Maryland 2026 Session Status: Introduced 8 D cosponsors

HB0156 — Election Law - Affiliating With a Party and Voting - Unaffiliated Voters

Last action — Committee Report (House of Origin) — Favorable with Amendments

  1. 1
    Introduced
  2. 2
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed House of Delegates
  4. 4
    Passed Senate
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has been introduced in the House of Delegates. Introduced January 14, 2026. It must pass committee before a floor vote.

Next likely step: a committee referral and hearing.

Odds of enactment

Low chance

Based on the sponsor, cosponsors, and committee posture, this bill has a low chance of becoming law.

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A statistical estimate from our own model of past outcomes — an insight, not a guarantee. Policymaking is volatile.

Prognosis

Advancing 38% · moderate confidence

  • Introduced

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 9 sponsors

    1 primary, 8 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Single-party support

    Sponsorship is currently within one party (8 D).

  • Cleared a recorded vote

    Passed 1 recorded vote so far.

Based on stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes, and cross-state momentum — a description of the observable signals, not a prediction.

Summary

Authorizing unaffiliated voters to request to affiliate with a political party at an early voting center before a primary election or at a precinct polling place on a primary election day and vote a provisional ballot for the voter's preferred political party; requiring an election judge to determine if the voter resides in a certain county; applying the Act to all elections beginning with the statewide primary election in 2028; and prohibiting the application of the Act to any special elections held before the 2028 primary.

Bill Text

We don't have the full text on file for this bill yet.

Read HB0156 on the official Maryland source →

Action History

  1. Committee Report (House of Origin) — Favorable with Amendments

  2. First Reading (Opposite House)

  3. Third Reading (House of Origin) — Passed

  4. Second Reading (House of Origin) — Passed with Amendments

  5. Hearing (Primary, House of Origin)

  6. First Reading (House of Origin)

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 8 co-sponsors · 179 not signed on · 24 voted No

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (8)

Not signed on (179)

179 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 179 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Votes

On Third Reading (Emerg)

Passed 110 Yea · 26 Nay · 5 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 9401
Democrat 90003
Republican 112201
Total 1102605
% of votes cast 78%18%0%4%
How each member voted (141)
Member Party Vote
Speaker — Yea
Jones, D. — Yea
Watson — Yea
Guzzone — Yea
Schmidt — Yea
Hinebaugh — Yea
Holmes — Yea
Conaway — Yea
Young — Yea
Grammer — Nay
Mangione — Nay
Jones, A. — Not Voting
Morgan, M. — Nay
Morgan, T. — Nay
Delegate Aaron M. Kaufman Democrat Yea
Delegate Adrian Boafo Democrat Yea
Delegate Aletheia McCaskill Democrat Yea
Delegate Andrea Fletcher Harrison Democrat Yea
Delegate Andrew C. Pruski Democrat Yea
Delegate Anne Healey Democrat Yea
Delegate Anne R. Kaiser Democrat Yea
Delegate Ashanti Martinez Democrat Yea
Delegate Ben Barnes Democrat Yea
Delegate Bernice Mireku-North Democrat Yea
Delegate Bonnie Cullison Democrat Yea
Delegate Brian M. Crosby Democrat Not Voting
Delegate C. T. Wilson Democrat Yea
Delegate Catherine M. Forbes Democrat Yea
Delegate Chao Wu Democrat Yea
Delegate Charlotte Crutchfield Democrat Yea
Delegate Cheryl E. Pasteur Democrat Yea
Delegate Dana Stein Democrat Yea
Delegate Darrell Odom Democrat Yea
Delegate David Fraser-Hidalgo Democrat Yea
Delegate David Moon Democrat Yea
Delegate Debra Davis Democrat Yea
Delegate Deni Taveras Democrat Yea
Delegate Denise Roberts Democrat Yea
Delegate Derrick Coley Democrat Yea
Delegate Diana M. Fennell Democrat Yea
Delegate Dylan Behler Democrat Yea
Delegate Edith J. Patterson Democrat Yea
Delegate Elizabeth Embry Democrat Yea
Delegate Emily Shetty Democrat Yea
Delegate Eric Ebersole Democrat Yea
Delegate Gabriel Acevero Democrat Yea
Delegate Gabriel M. Moreno Democrat Yea
Delegate Gary Simmons Democrat Yea
Delegate Greg Wims Democrat Yea
Delegate Harry Bhandari Democrat Yea
Delegate Heather Bagnall Democrat Yea
Delegate J. Sandy Bartlett Democrat Yea
Delegate Jackie Addison Democrat Yea
Delegate Jamila J. Woods Democrat Yea
Delegate Jared Solomon Democrat Yea
Delegate Jen Terrasa Democrat Yea
Delegate Jennifer White Holland Democrat Yea
Delegate Jessica Feldmark Democrat Not Voting
Delegate Jheanelle K. Wilkins Democrat Yea
Delegate Joe Vogel Democrat Yea
Delegate Jon S. Cardin Democrat Yea
Delegate Julian Ivey Democrat Yea
Delegate Julie Palakovich Carr Democrat Yea
Delegate Karen Simpson Democrat Yea
Delegate Karen Toles Democrat Yea
Delegate Kenneth Kerr Democrat Yea
Delegate Kent Roberson Democrat Yea
Delegate Kim Ross Democrat Yea
Delegate Kris Fair Democrat Yea
Delegate Kriselda Valderrama Democrat Yea
Delegate Kym Taylor Democrat Yea
Delegate Lesley J. Lopez Democrat Yea
Delegate Lily Qi Democrat Yea
Delegate Linda Foley Democrat Yea
Delegate Lorig Charkoudian Democrat Yea
Delegate Luke Clippinger Democrat Yea
Delegate Malcolm P. Ruff Democrat Yea
Delegate Marc Korman Democrat Yea
Delegate Mark Edelson Democrat Yea
Delegate Mark S. Chang Democrat Yea
Delegate Marlon Amprey Democrat Yea
Delegate Mary A. Lehman Democrat Yea
Delegate Matthew J. Schindler Democrat Yea
Delegate Melissa Wells Democrat Yea
Delegate Michele Guyton Democrat Yea
Delegate Mike Rogers Democrat Yea
Delegate N. Scott Phillips Democrat Yea
Delegate Natalie Ziegler Democrat Yea
Delegate Nick Allen Democrat Yea
Delegate Nicole A. Williams Democrat Not Voting
Delegate Pam Queen Democrat Yea
Delegate Regina T. Boyce Democrat Yea
Delegate Robbyn Lewis Democrat Yea
Delegate Ryan Spiegel Democrat Yea
Delegate Samuel I. Rosenberg Democrat Yea
Delegate Sarah Wolek Democrat Yea
Delegate Sean A. Stinnett Democrat Yea
Delegate Sheila Ruth Democrat Yea
Delegate Sheree Sample-Hughes Democrat Yea
Delegate Stephanie Smith Democrat Yea
Delegate Steve Johnson Democrat Yea
Delegate Steve Johnson Democrat Yea
Delegate Teresa Woorman Democrat Yea
Delegate Terri L. Hill Democrat Yea
Delegate Tiffany T. Alston Democrat Yea
Delegate Vaughn Stewart Democrat Yea
Delegate Veronica Turner Democrat Yea
Delegate April Miller Republican Nay
Delegate April Rose Republican Nay
Delegate Barrie S. Ciliberti Republican Yea
Delegate Barry Beauchamp Republican Yea
Delegate Brian Chisholm Republican Nay
Delegate Chris Tomlinson Republican Yea
Delegate Christopher Eric Bouchat Republican Not Voting
Delegate Christopher T. Adams Republican Nay
Delegate H. Kevin Anderson Republican Nay
Delegate Jason C. Buckel Republican Nay
Delegate Jay A. Jacobs Republican Nay
Delegate Jefferson L. Ghrist Republican Nay
Delegate Jesse T. Pippy Republican Yea
Delegate Joshua J. Stonko Republican Yea
Delegate Kathy Szeliga Republican Nay
Delegate Kevin B. Hornberger Republican Yea
Delegate LaToya Nkongolo Republican Yea
Delegate Lauren Arikan Republican Nay
Delegate Mark N. Fisher Republican Nay
Delegate Mike Griffith Republican Nay
Delegate Nicholaus R. Kipke Republican Yea
Delegate Ric Metzgar Republican Yea
Delegate Robert B. Long Republican Yea
Delegate Robert B. Long Republican Nay
Delegate Ryan Nawrocki Republican Nay
Delegate Seth A. Howard Republican Yea
Delegate Steven J. Arentz Republican Nay
Delegate Susan K. McComas Republican Nay
Delegate Teresa E. Reilly Republican Nay
Delegate Terry L. Baker Republican Nay
Delegate Thomas S. Hutchinson Republican Nay
Delegate Wayne A. Hartman Republican Nay
Delegate William J. Wivell Republican Nay
Delegate William Valentine Republican Nay

Official roll call →

Subjects

elections
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does HB0156 do?
Authorizing unaffiliated voters to request to affiliate with a political party at an early voting center before a primary election or at a precinct polling place on a primary election day and vote a provisional ballot for the voter's preferred political party; requiring an election judge to determine if the voter resides in a certain county; applying the Act to all elections beginning with the statewide primary election in 2028; and prohibiting the application of the Act to any special elections held before the 2028 primary.
Who sponsors HB0156?
HB0156 is sponsored by Delegate Schmidt, Delegate Kris Fair (Democrat), Delegate Cheryl E. Pasteur (Democrat), Delegate Sheila Ruth (Democrat), Delegate Chao Wu (Democrat), Delegate Jared Solomon (Democrat), Delegate Mary A. Lehman (Democrat), Delegate Vaughn Stewart (Democrat), and Delegate Jen Terrasa (Democrat).
What is the current status of HB0156?
This bill has been introduced in the House of Delegates. Introduced January 14, 2026. It must pass committee before a floor vote.
Where can I track HB0156?
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