| 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 | | *sb0996* |
|---|
| 6 | 6 | | |
|---|
| 7 | 7 | | SENATE BILL 996 |
|---|
| 8 | 8 | | G1 5lr3487 |
|---|
| 9 | 9 | | SB 913/24 – EEE |
|---|
| 10 | 10 | | By: Senator McKay |
|---|
| 11 | 11 | | Introduced and read first time: February 1, 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 – Approval Voting – Authorization for County Elections 2 |
|---|
| 19 | 19 | | |
|---|
| 20 | 20 | | FOR the purpose of authorizing the governing body of a county to adopt, by law, an approval 3 |
|---|
| 21 | 21 | | voting method for elections for offices in the executive or legislative branches of 4 |
|---|
| 22 | 22 | | county government; and generally relating to the use of approval voting for elections 5 |
|---|
| 23 | 23 | | for county offices. 6 |
|---|
| 24 | 24 | | |
|---|
| 25 | 25 | | BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 7 |
|---|
| 26 | 26 | | Article – Election Law 8 |
|---|
| 27 | 27 | | Section 8–101 9 |
|---|
| 28 | 28 | | Annotated Code of Maryland 10 |
|---|
| 29 | 29 | | (2022 Replacement Volume and 2024 Supplement) 11 |
|---|
| 30 | 30 | | |
|---|
| 31 | 31 | | SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 12 |
|---|
| 32 | 32 | | That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 13 |
|---|
| 33 | 33 | | |
|---|
| 34 | 34 | | Article – Election Law 14 |
|---|
| 35 | 35 | | |
|---|
| 36 | 36 | | 8–101. 15 |
|---|
| 37 | 37 | | |
|---|
| 38 | 38 | | (a) Under the supervision of the State Board, and in accordance with regulations 16 |
|---|
| 39 | 39 | | and procedures adopted by the State Board, a local board shall conduct all elections held 17 |
|---|
| 40 | 40 | | under this article in the county in which the board is located. 18 |
|---|
| 41 | 41 | | |
|---|
| 42 | 42 | | (b) Except where it would be inappropriate, or as otherwise provided in this 19 |
|---|
| 43 | 43 | | article, the electoral process for primary elections, general elections, and special elections 20 |
|---|
| 44 | 44 | | shall be uniform. 21 |
|---|
| 45 | 45 | | 2 SENATE BILL 996 |
|---|
| 46 | 46 | | |
|---|
| 47 | 47 | | |
|---|
| 48 | 48 | | (C) (1) IN THIS SUBSECTION , “APPROVAL VOTING ” MEANS A METHOD OF 1 |
|---|
| 49 | 49 | | CASTING AND TABULATI NG VOTES IN WHICH VO TERS MAY CHOOSE ANY NUMBER OF 2 |
|---|
| 50 | 50 | | CANDIDATES AND THE C ANDIDATE CHOSEN MOST OFTEN IS ELECTED. 3 |
|---|
| 51 | 51 | | |
|---|
| 52 | 52 | | (2) THE GOVERNING BODY OF A COUNTY MAY , BY LAW, ADOPT AN 4 |
|---|
| 53 | 53 | | APPROVAL VOTING METH OD FOR ELECTIONS FOR OFFICES IN THE EXECU TIVE OR 5 |
|---|
| 54 | 54 | | LEGISLATIVE BRANCHES OF COUNTY GOVERNMENT . 6 |
|---|
| 55 | 55 | | |
|---|
| 56 | 56 | | (3) A LOCAL LAW ENACTED UN DER THIS SUBSECTION SHALL 7 |
|---|
| 57 | 57 | | PROVIDE FOR A N EDUCATIONAL CAMPAI GN EXPLAINING HOW TO VOTE USING 8 |
|---|
| 58 | 58 | | APPROVAL VOTING . 9 |
|---|
| 59 | 59 | | |
|---|
| 60 | 60 | | (4) THE STATE BOARD MAY ADOPT REGUL ATIONS GOVERNING THE 10 |
|---|
| 61 | 61 | | ADMINISTRATION OF EL ECTIONS CONDUCTED US ING APPROVAL VOTING . 11 |
|---|
| 62 | 62 | | |
|---|
| 63 | 63 | | SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take ef fect June 12 |
|---|
| 64 | 64 | | 1, 2025. 13 |
|---|
| 65 | 65 | | |
|---|