Ballot initiative mechanics in Maryland

This page covers Maryland's specific rules. For the general mechanics, see how ballot initiatives work. Maryland has no citizen initiative process at all. Citizens can only petition a recently passed law to a statewide referendum vote, a veto power over the legislature rather than a way to propose new law.

Maryland's process

Not every law is eligible. The state constitution places emergency appropriations continuations, routine budget appropriations at or below the prior year's level, and most liquor-law measures outside referendum reach. Emergency laws can still be referred to a vote, but they stay in effect until 30 days after that vote happens.

Geographic spread is controlled directly: no more than half of the required signatures may come from any single county or from Baltimore City, which prevents one jurisdiction from single-handedly forcing a statewide referendum.

Deadlines and numbers

• Statewide signature threshold (2023-2026 petitions): 60,157 signatures, equal to 3 percent of votes cast for governor in the last gubernatorial election
• Non-emergency bills: one-third of the total (about 20,053 signatures) due by the last day of May following the legislative session. Remaining two-thirds due by June 30
• Emergency-law referendums: 30 days for the first third, 30 more days for the rest
• Local-law referendums: separate threshold of 10 percent of votes cast for governor in the affected jurisdiction
• Geographic cap: no more than half of signatures from any one county or Baltimore City

Where to go

• Maryland State Board of Elections, petitions: elections.maryland.gov/petitions/index.html
• Petition Signature Gathering FAQ (PDF): elections.maryland.gov/petitions/Petition%20Signature%20Gathering%20FAQ.pdf
• Maryland Constitution, Article XVI (The Referendum): msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/43const/html/16art16.html

Rules

Maryland is worth stating plainly upfront: there is no way to put a new law or constitutional amendment on the ballot by citizen petition here. The only tool available is a referendum to veto a law the General Assembly has already passed, and even that has real limits: budget bills and most alcohol regulation are off-limits, and the timeline compresses sharply if the law was passed as an emergency measure.

The staged deadlines (a third of signatures by the end of May, the rest by June 30) mean a referendum campaign has to move fast right after a legislative session ends, since the law being challenged is usually only weeks old when the clock starts. This dossier found no documented filing fee for referendum petitions, suggesting the process is signature-only, but that absence was not confirmed by an explicit official statement. For help organizing a Maryland referendum campaign, see /engage.