Student Voting Guide | Maryland
Registration
http://www.elections.state.md.us/ (registration form available online)
The registration deadline is 21 days before the election,[1] and mail-in forms must be postmarked by that date.[2] You may register to vote[3] and vote in a primary election[4] if you will be 18 by the next general or special election.
Residency
At School. In Maryland, the most important factor in determining voting residence is your intent to make a place your principal home.[5] If you intend to make your Maryland school address your home and you do not intend to move back to wherever you lived before school, you should be able to establish Maryland voting residency—even if you do not necessarily plan on staying in Maryland after graduation.[6]
The Maryland Constitution and election code do not define residency, other than to say that you must be a resident on the day you register to vote.[7] Maryland c ourts have defined residence to mean domicile.[8] In order to establish a new domicile, you have to abandon your old home (that is, your parents’ home, or wherever else you lived before attending school), and have a new place that you intend to make your home.[9] Students can establish a new domicile and register under these rules.[10]
At Home. Students who lived in Maryland prior to attending school and who wish to establish or keep their Maryland voting residency (i.e., at their parents’ address), should have no problem doing so unless they have already registered to vote in another state. Like all states, Maryland allows students to keep their voting residency even if they move out of the county or state to attend school. The only way you might lose this residency is if you “abandon” it by asserting residency in a new state. While registering to vote in another state is not automatically considered an abandonment of residency in Maryland, some judges or officials might view it as such.
Challenges to Residency. The local board of elections can deny your registration application if they do not think that you are a resident, but they must notify you of the reasons for denial.[11] You can appeal that denial to the State Board of Elections, and appeal the State Board’s decision to the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County; any appeal of the Circuit Court’s decision has to be made within five days.[12] Your eligibility to vote cannot be challenged at the polls on the basis of your residency.[13]
Identification
Only first-time voters who register by mail and whose identifying numbers (Maryland driver’s license or non-driver ID number, or last four digits of a Social Security number) have not been matched by the state have to provide identification,[14] either when they vote in person or by submitting a copy of their ID with their absentee ballot or at any time before the election.[15] Acceptable forms of photo ID include a current and valid Maryland driver’s license, non-driver ID card, student ID, employee ID, military ID, a U.S. passport, and any other state or federal-government-issued ID card;[16] acceptable forms of non-photo ID include a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document that has your name and address.[17] Cell phone bills will count as utility bills. If you are required to show ID but are unable to, you will be able to cast a provisional ballot,[18] which will be counted if you bring ID to the county office by the Monday after the election.[19]
Absentee Voting
http://www.elections.state.md.us/voting/documents/2010_Absentee_Ballot_Application_English.pdf
If you apply for an absentee ballot, you will not have to specify a reason for doing so.[20] If you mail or fax in your application for an absentee ballot, it must be received by the local registrar no later than the Tuesday before the election.[21] Blank applications are available on the web site of the State Board of Elections at the above link. If you fax in your application, you have until midnight, but otherwise, the application is due by 4:30 p.m.[22] You may apply late for an absentee ballot, in person at the local board, from the Wednesday before the election through Election Day.[23]
Your absentee ballot must be received before the polls close on Election Day, or postmarked by Election Day and received by 10 a.m. on the second Friday (ten days) after the election.[24] Neither your application nor your ballot needs to be notarized or witnessed.
Early Voting
As a convenience to voters, Maryland will allow early voting for the first time in the 2010 elections. Early voting will begin on the 2nd Friday before the election and end on the Thursday before Election Day.[25] At early voting sites, you can vote any precinct’s ballot for that county. If you do not consider your school address to be your permanent address, or if you have not changed your residence yet, then early voting provides an opportunity to vote a ballot at the residence from which you are absent.
Last Updated in April 2010
[1] Md. Code Ann. Elec. Law. § 3-302(a).
[2] Md. Code Ann. Elec. Law. § 3-302(c)(1).
[3] Md. Code Ann. Elec. Law. § 3-102(a)(2).
[4] FairVote, “Voting Age and Registration,” available at http://www.fairvote.org/youth-preregistration-fact-sheet.
[5] See Blount v. Boston, 718 A.2d 1111, 1121 (Md. 1998).
[6] Interview with Roger Stitt, Voter Registration Operation, Maryland Bd. of Elections (July 9, 2008); see Dorf v. Skolnick, 371 A.2d 1094, 1102 (Md. 1977) (referring to “present intention”); Maryland State Board of Elections, “Students Enrolled in a Maryland Institution of Higher Education” available at http://www.elections.state.md.us/voter_registration/students.html (last visited Feb. 4, 2010).
[7] Md. Code Ann Elec. Law § 3-102(a)(3) (West 2010).
[8] See, e.g., Blount, 718 A.2d at 1115; Rasin v. Leaverton, 28 A.2d 612, 613 (Md. 1942).
[9] See, e.g., Blount, 718 A.2d at 1122.
[10] See Bainum v. Kalen, 325 A.2d 392 (Md. 1974).
[11] Md. Code Ann. Elec. Law. § 3-301(c)(1) (West 2010).
[12] Md. Code Ann. Elec. Law. §3-602.
[13] See Md. Code Ann. Elec. Law. §10-312 (noting that the only ground for challenging a voter’s eligibility is improper identification).
[14] Md. Code Regs. 33.07.06.02 to .05 (2010).
[15] Maryland Bd. of Elections, “Frequently Asked Election Day Questions: Identification,” available at http://www.elections.state.md.us/voting/election_day_questions.html (last visited Feb. 4, 2010).
[16] Md. Code Regs. 33.01.01.01(14) (2010).
[17] Md. Code Regs. 33. 01.01.01(19).
[18] Md. Code Ann. Elec. Law § 9-404 West (2010).
[19] Md. Code Ann. Elec. Law § 11-303(d)(4)(ii); Maryland Bd. of Elections, “Frequently Asked Election Day Questions: Identification,” available at http://www.elections.state.md.us/voting/election_day_questions.html (last visited Feb. 4, 2010).
[20] Maryland Bd. of Elections, “Absentee Voting: Information and Instructions,” available at http://www.elections.state.md.us/voting/absentee.html (last visited October 9, 2010).
[21] Md. Code Ann. Elec. Law § 9-305(b) (West 2010).
[22] Md. Code Regs. 33.11.02.02(D) (2010).
[23] Md. Code Ann. Elec. Law §9-305(c)(1) (West 2010).
[24] Md. Code Regs. 33.11.03.08(B). For a gubernatorial primary election, the absentee ballot must be received before the polls close on Election Day, or postmarked by Election Day and received by 10 a.m. on the second Wednesday (eight days) after the election. Id.
[25] See Early Voting Bill Passes, The Herald Mail (April 14, 2009) available at http://www.herald-mail.com/?cmd=displaystory&story_id=220972&format=html.
