Maryland 2025 Regular Session

Maryland Senate Bill SB991 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	sb0991
6	6
7	7	SENATE BILL 991
8	8	G1, E5 5lr1690
9	9	CF HB 253
10	10	By: Senator Watson
11	11	Introduced and read first time: January 30, 2025
12	12	Assigned to: Rules
13	13
14	14	A BILL ENTITLED
15	15
16	16	AN ACT concerning 1
17	17
18	18	Election Law – Pretrial Detainees – Absentee Ballots 2
19	19
20	20	FOR the purpose of requiring the State Board of Elections or the local boards of elections 3
21	21	to automatically send an absentee ballot to each registered voter in pretrial detention 4
22	22	in a correctional facility without the voter having to submit an absentee ballot 5
23	23	application; and generally relating to sending absentee ballots to pretrial detainees. 6
24	24
25	25	BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 7
26	26	Article – Correctional Services 8
27	27	Section 2–501 9
28	28	Annotated Code of Maryland 10
29	29	(2017 Replacement Volume and 2024 Supplement) 11
30	30
31	31	BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 12
32	32	Article – Election Law 13
33	33	Section 1–303.1 and 1–303.2 14
34	34	Annotated Code of Maryland 15
35	35	(2022 Replacement Volume and 2024 Supplement) 16
36	36
37	37	SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 17
38	38	That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 18
39	39
40	40	Article – Correctional Services 19
41	41
42	42	2–501. 20
43	43
44	44	(a) (1) In this section the following words have the meanings indicated. 21
45	45
46	46	(2) “Baltimore City centralized booking facility” means the centralized 22
47	47	booking facility in Baltimore City that is operated by the Division of Pretrial Detention and 23
48	48	Services in the Department. 24 2 SENATE BILL 991
49	49
50	50
51	51
52	52	(3) “Election–related materials” means documents and other items 1
53	53	associated with the registering for and voting in an election, including: 2
54	54
55	55	(i) [absentee ballot applications; 3
56	56
57	57	(ii)] absentee ballots; and 4
58	58
59	59	[(iii)] (II) voter registration applications. 5
60	60
61	61	(4) “Eligible voter” means an individual who: 6
62	62
63	63	(i) is incarcerated at the Baltimore City centralized booking facility; 7
64	64	and 8
65	65
66	66	(ii) has the right to vote under State law. 9
67	67
68	68	(b) The Baltimore City centralized booking facility shall: 10
69	69
70	70	(1) provide a secure, designated ballot drop box from the State Board of 11
71	71	Elections to eligible voters so that they may easily submit the following election–related 12
72	72	materials to the State Board of Elections or a local board of elections: 13
73	73
74	74	(i) [absentee ballot applications; 14
75	75
76	76	(ii)] absentee ballots; and 15
77	77
78	78	[(iii)] (II) voter registration forms; 16
79	79
80	80	(2) monitor the ballot drop box provided under item (1) of this subsection 17
81	81	24 hours a day and 7 days a week; and 18
82	82
83	83	(3) disseminate written notifications directly to each eligible voter on how 19
84	84	and when to use the ballot drop box provided under item (1) of this subsection. 20
85	85
86	86	(c) (1) The State Board of Elections shall provide the Baltimore City 21
87	87	centralized booking facility with: 22
88	88
89	89	(i) the ballot drop box and written notification materials to 23
90	90	disseminate to eligible voters under subsection (b) of this section; and 24
91	91
92	92	(ii) advice and guidance in carrying out the requirements of 25
93	93	subsection (b) of this section. 26
94	94
95	95	(2) The State shall pay for the ballot drop box. 27
96	96	SENATE BILL 991 3
97	97
98	98
99	99	(d) The Baltimore City centralized booking facility shall cooperate fully with the 1
100	100	State Board of Elections in implementing the requirements of this section. 2
101	101
102	102	Article – Election Law 3
103	103
104	104	1–303.1. 4
105	105
106	106	(a) (1) In this section the following words have the meanings indicated. 5
107	107
108	108	(2) “Baltimore City centralized booking facility” means the centralized 6
109	109	booking facility in Baltimore City that is operated by the Division of Pretrial Detention and 7
110	110	Services in the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services. 8
111	111
112	112	(3) “Election–related materials” means documents and other items 9
113	113	associated with the registering for and voting in an election, including: 10
114	114
115	115	(i) [absentee ballot applications; 11
116	116
117	117	(ii)] absentee ballots; and 12
118	118
119	119	[(iii)] (II) voter registration applications. 13
120	120
121	121	(4) “Eligible voter” means an individual who: 14
122	122
123	123	(i) is incarcerated at the Baltimore City centralized booking facility; 15
124	124	and 16
125	125
126	126	(ii) has the right to vote under State law. 17
127	127
128	128	(b) The State Board shall adopt regulations in collaboration with the Department 18
129	129	of Public Safety and Correctional Services to provide the following at the Baltimore City 19
130	130	centralized booking facility in accordance with § 2–501 of the Correctional Services Article: 20
131	131
132	132	(1) a secure, designated ballot drop box for election–related materials; and 21
133	133
134	134	(2) written notifications on how and when eligible voters may use the ballot 22
135	135	drop box. 23
136	136
137	137	(c) (1) The State Board shall provide the ballot drop box under subsection (b) 24
138	138	of this section to the Baltimore City centralized booking facility in time to allow eligible 25
139	139	voters sufficient opportunity to submit election–related materials before any 26
140	140	election–related deadlines. 27
141	141
142	142	(2) The local board of elections for Baltimore City shall provide staff to 28
143	143	collect: 29
144	144	4 SENATE BILL 991
145	145
146	146
147	147	(i) election–related materials submitted to the ballot drop box on at 1
148	148	least a weekly basis; and 2
149	149
150	150	(ii) the ballot drop box after an election–related deadline. 3
151	151
152	152	(3) The local board of elections for Baltimore City shall distribute the 4
153	153	election–related materials collected from the ballot drop box to the State Board or a local 5
154	154	board, as appropriate and in a timely manner. 6
155	155
156	156	(d) On or before January 1 each year, the local board of elections for Baltimore 7
157	157	City shall submit a report to the Senate Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs 8
158	158	Committee, the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee, the House Committee on Ways 9
159	159	and Means, and the House Appropriations Committee, in accordance with § 2–1257 of the 10
160	160	State Government Article, on the following information submitted to the ballot drop box, 11
161	161	disaggregated by each weekly collection from the ballot drop box and by the State Board or 12
162	162	the local board that is the intended recipient of the election–related materials: 13
163	163
164	164	(1) [the number of absentee ballot applications received and accepted; 14
165	165
166	166	(2)] absentee ballots received and accepted; and 15
167	167
168	168	[(3)] (2) other election–related materials received. 16
169	169
170	170	1–303.2. 17
171	171
172	172	(a) (1) In this section the following words have the meanings indicated. 18
173	173
174	174	(2) “Correctional facility” means a facility for detaining or confining 19
175	175	individuals that is operated by a correctional unit. 20
176	176
177	177	(3) “Correctional unit” has the meaning stated in § 2–401(b) of the 21
178	178	Correctional Services Article. 22
179	179
180	180	(4) “Eligible voter” means an individual who: 23
181	181
182	182	(i) is incarcerated in a correctional facility; and 24
183	183
184	184	(ii) has the right to vote under State law. 25
185	185
186	186	(b) The State Board shall adopt regulations establishing a program to inform 26
187	187	eligible voters of upcoming elections and how eligible voters may exercise the right to vote. 27
188	188
189	189	(c) The regulations adopted under subsection (b) of this section shall require the 28
190	190	State Board or local boards to: 29
191	191	SENATE BILL 991 5
192	192
193	193
194	194	(1) disseminate information on eligibility requirements to register to vote 1
195	195	and voter registration applications to eligible voters at least 30 days before the deadline to 2
196	196	register to vote before each election; 3
197	197
198	198	(2) SUBJECT TO SUBSECTIO N (D) OF THIS SECTION , disseminate 4
199	199	instructions on absentee voting, absentee ballot applications, and absentee ballots before 5
200	200	each election in a timely manner; 6
201	201
202	202	(3) provide frequent opportunities for eligible voters to register to vote and 7
203	203	to vote; and 8
204	204
205	205	(4) SUBJECT TO SUBSECTIO N (D) OF THIS SECTION , provide for the 9
206	206	timely return of voter registration applications, absentee ballot applications, and absentee 10
207	207	ballots completed by eligible voters. 11
208	208
209	209	(d) THE STATE BOARD OR THE LOCAL BO ARDS SHALL AUTOMATIC ALLY 12
210	210	SEND AN ABSENTEE BAL LOT TO EACH REGISTERED V OTER IN PRETRIAL DET ENTION 13
211	211	AT A CORRECTIONAL FA CILITY: 14
212	212
213	213	(1) WITHOUT THE VOTER HA VING TO SUBMIT AN AB SENTEE BALLOT 15
214	214	APPLICATION; AND 16
215	215
216	216	(2) IN SUFFICIENT TIME B EFORE ELECTION DAY F OR THE VOTER TO 17
217	217	SUBMIT THE ABSENTEE BALLOT IN A TIMELY MANNER. 18
218	218
219	219	(E) Each correctional facility shall cooperate fully with the State Board and the 19
220	220	local boards in implementing the program required under this section. 20
221	221
222	222	[(e)] (F) On or before January 15 each year, the State Board shall submit a 21
223	223	report to the Senate Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Committee and the 22
224	224	House Ways and Means Committee, in accordance with § 2–1257 of the State Government 23
225	225	Article, that includes the following information, disaggregated by correctional facility: 24
226	226
227	227	(1) the number of eligible voters who registered to vote, attempted to vote, 25
228	228	and voted successfully by absentee ballot during the immediately preceding calendar year; 26
229	229
230	230	(2) the number of times the State Board or a local board of elections visited 27
231	231	each correctional facility during the immediately preceding calendar year, the duration of 28
232	232	each visit, and a description of the work done at each correctional facility; 29
233	233
234	234	(3) a description of any obstacles to implementing this section or § 2–501 30
235	235	of the Correctional Services Article; and 31
236	236
237	237	(4) any recommendations for improving the implementation of this section 32
238	238	or § 2–501 of the Correctional Services Article. 33
239	239	6 SENATE BILL 991
240	240
241	241
242	242	SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect July 1
243	243	1, 2025. 2
244	244