Ballot access requirements for political parties in Maryland

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Note: This article is not intended to serve as a guide to running for public office. Individuals should contact their state election agencies for further information.

Although there are hundreds of political parties in the United States, only certain parties qualify to have the names of their candidates for office printed on election ballots. In order to qualify for ballot placement, a party must meet certain requirements that vary from state to state. For example, in some states, a party may have to file a petition in order to qualify for ballot placement. In other states, a party must organize around a candidate for a specific office; that candidate must, in turn, win a percentage of the vote in order for the party to be granted ballot status. In still other states, an aspiring political party must register a certain number of voters.

HIGHLIGHTS

As of May 2024, there were two officially recognized political parties in Maryland: the Democratic and Republican parties.

In some states, a candidate may choose to have a label other than that of an officially recognized party appear alongside his or her name on the ballot. Such labels are called political party designations. Maryland does not candidates to use political party designations.

To learn more about ballot access requirements for political candidates in Maryland, see this article.

See state election laws

Process for a political party to obtain ballot status

Seal of Maryland

See statutes: Election Law, Title 4, Subtitle 1, Section 102 of the Annotated Code of Maryland

Any group of registered voters may form a new political party by submitting a petition and interim constitution and bylaws. The petition must state the following:

1. the name of the aspirant party
2. the name, contact information, and signature of the state chairman (i.e., sponsor) of the aspirant party
3. the names and addresses of 25 registered voters (including the state chairman) who will constitute the initial governing body of the party

Within a two-year period beginning on the date the first signature is made to the petition and ending on the date the last signature is made to the petition, supporters must collect 10,000 signatures from eligible voters. Petitions for the formation of a new political party may be filed in presidential, gubernatorial, or special election years.

Maryland law separates political parties into two separate categories: principal parties and non-principal parties. Principal parties include the majority party, which is the party whose candidate for governor received the largest number of votes of any party candidate at the most recent general election, and the principal minority party, which is the party whose candidate for governor received the second highest number of votes of any party candidate at the most recent general election. All other parties are considered non-principal political parties. Principal parties are required to nominate candidates for office via primary elections. Non-principal parties may select candidates according to their respective constitutions and bylaws, but cannot participate in primaries.

Maintaining party status

A newly qualified political party will retain its status as a political party until December 31 of the year of the second statewide general election following the party's initial qualification. Thereafter, the political party can only retain its status by meeting either of the following requirements:

1. The party must nominate a candidate for the highest office on the ballot in a statewide general election. The party's candidate must win at least 1% of the total votes cast for that office. By doing so, the party will retain its status until December 31 in the year of the next following general election.
2. The party must demonstrate that, as of December 31 each year, at least 1% of the state's registered voters are affiliated with the party. By doing so, the party will retain its status until December 31 of the next year.

In the event that a party loses qualified status, it can only regain qualified status by petitioning again for recognition.

Procedural requirements

The state chairman designated in the new party's formation petition must convene an organizational meeting within 90 days after filing the petition. At this meeting, the individuals designated as the initial governing body of the new party must adopt a constitution and bylaws. The constitution and bylaws must provide for the following:

1. selection of a state governing body
2. calling of regular meetings, notification of meetings, and special notice for special meetings
3. establishment of a quorum
4. method of amending the party's constitution or bylaws
5. procedures for filling a vacancy in a nomination for public office
6. procedures for determining which of two or more party members who qualify for nomination in the same contest will be designated on the ballot as nominees of the party
7. adoption of rules governing the political party

Within 30 days of adopting or amending the party's constitution, bylaws, or rules, the party must file a current copy with the state board of elections.

Political parties

See also: List of political parties in the United States

As of May 2024, there were two recognized political parties in Maryland.

Party	Website link	By-laws/platform link
Democratic Party of Maryland	Link	Party by-laws
Republican Party of Maryland	Link	Party by-laws

Historical events

2014

On February 14, 2014, Sen. William Ferguson, IV (D) introduced SB 1032, which proposed to lower the registration threshold parties must meet in order to maintain recognized status. Under the then-current law, one method by which parties could maintain recognized status was to demonstrate at the end of each calendar year that at least 1 percent of the state's registered voters had affiliated with it. As of December 2013, 3,702,608 voters were registered in Maryland, meaning that a party needed 37,027 registered members at that time in order to maintain qualified status. Under the proposed legislation, this number would have been set by statute at 10,000 members, which was equal to the number of signatures required to form a new party. The bill ultimately died in committee.

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See also

• Ballot access requirements for political candidates in Maryland
• Ballot access requirements for presidential candidates in Maryland
• List of political parties in the United States
• Democratic Party of Maryland
• Republican Party of Maryland

External links

• Maryland Democratic Party
• Maryland Republican Party

Footnotes

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