Maryland
Ballot Security
What Politicians Say
Maryland made a number of changes to make voting easier since 2020, but Republican Governor Larry Hogan vetoed several bills that would have gone further.
New legislation passed in 2021 has expanded access to early voting and vote-by-mail and taken steps to make it easier for members of the military, students and ex-convicts to vote.
But Hogan, a Trump critic who cast a symbolic write-in vote for deceased former president Ronald Reagan on his 2020 ballot, vetoed another measure that he said did not do enough to improve election security.
That bill would have allowed voters who forgot to sign their mail-in ballot envelope to add a signature in order for it to be counted, a standard procedure in other states that Maryland currently lacks.
In his veto message, he noted that Maryland is one of nine states that require voters sign the ballot envelope but do not check the signature against the one on their voter registration file.
Ease of Voting
New laws passed in Maryland in 2021 allow voters to sign up to receive a mail-in ballot automatically each election, allows the use of ballot drop boxes, increase the number of early voting centers in every county, expand early voting hours, make it easier for members of the military to register to vote online, require public universities take more steps to encourage students to register to vote, and require officials to give a voter registration application to people leaving prison.
A 2022 law repealed a statute barring polling places from any building where alcohol is also served.
Ballot Security
A 2022 law bars voters from requesting a recount in cases where a candidate won by more than 5%.
How Politicians Responded to the 2020 Election
Maryland’s only Republican US representative, Andy Harris, signed an amicus brief supporting the Texas lawsuit asking the Supreme Court to intervene in the election and objected to the certification of Biden electors from Arizona and Pennsylvania.
Republican governor nominee Dan Cox organized buses to Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6 and tweeted that Vice President Mike Pence was a “traitor” as the Capitol was under attack.