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Maryland Solar Energy Facility Regulations Referendum (2026)
| Maryland Solar Energy Facility Regulations Referendum | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 3, 2026 | |
| Topic Land use and development policy | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type Referendum | Origin Citizens |
The Maryland Solar Energy Facility Regulations Referendum is not on the ballot in Maryland as a veto referendum on November 3, 2026.
The referendum would have repealed Senate Bill 931, which governs solar energy facility construction including local zoning control and state solar energy committments.[1]
Text of measure
Full text
The full text of Senate Bill 931 is available here.
Path to the ballot
The state process
A veto referendum is a citizen-initiated ballot measure that asks voters whether to uphold or repeal an enacted law. This type of ballot measure is also called statute referendum, popular referendum, people's veto, or citizen's veto. There are 23 states that allow citizens to initiate veto referendums.
In Maryland, the number of signatures required for a veto referendum is equal to 3% of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial election.
For non-emergency bills, at least one-third of the required signatures must be filed with the secretary of state by the first of June on which the bill would have gone into effect. If this is accomplished, petitioners have until June 30 to turn in the remaining two-thirds of the required signatures.
For emergency bills or bills passed less than 45 days before June 1, referendum petitioners have until 30 days after the bill is passed by the legislature to turn in one-third of the required signatures. If this is accomplished, they have 30 more days to collect and submit the remaining two-thirds of the signatures. A simple majority vote is required for voter approval. The requirements to get a veto referendum certified for the 2026 ballot:
- Signatures: 60,157 valid signatures are required.
- Deadline (standard bills): One-third of required signatures are due on May 31, 2026. The other two-thirds are due on June 30, 2026.
- Emergency bills or bills passed less than 45 days before June 1: For such emergency bills, referendum petitioners have until 30 days after the bill is passed by the legislature to turn in the first one-third of required signatures. If this is accomplished, they have 30 more days to collect and submit the remaining two-thirds of the signatures.
Stages of the veto referendum
The following is the timeline of the veto referendum:
- May 26, 2025: The campaign, Farmer’s Alliance for Rural Maryland or FARM, filed the veto referendum.[2]
- May 31, 2025: FARM announced that they did not gather enough signatures for the first signature deadline on May 31.[3]
See also
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External links
Footnotes
