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Applications must be received or postmarked by 21 days before Election Day or the applicant will have to register during early voting or in person on Election Day.
Drives must return completed forms to the appropriate board within five days of completion or by the voter registration deadline, whichever comes first.
Training Requirement: The state administration and local election directors must offer training. Training is required if the person is a a voter registration application (VRA) Distributor who wants to obtain more than 25 state voter registration applications (VRAs) per day. A VRA Distributor is an individual who conducts the following voter registration activities:
Contact your local county election office to get trained: elections.maryland.gov/about/county_boards
Notification and Registration Requirements: Volunteers/ staff are required to present their Certificate of Instruction to obtain more than 25 Statewide Voter Registration Applications per day.
Compensation Restrictions: It is illegal in Maryland for a voter registration volunteer or any individual assisting another person to register to vote to receive any form of compensation, including bonuses, that is based on the number of voter registration applications collected. Do not offer an applicant any incentive of monetary value to register to vote. Voter Registration Volunteer/Staff Restrictions: Volunteers/staff must be at least 18 years old on or before the next general election. VRA distributors must inform the applicant that the applicant can return the registration application to the local board, or the volunteer/staff person can do it
State Form: Voter registration volunteers are required to present their Certificate of Instruction to the state Board of Elections or the county Board of Elections to receive more than 25 Statewide Voter Registration Applications per day. The forms are also available online at the Board of Elections website: elections.state.md.us/voter_registration/documents/2012 _English_Internet_VRA.pdf
Federal Form: The federal mail-in voter registration application may be used in voter registration drives: eac.gov/voters/national-mail-voter-registration-form
Photocopying Blank Forms: There are no restrictions against photocopying blank applications for use in registration drives.
Incomplete Applications: There is no law or rule prohibiting a voter registration drive volunteer or organizer from filling in missing information on an application. Fair Elections Center does not recommend making corrections to applications or adding missing information without the express consent of the applicant, who is attesting to the truth of the information in the application.
Photocopying Completed Applications/Collecting Information: Under Maryland law, an applicant’s driver’s license number, state ID number, Social Security Number, and other information from a voter registration application that is protected from public disclosure may not be copied or collected.
Submitting Completed Applications: VRA Distributors must deliver completed VRAs to the appropriate local board within five days of receipt or by the next voter registration deadline, whichever is earlier.
For more information, visit
www.fairelectionscenter.org
