SB0255 — Voting Rights Act of 2026 - Counties and Municipal Corporations
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 16, 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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2 sponsors
1 primary, 1 co-sponsors signed on.
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Single-party support
Sponsorship is currently within one party (1 D).
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Cleared a recorded vote
Passed 5 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
Prohibiting the imposition or application of a method for electing the governing body of a county or municipal corporation that impairs the ability of members of a protected class to elect candidates of the members' choice or influence the outcome of an election by diluting or abridging the rights of voters who are members of a protected class; authorizing the Attorney General and any other person to bring a certain action in the county where the violation allegedly occurred for injunctive relief, damages, or other relief; etc.
Bill Text
We don't have the full text on file for this bill yet.
Read SB0255 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 Sydnor · Primary
- Senator Kevin M. Harris · Cosponsor
Sponsorship breakdown
Export CSV (upgrade) →1 sponsors · 1 co-sponsors · 186 not signed on · 45 voted No
Sponsors (1)
- Senator Sydnor
Co-sponsors (1)
- Senator Kevin M. Harris Democrat
Not signed on (186)
186 members have not signed on to this bill.
Show all 186 →"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 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 5 |
| Democrat | 84 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Republican | 1 | 16 | 0 | 17 |
| Total | 91 | 19 | 0 | 31 |
| % of votes cast | 65% | 13% | 0% | 22% |
How each member voted (141)
| Party | Yea | Nay | Present | Not Voting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unaffiliated | 6 | 6 | 0 | 2 |
| Democrat | 87 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Republican | 1 | 29 | 0 | 4 |
| Total | 94 | 35 | 0 | 12 |
| % of votes cast | 67% | 25% | 0% | 9% |
How each member voted (141)
| Party | Yea | Nay | Present | Not Voting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unaffiliated | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Democrat | 27 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Republican | 1 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 33 | 13 | 0 | 2 |
| % of votes cast | 69% | 27% | 0% | 4% |
How each member voted (48)
| Party | Yea | Nay | Present | Not Voting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democrat | 27 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Unaffiliated | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Republican | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 32 | 14 | 0 | 1 |
| % of votes cast | 68% | 30% | 0% | 2% |
How each member voted (47)
| Party | Yea | Nay | Present | Not Voting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democrat | 25 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Unaffiliated | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Republican | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 30 | 15 | 0 | 2 |
| % of votes cast | 64% | 32% | 0% | 4% |
How each member voted (47)
Subjects
Frequently asked questions
- What does SB0255 do?
- Prohibiting the imposition or application of a method for electing the governing body of a county or municipal corporation that impairs the ability of members of a protected class to elect candidates of the members' choice or influence the outcome of an election by diluting or abridging the rights of voters who are members of a protected class; authorizing the Attorney General and any other person to bring a certain action in the county where the violation allegedly occurred for injunctive relief, damages, or other relief; etc.
- Who sponsors SB0255?
- SB0255 is sponsored by Senator Sydnor and Senator Kevin M. Harris (Democrat).
- What is the current status of SB0255?
- This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced January 16, 2026. Enacted.
- Where can I track SB0255?
- Track SB0255 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.
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Last checked for changes about 11 hours ago · updated continuously
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