Maryland 2018 ballot measures

2020 →

← 2016

Two statewide ballot measures were certified for the 2018 ballot in the state of Maryland. Both of the ballot measures were approved.

HIGHLIGHTS

Voters approved Question 1, dedicating certain revenue from video lotteries to education as supplementary funding.

Voters approved Question 2, allowing the legislature to enact same-day voter registration on election day.

On the ballot

Type	Title	Subject	Description	Result
LRCA	Question 1	Gambling and Education	Dedicating certain gambling revenue to education	a
LRCA	Question 2	Elections	Authorizes the legislature to enact laws allowing for same-day voter registration	a

Getting measures on the ballot

Maryland currently allows citizen initiatives in the form of veto referendums. Signature requirements for referendum petitions are determined by calculating three percent of the votes cast for governor in the most recent election. At least 51,996 valid signatures are required to put veto referendums before voters in 2018. The deadline to file the first third of petition signatures for non-emergency bills signed into law more than 45 days before the first day of June was June 1, 2018, while the remaining two-thirds of signatures had to be filed by June 30, 2018. The deadline to file the first third of petition signatures for bills signed into law less than 45 days before the first day of June was 30 days after the bill passed the legislature, while the remaining two-thirds of signatures had to be filed in the next 30 days.

The state legislative session was expected to run from January 10 through April 9, 2018, during which time the Maryland Legislature could place legislatively referred constitutional amendments on the ballot. The legislature can put a proposed amendment on the ballot upon a sixty percent majority vote in both the legislative chambers. The amendment must then be approved by a majority of voters.

Historical facts

See also: History of Initiative & Referendum in Maryland and List of Maryland ballot measures

• From 1996 through 2016, 32 measures appeared on the ballot in Maryland.
• From 1996 through 2016, there was an average of about three measures on the ballot in even-numbered years.
• Over the two decades prior to 2018, 29 of 32 measures, or 90 percent, were approved, and three of 32 measures, or 9 percent, were defeated.

Summary of campaign contributions

See also: Ballot measure campaign finance, 2018

The following chart illustrates how much support and opposition committees had amassed in campaign contributions for each measure on the ballot:

Ballot Measure:	Support contributions:	Opposition contributions:	Outcome:
Maryland Question 2	$13,175.64	$0.00	a
Maryland Question 1	$1,192,520.34	$0.00	a

Not on the ballot

See also: Proposed ballot measures that were not on a ballot

The list below contains measures that were proposed and reached a certain stage in the initiative or referral process, but did not make the ballot.

Type	Title	Subject	Description	Result
LRSS	Sports Betting Amendment	Gambling	Authorizes the legislature to enact laws allowing for sports betting

External links

• Maryland Board of Elections

See also

• 2018 ballot measures
• List of Maryland ballot measures
• Laws governing the referendum process in Maryland
• Maryland Legislature