Title 7. Questions — Subtitle 1
Statutes in effect as of October 1, 2026.
This title applies to the following types of ballot questions:
(1)
a question relating to:
(i)
the creation or adoption of a new Constitution or the calling of a constitutional convention; or
(ii)
an amendment pursuant to Article XIV of the Maryland Constitution;
(2)
referral of an enactment of the General Assembly pursuant to Article XVI of the Maryland Constitution;
(3)
a question pursuant to Article XI–A of the Maryland Constitution relating to:
(i)
the creation of a charter home rule county government;
(ii)
the approval of a county charter; or
(iii)
the amendment of a county charter;
(4)
a question relating to the creation of a code home rule county government pursuant to Article XI–F of the Maryland Constitution;
(5)
a question relating to the alteration of county boundaries or the creation of a new county pursuant to Article XIII of the Maryland Constitution;
(6)
a question referred to the voters pursuant to an enactment of the General Assembly;
(7)
a question on an enactment of a charter county pursuant to § 9–205 of the Local Government Article or a code county pursuant to §§ 9–310 through 9–313 of the Local Government Article;
(8)
a question relating to the incorporation of a new municipality pursuant to § 4–204 of the Local Government Article;
(9)
a question on the issuance of a bond pursuant to § 9–934 of the Environment Article; and
(10)
any other question that will be voted on in an election conducted pursuant to this article.
(a)
(1)
A question relating to the holding of a constitutional convention qualifies for the ballot automatically every 20 years pursuant to Article XIV, § 2 of the Maryland Constitution.
(2)
A question relating to the adoption of a new or altered Constitution qualifies upon its adoption by a duly constituted convention pursuant to Article XIV, § 2 of the Maryland Constitution.
(3)
An amendment to the Constitution qualifies upon its passage by the General Assembly pursuant to Article XIV, § 1 of the Maryland Constitution.
(b)
A question on an act of the General Assembly pursuant to Article XVI of the Maryland Constitution qualifies upon the certification under Title 6 of this article, that the petition has satisfied all the requirements established by Article XVI.
(c)
(1)
A question relating to the creation of a home rule county government qualifies upon either:
(i)
a determination by the appropriate local authority that the applicable petition has satisfied all the requirements established by law relating to the creation of a charter board; or
(ii)
the adoption by the governing body of a county of an enactment proposing that the county become a code county.
(2)
A question relating to the approval of a county charter qualifies upon the adoption of a proposed charter by a charter board pursuant to the requirements prescribed by Article XI-A of the Maryland Constitution.
(3)
A question relating to the amendment of a county charter shall qualify either upon:
(i)
the passage by the governing body of the county of a resolution proposing the amendment; or
(ii)
a determination by the governing body of the county that a petition submitted has satisfied all the requirements established by law relating to petitions initiating charter amendments.
(d)
A question relating to the creation of a new county or the alteration of county boundaries qualifies upon the enactment of the implementing public general law.
(e)
A question referred to the voters as provided in an enactment of the General Assembly qualifies upon the enactment of the law calling for the question.
(f)
(1)
A question on an enactment by a charter county qualifies pursuant to local law and § 9–205 of the Local Government Article.
(2)
A question on an enactment by a code county qualifies pursuant to local law and §§ 9–310 through 9–313 of the Local Government Article.
(g)
A question relating to the incorporation of a new municipal corporation qualifies upon the determination by the county governing body that the applicable petition has satisfied all the requirements established by law for that petition.
(h)
A referendum on a question of issuance of a bond pursuant to § 9-934 of the Environment Article qualifies upon submission of the question to the appropriate local board.
(a)
(1)
In this section the following words have the meanings indicated.
(2)
“County attorney” means:
(i)
the attorney or law department established by a county charter or local law to represent the county generally, including its legislative and executive officers; or
(ii)
if the county charter or local laws provide for different attorneys to represent the legislative and executive branches of county government, the attorney designated to represent the county legislative body.
(3)
“Municipal attorney” means:
(i)
the attorney or law department established by a municipal charter or local law to represent the municipal corporation generally, including its legislative and executive officers; or
(ii)
if the municipal charter or local laws provide for different attorneys to represent the legislative and executive branches of municipal government, the attorney designated to represent the municipal legislative body.
(b)
Each question shall appear on the ballot containing the following information:
(1)
a question number or letter as determined under subsection (d) of this section;
(2)
a brief designation of the type or source of the question;
(3)
a brief title in boldface type that describes the topic, goal, or outcome of the ballot question;
(4)
a condensed statement describing the change in policy to be adopted in plain and clear language that:
(i)
a voter can easily understand;
(ii)
does not explain the legal mechanism providing for the policy change; and
(iii)
does not contain legal jargon or use double negatives or the passive voice;
(5)
the voting choices that the voter has; and
(6)
a brief statement explaining what the practical outcome of each voting choice would be.
(c)
(1)
On or before July 1 immediately preceding a general election, the Secretary of State shall prepare and certify to the State Board the information required under subsection (b) of this section, for all statewide ballot questions and all questions relating to an enactment of the General Assembly which is petitioned to referendum.
(2)
On or before July 1 immediately preceding a general election, the State Board shall prepare and certify to the appropriate local board the information required under subsection (b) of this section for all questions that have been referred to the voters of one county or part of one county pursuant to an enactment of the General Assembly.
(3)
(i)
On or before July 1 immediately preceding a general election, the county attorney of the appropriate county shall prepare and certify to the State Board the information required under subsection (b) of this section for each question to be voted on in a single county or part of a county, except a question covered by paragraph (1) or paragraph (2) of this subsection.
(ii)
If the information required under subsection (b) of this section has not been timely certified under subparagraph (i) of this paragraph, the clerk of the circuit court for the jurisdiction shall prepare and certify that information to the State Board not later than the first Friday in August.
(4)
(i)
On or before July 1 immediately preceding a general election, the municipal attorney of the appropriate municipal corporation shall prepare and certify to the State Board the information required under subsection (b) of this section for each question to be voted on in the municipal corporation, except a question covered by paragraphs (1) through (3) of this subsection.
(ii)
If the information required under subsection (b) of this section has not been timely certified under subparagraph (i) of this paragraph, the clerk of the circuit court for the county in which the municipal corporation is located shall prepare and certify that information to the State Board not later than the first Friday in August.
(5)
(i)
The State Board shall make the information submitted in accordance with this subsection available to the public for a 15–day comment period.
(ii)
On or before the fourth day immediately following the end of the comment period required under subparagraph (i) of this paragraph, the person required to prepare a question under paragraph (1), (2), (3), or (4) of this subsection shall:
(1)
review the comments received during the comment period and make any necessary changes to the question; and
(2)
submit the certified plain text of the question to the State Board for publication on its website under § 9–207 of this article.
(6)
The information required under subsection (b) of this section for a question that is being placed on the ballot by petition may be prepared before the petition is certified under § 6–208 of this article.
(d)
(1)
Each statewide question and each question relating to an enactment of the General Assembly which is petitioned to referendum shall be assigned a numerical identifier in the following order:
(i)
by years of sessions of the General Assembly at which enacted; and
(ii)
for each such session, by chapter numbers of the Session Laws of that session.
(2)
A question that has been referred to the voters of one county or part of one county pursuant to an enactment of the General Assembly shall be assigned an alphabetical identifier in an order established by the State Board.
(3)
Questions certified under subsection (c)(3)(i) or (ii) or (c)(4)(i) or (ii) of this section shall be assigned an alphabetical or alphanumeric identifier in an order established by the certifying authority in consultation with the State Board to prevent duplication or confusion, consistent with and following the questions certified by the State Board.
(a)
A petition for the election of a charter board may not be filed unless all of the signatures attached to the petition have been written by the signers within 6 months of the date when the petition is presented to the board.
(b)
A petition relating to a question arising under Article XI–A of the Maryland Constitution shall be filed with the appropriate governmental body or officer not later than the 99th day before the general election at which the question is to be voted on.
(c)
(1)
The responsible officers of a petition sponsor’s ballot issue committee shall be a party to any proceeding to test the validity of the petition.
(2)
The proceeding shall be filed in the county where the petition sponsor resides or maintains its principal place of business.
(a)
A local board shall provide notice of each question to be submitted statewide and each question to be submitted to the voters of the county, by:
(1)
specimen ballot mailed at least 1 week before any early voting period before the general election; or
(2)
publication or dissemination by mass communication during the 3 weeks immediately preceding the general election at which a question will appear on the ballot.
(b)
(1)
For any question submitted under Article XIV or Article XVI of the Maryland Constitution, the notice required by subsection (a) of this section shall contain the information specified in § 7–103(b) of this title and a brief statement, prepared in clear and concise language, devoid of technical and legal terms to the extent practicable, summarizing the question.
(2)
The statement required under paragraph (1) of this subsection shall be:
(i)
prepared by the Department of Legislative Services;
(ii)
approved by the Attorney General; and
(iii)
submitted to the State Board by the first Monday in August.
(3)
The statement required under paragraph (1) of this subsection is sufficient if it is:
(i)
contained in an enactment by the General Assembly, and the enactment clearly specifies that the statement is to be used on the ballot; or
(ii)
consistent with some other process mandated by the Maryland Constitution.
(c)
The State Board shall adopt regulations governing notice of questions to appear on the ballot, including the use and content of specimen ballots and the publication or dissemination of notice by mass communication.
(d)
(1)
The complete text of a question shall be posted or available for public inspection in the office of the State Board and each applicable local board for 65 days prior to the general election.
(2)
Copies of the complete text of all statewide questions shall be furnished by the State Board to the local boards in quantities as determined by the State Board, including quantities sufficient to provide one copy of each for posting in each polling place and in each local board office.
(3)
An individual may receive without charge a copy of the complete text of all constitutional amendments and questions from a local board, either in person, by mail, or electronically.
(e)
The State Board and each applicable local board shall post in a manner widely accessible to the public for at least 90 days before the general election:
(1)
the complete text of:
(i)
for a question relating to the creation or adoption of a new Constitution, the proposed Constitution;
(ii)
for an amendment under Article XIV of the Maryland Constitution, the proposed amendment to the Maryland Constitution;
(iii)
for an enactment of the General Assembly referred in accordance with Article XVI of the Maryland Constitution, the enactment;
(iv)
for a proposed county charter or amendment to a county charter under Article XI–A of the Maryland Constitution:
(1)
the proposed charter; or
(2)
the proposed amendment to a county charter;
(v)
for an enactment of the General Assembly referring a question to the voters, the enactment; and
(vi)
for a charter county enactment in accordance with § 9–205 of the Local Government Article or a code county enactment in accordance with §§ 9–310 through 9–313 of the Local Government Article, the proposed enactment; and
(2)
for each question posted under item (1)(ii), (iii), (iv), (v), or (vi) of this subsection, a link to the General Assembly or county webpage for the applicable legislation.