Maryland 2016 ballot measures

2016 Maryland Ballot Measures
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One statewide ballot measure was certified to appear on the Maryland ballot on November 8, 2016. The measure was approved.

HIGHLIGHTS

The measure certified for the November ballot, Question 1, was a legislatively referred constitutional amendment and addressed the procedure for filling vacancies in the offices of Attorney General, Comptroller, and U.S. Senator.

There were three legislatively referred constitutional amendments that did not make the 2016 ballot.

Getting measures on the ballot

Maryland allows citizen initiatives in the form of veto referendums. Signature requirements for referendum petitions are determined by calculating three percent of the votes cast for governor in the most recent election. At least 51,996 valid signatures were required to put veto referendums before voters in 2016. The deadline to file the first third of petition signatures for non-emergency bills signed into law more than 45 days before the first day of June was June 1, 2016, while the remaining two-thirds of signatures had to be filed by June 30, 2016. The deadline to file the first third of petition signatures for bills signed into law less than 45 days before the first day of June was 30 days after the bill passed the legislature, while the remaining two-thirds of signatures had to be filed in the next 30 days.

The state legislative session ran from January 13 through April 11, 2016, during which time the Maryland Legislature could place legislatively referred constitutional amendments on the ballot. The legislature can put a proposed amendment on the ballot upon a sixty percent majority vote in both the legislative chambers. The amendment must then be approved by a majority of voters.

Historical facts

See also: History of Initiative & Referendum in Maryland and List of Maryland ballot measures

• From 1996 through 2014, 31 measures appeared on the ballot in Maryland.
• From 1996 through 2014, there was an average of about three measures on the ballot in even-numbered years.
• Over the two decades prior to 2016, 28 of 31 measures, or 90 percent, were approved, and three of 31 measures, or 10 percent, were defeated.

On the ballot

The 2016 regular session of the Maryland State Legislature ended on April 11, 2016. The legislature put one measure, a legislatively referred constitutional amendment, on the November 2016 election ballot. No veto referendums were circulated targeting the 2016 election.

Type	Title	Subject	Description	Result
LRCA	Question 1	Executives	How to fill vacancies for some statewide elected offices	a

Not on the ballot

Type	Title	Subject	Description	Result
LRCA	Judicial Retirement Age Amendment	Judiciary	Increases the required age of retirement for judges from 70 to 75
LRCA	Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Fund Amendment	Gov't Finances	Creates a Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays 2010 Trust Fund
LRCA	Criminal Procedure Amendment	Civil and criminal trials	Prevents state constitution from being interpreted to state that indigent defendants should be provided lawyers at their initial appearance before a district court commissioner

External links

• Maryland Board of Elections

See also

• 2016 ballot measures
• List of Maryland ballot measures
• Laws governing ballot measures in Maryland
• Campaign finance requirements for Maryland ballot measures

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