# COMAR Title 33 — State Board of Elections

## Subtitle 07 — Election Day Activities

### Chapter 09 — Electioneering; Exit Polling

**Authority:** Election Law Article, §§2-102(b)(4) and 2-202(b), Annotated Code of Maryland

**Administrative History:** Effective date:

**Administrative History:** Regulations .01—.06 adopted as an emergency provision effective March 1, 2000 (27:6 Md. R. 636); adopted permanently effective July 10, 2000 (27:13 Md. R. 1213)

**Administrative History:** Chapter recodified from COMAR 33.07.07 to 33.07.08 effective November 24, 2003 (30:23 Md. R. 1655)

**Administrative History:** Regulation .01 amended effective April 19, 2010 (37:8 Md. R. 623)

**Administrative History:** Regulation .06 amended effective April 19, 2010 (37:8 Md. R. 623)

**Administrative History:** Chapter recodified from COMAR 33.07.08 to 33.07.09 effective March 19, 2012 (39:5 Md. R. 384)

**Administrative History:** Regulation .06 recodified to be Regulation .03 effective February 29, 2016 (43:4 Md. R. 334)

**Administrative History:** Regulations .01—.03 recodified to be Regulations .02—.04 effective April 15, 2024 (51:7 Md. R. 334)

**Administrative History:** Regulation .01 adopted effective April 15, 2024 (51:7 Md. R. 334)

#### Regulation .01 Electioneering — Polling Place.

*COMAR 33.07.09.01*

A. At each polling place, one election judge from each principal political party shall be designated by the local board and, acting jointly, shall post signs delineating a line around the entrance and exit of the building that are closest to that part of the building in which voting occurs.

B. Electioneering Boundary.

  (1) Except as provided in §B(2) of this regulation, the line shall be located as near as practicable to 100 feet from the entrance and exit and shall be established after consideration of the configuration of the entrance and the effect of placement on public safety and the flow of pedestrian and vehicular traffic.

  (2) In Montgomery County, on approval of the local board, the line may be located at any point between 25 feet and 100 feet from the entrance and exit.

C. The signs shall contain the words “No Electioneering Beyond this Point.”

D. An election judge is not required to delineate this area with a physical line on the ground.

#### Regulation .02 Electioneering — Election Offices.

*COMAR 33.07.09.02*

Electioneering is prohibited within the offices of a local board or the State Board:

A. On election day; and

B. At all other times.

#### Regulation .03 Electioneering — Clothing, Buttons, etc., in Polling Place.

*COMAR 33.07.09.03*

A. In General. Except as specified in §B of this regulation, an individual, including any candidate, watcher, or challenger, may not enter the No Electioneering Zone outside a polling place while visibly wearing or carrying any clothing, button, sticker, sign, or other paraphernalia that indicates support or opposition to a candidate, question, or contest.

B. Exception. This regulation does not apply to clothing, buttons, or stickers worn by a voter who, without lingering, enters the polling place, votes, and then leaves.

#### Regulation .04 Exit Polling.

*COMAR 33.07.09.04*

A. In General. Exit polling, whether by questionnaire or interview, is permitted within the No Electioneering Zone outside a polling place, subject to the conditions specified in §B of this regulation.

B. Conditions. A pollster:

  (1) May not enter the voting room;

  (2) May not ask questions of a voter until the voter has left the voting room;

  (3) Shall inform each voter being polled that the voter's participation is voluntary; and

  (4) May not electioneer.

C. Notice Requested.

  (1) Polling organizations are requested to provide the State Administrator or the election director with a list of those polling places that they intend to cover, so that the election judges can be informed.

  (2) Failure to provide this information, however, does not in any way diminish or otherwise affect the rights granted by this regulation.

#### Regulation .05 Reserved.

*COMAR 33.07.09.05*