Harris, a Democrat representing Charles and Prince George’s counties, said many detained people are often left unable to vote due to logistical challenges associated with casting absentee ballots.

“Disenfranchising people before they’re even found guilty of their accusation is damaging to society and sets a dangerous precedent,” he said.

Vacancies and special elections

Several bills seek to refine what happens when a seat in the General Assembly is left vacant.

Over the last few months, multiple lawmakers left their seats to take different positions. For instance, former state Sen. Jill Carter was appointed to the Maryland State Board of Contract Appeals, and former state Sen. Sarah Elfreth was elected to Congress. Other former lawmakers took on roles in Gov. Wes Moore’s administration in 2023.

Senate Bill 2 and House Bill 174, sponsored by Kagan and Del. Linda Foley, both Montgomery County Democrats, would allow Marylanders to vote during next year’s general election to change how vacancies in the state legislature are filled in the constitution.

The legislation would require the governor to call for special primary and general elections if a state lawmaker leaves office at least 55 days before the candidate filing deadline for regular state elections held in the second year of their term.

Under current law, vacancies are filled through local central committees, which forward a successor’s name to the governor, who makes the final appointment.

However, if the vacancy occurs fewer than 55 days before the filing deadline, the governor would appoint someone to serve the remainder of the lawmaker’s unexpired term under the bill’s provisions.

“We just think that the voters ought to be able to fill those for the balance of the four years,” Kagan said of the vacancies during a Senate Education, Energy, and the Environment Committee bill hearing.

However, not every local central committee fills vacant seats in the General Assembly in the same way. Senate Bill 171 and House Bill 237, sponsored by Sen. Clarence Lam, Del. Julie Palakovich Carr, a Montgomery County Democrat, and Del. Mike Griffith, a Republican who represents Cecil and Harford counties, seek to make those processes consistent across the state.

The legislation, which has been brought forward in the Senate multiple times, would require the application period to fill a vacancy open for at least 7 days and advertise the details of the vacancy-filling process.

Applications submitted to a central committee would be posted online, and members of central committees who applied to fill a vacancy would be required to recuse themselves from the process and vote.

Lam, a Democrat who represents Anne Arundel and Howard counties, added that he is submitting amendments to make any central committee vote to fill a vacancy be taken by signed ballots and have voting results by each member be disclosed publicly.

“Although I hope the state will eventually pass a special elections bill in the General Assembly for the broader issue of these vacancies, this bill will help ensure that the current process is transparent to the public,” he said.

Voter verification

Republicans are proposing several measures to verify voters’ identities.

House Bill 91, sponsored by Del. Bob Long, a Baltimore County Republican, would require in-person voters to prove their identity by showing a government-issued photo ID or a non-government ID and documents proving a voter’s name and address to an election judge.

House Bill 67, also sponsored by Long and other House Republicans, would prohibit local boards of elections from removing absentee ballots from return envelopes unless they’re signed by the voter it was issued to, excluding uniformed service members serving overseas. Signatures would be verified by comparing the signed envelope to a voter’s registration record.

It’s not the first time Republicans have pushed these bills in the General Assembly — similar legislation has been introduced in the last three sessions.

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