Maryland Pre-Registration (2025)

MD HB 153 would reduce the age at which an individual may preregister to vote, from sixteen years to fifteen years and nine months and improve the communications between county election offices and preregistered voters.

Maryland Automatic Voter Registration

Testimony Supporting Maryland House Bill 627, which would designate the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services as an automatic voter registration agency. Expanding automatic voter registration to state correctional facilities would simplify the registration process for newly re-enfranchised citizens and emphasize the importance of their participation in democracy. In 2016, Maryland law established that as soon as an individual with a felony conviction was released from incarceration, they automatically retained the right to vote. In 2018, the Maryland General Assembly established automatic voter registration, seeking to streamline the process at the MVA and other government offices. HB 627 is an opportunity to realize the full potential of these two policies and expand automatic voter registration to ensure that returning citizens face no barriers in exercising their right under Maryland law to have a voice in our elections. (2024)

Maryland Language Access (2024)

Testimony in support of Maryland House Bill 563 which aims to widen the tent to cover more language-minority communities: HB 563 would lower the translation threshold for election materials from 5% to 2% (with at least 100 individuals) of the voting age population in a county or less than 2% but with at least 4,000 individuals. HB 563 also would correct for a gap in the federal language assistance coverage formula by not limiting its coverage to only the few language-minority groups identified in the Voting Rights Act coverage formula (American Indian, Asian American, Alaskan Natives, or of Spanish heritage). (2024)

Maryland Pre-Registration (2024)

Testimony in support of Maryland HB 436 which would reduce the age at which an individual may preregister to vote, from sixteen years to fifteen years and nine months. Preregistration permits otherwise-eligible citizens who are not yet of voting age to complete a voter registration application and automatically be added to the state’s voter rolls when they turn 18. Such laws have been shown in other states to improve registration rates and to increase the likelihood that these young citizens will vote upon reaching voting age. These laws prepare our young people for a future with fewer barriers to vote, expand opportunities for teens to organize in their communities, and assist students in developing early voting habits that will last a lifetime. Michigan passed such a law last year. (2024)