SB0141 — Election Law - Election Misinformation, Election Disinformation, and Deepfakes
Last action — First Reading (Opposite House)
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✓Introduced
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✓In Committee
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✓Passed Senate
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✓Passed House of Delegates
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✓To Executive
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6Enacted
This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced January 14, 2026. Enacted.
Odds of enactment
High chanceBased on the sponsor, cosponsors, and committee posture, this bill has a high chance of becoming law.
Upgrade to see the exact probability and what's driving it.
A statistical estimate from our own model of past outcomes — an insight, not a guarantee. Policymaking is volatile.
Prognosis
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Enacted
Current position in the legislative process.
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6 sponsors
1 primary, 5 co-sponsors signed on.
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Single-party support
Sponsorship is currently within one party (6 D).
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Cleared a recorded vote
Passed 4 recorded votes 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
Requiring and authorizing the State Administrator of Elections to take certain actions if the State Administrator receives a credible report that election misinformation or election disinformation, including a deepfake, has been or is being communicated, disseminated, or distributed; requiring the Administrator to publicly communicate correct information; prohibiting a person from knowingly or with reckless disregard creating, using, or disseminating a deepfake to produce materially false information; etc.
Bill Text
We don't have the full text on file for this bill yet.
Read SB0141 on the official Maryland source →Action History
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First Reading (Opposite House)
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Third Reading (House of Origin) — Passed
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Second Reading (House of Origin) — Passed with Amendments
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Committee Report (House of Origin) — Favorable with Amendments
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Hearing (Primary, House of Origin)
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First Reading (House of Origin)
Sponsors
- Senator Katie Fry Hester · Primary
- Senator Benjamin Brooks · Cosponsor
- Senator Brian J. Feldman · Cosponsor
- Senator Kevin M. Harris · Cosponsor
- Senator Cheryl C. Kagan · Cosponsor
- Senator Mary Washington · Cosponsor
Sponsorship breakdown
Export CSV (upgrade) →1 sponsors · 5 co-sponsors · 182 not signed on · 48 voted No
Sponsors (1)
- Senator Katie Fry Hester Democrat
Co-sponsors (5)
- Senator Benjamin Brooks Democrat
- Senator Brian J. Feldman Democrat
- Senator Kevin M. Harris Democrat
- Senator Cheryl C. Kagan Democrat
- Senator Mary Washington Democrat
Not signed on (182)
182 members have not signed on to this bill.
Show all 182 →"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.
Votes
| Party | Yea | Nay | Present | Not Voting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unaffiliated | 4 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| Democrat | 77 | 13 | 0 | 3 |
| Republican | 4 | 20 | 0 | 10 |
| Total | 85 | 38 | 0 | 18 |
| % of votes cast | 60% | 27% | 0% | 13% |
How each member voted (141)
| Party | Yea | Nay | Present | Not Voting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democrat | 20 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Unaffiliated | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Republican | 5 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| Total | 28 | 4 | 0 | 15 |
| % of votes cast | 60% | 9% | 0% | 32% |
How each member voted (47)
| Party | Yea | Nay | Present | Not Voting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unaffiliated | 6 | 5 | 0 | 3 |
| Democrat | 88 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Republican | 1 | 30 | 0 | 3 |
| Total | 95 | 35 | 0 | 11 |
| % of votes cast | 67% | 25% | 0% | 8% |
How each member voted (141)
| Party | Yea | Nay | Present | Not Voting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unaffiliated | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Democrat | 26 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Republican | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 44 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| % of votes cast | 94% | 0% | 0% | 6% |
How each member voted (47)
Subjects
Frequently asked questions
- What does SB0141 do?
- Requiring and authorizing the State Administrator of Elections to take certain actions if the State Administrator receives a credible report that election misinformation or election disinformation, including a deepfake, has been or is being communicated, disseminated, or distributed; requiring the Administrator to publicly communicate correct information; prohibiting a person from knowingly or with reckless disregard creating, using, or disseminating a deepfake to produce materially false information; etc.
- Who sponsors SB0141?
- SB0141 is sponsored by Senator Katie Fry Hester (Democrat), Senator Benjamin Brooks (Democrat), Senator Brian J. Feldman (Democrat), Senator Kevin M. Harris (Democrat), Senator Cheryl C. Kagan (Democrat), and Senator Mary Washington (Democrat).
- What is the current status of SB0141?
- This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced January 14, 2026. Enacted.
- Where can I track SB0141?
- Track SB0141 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.
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Last checked for changes about 13 hours ago · updated continuously
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