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Laws governing local ballot measures in Maryland

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Laws governing ballot measures in the U.S.
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Laws governing ballot measures in the U.S.

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This page describes the state constitutional provisions and statutes that govern local ballot measures in Maryland. Jurisdictions often establish additional rules within the parameters of state law; those can be found in local ordinances and home-rule charters.

Explore the links below for more information:

  • Laws addressing local ballot measure powers in Maryland
  • General requirements for local ballot measures
  • Rules for citizen-initiated local ballot measures
  • Rules for referred local ballot measures

Law

The Maryland Constitution and Maryland Code establish the rules that govern local ballot measures in the state.

General

The following outlines the general rules that govern local ballot measures in Maryland, including both citizen-initiated measures and referred measures from local government bodies.

  • Vote requirements: Local ballot measures generally require a simple majority vote for approval.[1]
  • Restricted measures: The state constitution prohibits cities and counties from enacting any type of tax, license fee, franchise tax, or fee that was not in effect in the city on January 1, 1954, unless it is authorized by law by the Maryland State Legislature.[1][2]
  • Election timing:
    • Charter adoption elections must be held at a special or regular election between 30 and 90 days after publication of the charter.[3]
    • Questions proposing a county become a home rule county must be placed on the next general election ballot.[2]
    • Referendums on referred city charter amendments can be placed on general or special election ballots. Special elections must be held between 40 and 60 days after the resolution calling for the election is adopted.[4]
  • Subject requirements: State law requires charter amendments to address a single-subject.[5]

Initiatives

The following outlines the general rules that govern local citizen-initiated ballot measures in Maryland.

  • Authority: Section 4 of Article XI-E of the state constitution authorizes the use of the initiative power to propose, amend, or repeal city charters or laws. Section 7 of Article XI-F authorizes the voters of a code county to file a referendum against any public local law, including bond issuances.[1][2]
  • Signatures:
    • The state constitution sets the minimum number of signatures for initiated charter amendments at 5% of registered voters but allows the state legislature to increase this requirement. State law requires signatures to equal at least 20% of the qualified voters at the preceding city general election.[1][6]
    • For referendums on referred city charter amendments, signatures of at least 20% of the qualified voters at the preceding municipal general election are required.[4]
    • For Baltimore, petitions must contain signatures from at least 20% of the registered voters of the city or county or 10,000 signatures, whichever is less, to amend the city's charter.[1][3]
    • For referendums on local laws, petitions must contain signatures from at least 10% of the qualified voters of the charter county or city of Baltimore who voted at the preceding gubernatorial election.[7]
    • For referendums in code counties on ordinances, petitions must contain signatures from at least 5% of voters in a county registered for county and state elections.[2]
    • For referendums on bond issues in cities and counties, petitions must contain signatures from at least 10% of the registered voters of the county.[8][9]
  • Deadlines:
    • State law does not provide for local initiative circulation deadlines except for a petition calling for a charter board. Signatures on these petitions are only valid for six months. Charters or ordinances provide for initiative signature deadlines.[10]
    • For initiated charter amendments, local governing bodies have 60 days after receiving the petition to adopt a resolution calling for an election or to adopt them outright. [11]
    • For referendums filed targeting county bond issues, signatures must be filed within 75 days of the law's enactment.[8]

Referrals

The following outlines the general rules that govern local referred ballot measures in Maryland.

  • Authority: Article XI-F of the state constitution grants authority to county governing boards to adopt a resolution by a two-thirds vote to become a code county and submit the resolution to voters. Maryland Code authorizes the governing body of a city to amend the city charter by a majority vote of the members and only requires voter approval if a referendum on the proposed charter amendment is filed.[2][4]
  • Bond issues: State law does not require cities or counties to send bond issues to voters for approval unless the resolution, ordinance, or city charter requires it.[12][13]

Laws governing local ballot measures in the U.S.

Laws governing local ballot measures in the United States

As state laws govern ballot measures, the rules are different from state to state. Click on a state below to explore that state's laws on local ballot measures.

http://ballotpedia.org/Laws_governing_local_ballot_measures_in_STATE

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Maryland Manual, "Maryland Constitution, Article XI-E," accessed December 9, 2025
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Maryland Manual, "Maryland Constitution, Article XI-F," accessed December 9, 2025
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Maryland Manual, "Maryland Constitution, Article XI-A," accessed December 9, 2025
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Maryland State Legislature, "Maryland Code, Local Government, §4–304," accessed December 9, 2025
  5. ↑ Justia, "Maryland Code, Local Government, §4-303," accessed December 10, 2025
  6. ↑ Maryland State Legislature, "Maryland Code, Local Government, §4–305," accessed December 9, 2025
  7. ↑ Maryland Manual, "Maryland Constitution, Article XVI," accessed December 9, 2025
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Maryland State Legislature, "Maryland Code, Local Government, §10–203," accessed December 11, 2025
  9. ↑ Maryland State Legislature, "Maryland Code, Local Government, §19–505," accessed December 11, 2025
  10. ↑ Maryland State Legislature, "Maryland Code, Election Law, §7–104," accessed December 9, 2025
  11. ↑ [https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=glg&section=4-305&enactments=false Maryland State Legislature, "Maryland Code, Local Government, §4-305," accessed December 9, 2025]
  12. ↑ Maryland State Legislature, "Maryland Code, Local Government, §19–303," accessed December 11, 2025
  13. ↑ "Maryland Code, Local Government, §19–504," accessed December 11, 2025
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