Maryland 2025 Regular Session

Maryland House Bill HB253 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1
2	2
3	3	EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MAT TER ADDED TO EXISTIN G LAW.
4	4	[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
5	5	hb0253
6	6
7	7	HOUSE BILL 253
8	8	G1, E5 5lr1278
9	9	(PRE–FILED) CF 5lr1690
10	10	By: Delegate Harris
11	11	Requested: October 18, 2024
12	12	Introduced and read first time: January 8, 2025
13	13	Assigned to: Ways and Means
14	14
15	15	A BILL ENTITLED
16	16
17	17	AN ACT concerning 1
18	18
19	19	Election Law – Pretrial Detainees – Absentee Ballots 2
20	20
21	21	FOR the purpose of requiring the State Board of Elections or the local boards of elections 3
22	22	to automatically send an absentee ballot to each registered voter in pretrial detention 4
23	23	in a correctional facility without the voter having to submit an absentee ballot 5
24	24	application; and generally relating to sending absentee ballots to pretrial detainees. 6
25	25
26	26	BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 7
27	27	Article – Correctional Services 8
28	28	Section 2–501 9
29	29	Annotated Code of Maryland 10
30	30	(2017 Replacement Volume and 2024 Supplement) 11
31	31
32	32	BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 12
33	33	Article – Election Law 13
34	34	Section 1–303.1 and 1–303.2 14
35	35	Annotated Code of Maryland 15
36	36	(2022 Replacement Volume and 2024 Supplement) 16
37	37
38	38	SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 17
39	39	That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 18
40	40
41	41	Article – Correctional Services 19
42	42
43	43	2–501. 20
44	44
45	45	(a) (1) In this section the following words have the meanings indicated. 21
46	46	2 HOUSE BILL 253
47	47
48	48
49	49	(2) “Baltimore City centralized booking facility” means the centralized 1
50	50	booking facility in Baltimore City that is operated by the Division of Pretrial Detention and 2
51	51	Services in the Department. 3
52	52
53	53	(3) “Election–related materials” means documents and other items 4
54	54	associated with the registering for and voting in an election, including: 5
55	55
56	56	(i) [absentee ballot applications; 6
57	57
58	58	(ii)] absentee ballots; and 7
59	59
60	60	[(iii)] (II) voter registration applications. 8
61	61
62	62	(4) “Eligible voter” means an individual who: 9
63	63
64	64	(i) is incarcerated at the Baltimore City centralized booking facility; 10
65	65	and 11
66	66
67	67	(ii) has the right to vote under State law. 12
68	68
69	69	(b) The Baltimore City centralized booking facility shall: 13
70	70
71	71	(1) provide a secure, designated ballot drop box from the State Board of 14
72	72	Elections to eligible voters so that they may easily submit the following election–related 15
73	73	materials to the State Board of Elections or a local board of elections: 16
74	74
75	75	(i) [absentee ballot applications; 17
76	76
77	77	(ii)] absentee ballots; and 18
78	78
79	79	[(iii)] (II) voter registration forms; 19
80	80
81	81	(2) monitor the ballot drop box provided under item (1) of this subsection 20
82	82	24 hours a day and 7 days a week; and 21
83	83
84	84	(3) disseminate written notifications directly to each eligible voter on how 22
85	85	and when to use the ballot drop box provided under item (1) of this subsection. 23
86	86
87	87	(c) (1) The State Board of Elections shall provide the Baltimore City 24
88	88	centralized booking facility with: 25
89	89
90	90	(i) the ballot drop box and written notification materials to 26
91	91	disseminate to eligible voters under subsection (b) of this section; and 27
92	92
93	93	(ii) advice and guidance in carrying out the requirements of 28
94	94	subsection (b) of this section. 29 HOUSE BILL 253 3
95	95
96	96
97	97
98	98	(2) The State shall pay for the ballot drop box. 1
99	99
100	100	(d) The Baltimore City centralized booking facility shall cooperate fully with the 2
101	101	State Board of Elections in implementing the requirements of this section. 3
102	102
103	103	Article – Election Law 4
104	104
105	105	1–303.1. 5
106	106
107	107	(a) (1) In this section the following words have the meanings indicated. 6
108	108
109	109	(2) “Baltimore City centralized booking facility” means the centralized 7
110	110	booking facility in Baltimore City that is operated by the Division of Pretrial Detention and 8
111	111	Services in the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services. 9
112	112
113	113	(3) “Election–related materials” means documents and other items 10
114	114	associated with the registering for and voting in an election, including: 11
115	115
116	116	(i) [absentee ballot applications; 12
117	117
118	118	(ii)] absentee ballots; and 13
119	119
120	120	[(iii)] (II) voter registration applications. 14
121	121
122	122	(4) “Eligible voter” means an individual who: 15
123	123
124	124	(i) is incarcerated at the Baltimore City centralized booking facility; 16
125	125	and 17
126	126
127	127	(ii) has the right to vote under State law. 18
128	128
129	129	(b) The State Board shall adopt regulations in collaboration with the Department 19
130	130	of Public Safety and Correctional Services to provide the following at the Baltimore City 20
131	131	centralized booking facility in accordance with § 2–501 of the Correctional Services Article: 21
132	132
133	133	(1) a secure, designated ballot drop box for election–related materials; and 22
134	134
135	135	(2) written notifications on how and when eligible voters may use the ballot 23
136	136	drop box. 24
137	137
138	138	(c) (1) The State Board shall provide the ballot drop box under subsection (b) 25
139	139	of this section to the Baltimore City centralized booking facility in time to allow eligible 26
140	140	voters sufficient opportunity to submit election–related materials before any 27
141	141	election–related deadlines. 28
142	142	4 HOUSE BILL 253
143	143
144	144
145	145	(2) The local board of elections for Baltimore City shall provide staff to 1
146	146	collect: 2
147	147
148	148	(i) election–related materials submitted to the ballot drop box on at 3
149	149	least a weekly basis; and 4
150	150
151	151	(ii) the ballot drop box after an election–related deadline. 5
152	152
153	153	(3) The local board of elections for Baltimore City shall distribute the 6
154	154	election–related materials collected from the ballot drop box to the State Board or a local 7
155	155	board, as appropriate and in a timely manner. 8
156	156
157	157	(d) On or before January 1 each year, the local board of elections for Baltimore 9
158	158	City shall submit a report to the Senate Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs 10
159	159	Committee, the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee, the House Committee on Ways 11
160	160	and Means, and the House Appropriations Committee, in accordance with § 2–1257 of the 12
161	161	State Government Article, on the following information submitted to the ballot drop box, 13
162	162	disaggregated by each weekly collection from the ballot drop box and by the State Board or 14
163	163	the local board that is the intended recipient of the election–related materials: 15
164	164
165	165	(1) [the number of absentee ballot applications received and accepted; 16
166	166
167	167	(2)] absentee ballots received and accepted; and 17
168	168
169	169	[(3)] (2) other election–related materials received. 18
170	170
171	171	1–303.2. 19
172	172
173	173	(a) (1) In this section the following words have the meanings indicated. 20
174	174
175	175	(2) “Correctional facility” means a facility for detaining or confining 21
176	176	individuals that is operated by a correctional unit. 22
177	177
178	178	(3) “Correctional unit” has the meaning stated in § 2–401(b) of the 23
179	179	Correctional Services Article. 24
180	180
181	181	(4) “Eligible voter” means an individual who: 25
182	182
183	183	(i) is incarcerated in a correctional facility; and 26
184	184
185	185	(ii) has the right to vote under State law. 27
186	186
187	187	(b) The State Board shall adopt regulations establishing a program to inform 28
188	188	eligible voters of upcoming elections and how eligible voters may exercise the right to vote. 29
189	189
190	190	(c) The regulations adopted under subsection (b) of this section shall require the 30
191	191	State Board or local boards to: 31 HOUSE BILL 253 5
192	192
193	193
194	194
195	195	(1) disseminate information on eligibility requirements to register to vote 1
196	196	and voter registration applications to eligible voters at least 30 days before the deadline to 2
197	197	register to vote before each election; 3
198	198
199	199	(2) SUBJECT TO SUBSECTIO N (D) OF THIS SECTION , disseminate 4
200	200	instructions on absentee voting, absentee ballot applications, and absentee ballots before 5
201	201	each election in a timely manner; 6
202	202
203	203	(3) provide frequent opportunities for eligible voters to register to vote and 7
204	204	to vote; and 8
205	205
206	206	(4) SUBJECT TO SUBSECTIO N (D) OF THIS SECTION , provide for the 9
207	207	timely return of voter registration applications, absentee ballot applications, and absentee 10
208	208	ballots completed by eligible voters. 11
209	209
210	210	(d) THE STATE BOARD OR THE LOCAL BOARD S SHALL AUTOMATICALLY 12
211	211	SEND AN ABSENTEE BAL LOT TO EACH REGISTERED VOTER IN PRETRIAL DETENTIO N 13
212	212	AT A CORRECTIONAL FA CILITY: 14
213	213
214	214	(1) WITHOUT THE VOTER HA VING TO SUBMIT AN AB SENTEE BALLOT 15
215	215	APPLICATION; AND 16
216	216
217	217	(2) IN SUFFICIENT TIME BEFORE ELECTION DAY FOR THE VOTER TO 17
218	218	SUBMIT THE ABSENTEE BALLOT IN A TIMELY MANNER . 18
219	219
220	220	(E) Each correctional facility shall cooperate fully with the State Board and the 19
221	221	local boards in implementing the program required under this section. 20
222	222
223	223	[(e)] (F) On or before January 15 each year, the State Board shall submit a 21
224	224	report to the Senate Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Committee and the 22
225	225	House Ways and Means Committee, in accordance with § 2–1257 of the State Government 23
226	226	Article, that includes the following information, disaggregated by correctional facility: 24
227	227
228	228	(1) the number of eligible voters who registered to vote, attempted to vote, 25
229	229	and voted successfully by absentee ballot during the immediately preceding calendar year; 26
230	230
231	231	(2) the number of times the State Board or a local board of elections visited 27
232	232	each correctional facility during the immediately preceding calendar year, the duration of 28
233	233	each visit, and a description of the work done at each correctional facility; 29
234	234
235	235	(3) a description of any obstacles to implementing this section or § 2–501 30
236	236	of the Correctional Services Article; and 31
237	237
238	238	(4) any recommendations for improving the implementation of this section 32
239	239	or § 2–501 of the Correctional Services Article. 33 6 HOUSE BILL 253
240	240
241	241
242	242
243	243	SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect July 1
244	244	1, 2025. 2