Sign Up
HB 41 Maryland House of Delegates · 2025 Regular Session

Election Law - Petitions for the Formation of a New Political Party - Process

HB 41 changes Maryland's process for forming new political parties by restricting when petitions can be filed and preventing signature reuse. It prohibits submitting petitions during specific closed registration periods before/after primaries and general elections, and bans resubmitting signatures from petitions previously rejected for not meeting legal requirements. This directly affects new political parties seeking official recognition by limiting their signature-gathering windows and eliminating the ability to correct rejected petitions. The bill takes effect July 1, 2025.
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Sep 2024
Committee Review
Apr 2025
House of Delegates Passage
Apr 2025
Senate Passage
Apr 2025
Signed into Law
May 2025
Introduced Sep 19, 2024 Signed May 6, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

First - Election Law - Petitions for the Formation of a New Political Party - Process → Third - Election Law - Petitions for the Formation of a New Political Party - Process · 3 edits
MINOR
The bill adds committee report and adoption status information to the header, changes the chapter designation from 'A BILL ENTITLED' to 'CHAPTER ______', and reorganizes the filing timeline for new political party petitions by restructuring the subsections while preserving the original filing periods. The substantive filing deadlines and restrictions remain unchanged.
Scope change
The bill's scope remains the same; only the organizational structure and header information were modified.
TECHNICAL

Added committee report status and house action dates to the bill header.

Changed the chapter designation from 'A BILL ENTITLED' to 'CHAPTER ______'.

Reorganized the filing timeline subsections by renumbering and restructuring the text while preserving the original filing periods and restrictions.

Floor votes · Senate Mar 18, 2025 · House of Delegates Feb 13, 2025

How they voted

43–0
Passed · 3 other
Total votes 46
Mar 18, 2025
D Democratic33
31 Yea 2
93% Yea
R Republican13
12 Yea 1
92% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
14
Key actions
10
Committee
6
May 6, 2025
Signed into law
Approved by the Governor - Chapter 282
executive
Apr 5, 2025
Lower · Passed
Returned Passed
lower
Apr 4, 2025
Upper · Passed
Third Reading Passed
upper
Apr 3, 2025
Upper · Passed
Motion Special Order until 4/4 (Senator Ready) Adopted
upper
Apr 2, 2025
Upper · Passed
Favorable Adopted Second Reading Passed
upper
Mar 31, 2025
Upper · Passed
Favorable Report by Education, Energy, and the Environment
upper
Mar 18, 2025
Senate · Passed
Senate Vote: pass (43-0-3)
senate
Feb 14, 2025
Committee
Referred Education, Energy, and the Environment
upper
Feb 13, 2025
Lower · Passed
Third Reading Passed
lower
Feb 11, 2025
Lower · Passed
Favorable Adopted Second Reading Passed
lower
Feb 10, 2025
Lower · Passed
Favorable Report by Ways and Means
lower
Jan 8, 2025
Committee
First Reading Ways and Means
lower
Sep 19, 2024
Introduced
Pre-filed
lower
0 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

No sponsor information available.