SB0100 • 2026

Election Law - Early Voting Centers - Bus Stops

Education Elections Energy

Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor: Chair, Education, Energy, and the Environment Committee (By Request - Departmental - State Board of Elections )
Last action: 2026-04-14
Official status: Approved by the Governor - Chapter 107
Effective date: 2027-01-01

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

Election Law - Early Voting Centers - Bus Stops

Requiring buses operating on fixed local routes funded by a county or municipal corporation and operated by the county or municipal corporation or a contractor for the county or municipal corporation to allow passengers to embark and disembark at the entrance of early voting centers located within one-half mile of the route.

What This Bill Does

Requiring buses operating on fixed local routes funded by a county or municipal corporation and operated by the county or municipal corporation or a contractor for the county or municipal corporation to allow passengers to embark and disembark at the entrance of early voting centers located within one-half mile of the route.

Limits and Unknowns

This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

693326/1

None • Senator Ellis

Floor Amendment { 693326/1 (Senator Ellis) Rejected (9-34)

Plain English: AMENDMENTS TO SENATE BILL 100 (First Reading File Bill) AMENDMENT NO.

AMENDMENTS TO SENATE BILL 100 (First Reading File Bill) AMENDMENT NO.
1 On page 1, in line 2, after “ Stops” insert “ and Accessibility”; in line 3, after “requiring” insert “early voting centers to be accessible to certain voters in accordance with a certain federal law; requiring ”; in line 4, strike “the entrance of” and substitute “a certain location near ”; strike in their entirety lines 11 through 15, inclusive; in line 18, strike “10–301.1(e), (f), and (g)” and substitute “10–301.1(d)(1) and (e) through (g)”; and after line 20, insert: “BY adding to Article - Election Law Section 10-301.1(e) Annotated Code of Maryland (2022 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement)”.
AMENDMENT NO.
2 On page 2, after line 5, insert: “(d) (1) Each early voting center shall: (I) SUBJECT TO ITEM (II) OF THIS PARAGRAPH , satisfy the requirements of § 10–101 of this title; AND (II) BE ACCESSIBLE TO VOT ERS WITH PHYSICAL DISABILITIES IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT.”; SB0100/693326/1 BY: Senator Ellis SB0100/693326/01 Ellis Amendments to SB 100 Page 2 of 2 in line 17, after “(2)” insert “(I)”; in the same line, strike “IF” and substitute “SUBJECT TO SUBPARAGRAPH (II) OF THIS PARAGRAPH, IF”; strike beginning with “ AND” in line 19 down through “REQUIREMENTS” in line 20; and after line 22, insert: “(II) WHEN STOPPING UNDER S UBPARAGRAPH (I) OF THIS PARAGRAPH, THE BUS SHALL, TO THE MAXIMUM EXTEN T PRACTICABLE AND CONSISTENT WITH TRAFFIC LAWS AND SAFETY STANDARDS, STOP AT A LOCATION THAT PROVIDES AN ACCESSIBLE PATH TO THE ENTRANCE DOORS OF THE EARLY VOTING CENTER.”.

713229/1

None • Senator Ellis

Floor Amendment { 713229/1 (Senator Ellis)

Plain English: AMENDMENTS TO SENATE BILL 100 (First Reading File Bill) AMENDMENT NO.

AMENDMENTS TO SENATE BILL 100 (First Reading File Bill) AMENDMENT NO.
1 On page 1, in line 2, after “ Stops” insert “ and Accessibility”; in line 3, after “requiring” insert “early voting centers to be accessible to certain voters in accordance with a certain federal law ; requiring”; in line 4, strike “the entrance of” and substitute “a certain location near ”; strike in their entirety lines 11 through 15, inclusive; in line 18, strike “10–301.1(e), (f), and (g)” and substitute “10–301.1(d)(1) and (e) through (g)”; and after line 20, insert: “BY adding to Article - Election Law Section 10-301.1(e) Annotated Code of Maryland (2022 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement)”.
AMENDMENT NO.
2 On page 2, after line 5, insert: “(d) (1) Each early voting center shall: (I) SUBJECT TO ITEM (II) OF THIS PARAGRAPH , satisfy the requirements of § 10–101 of this title; AND (II) BE ACCESSIBLE TO VOTERS WITH PHYSI CAL DISABILITIES IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT.”; strike beginning with “AND” in line 19 down through “REQUIREMENTS” in line 20; in lines 20 and 21, strike “THE ENTRANCE OF”; and in line 22, after “SECTION” insert “AT SB0100/713229/1 BY: Senator Ellis SB0100/713229/01 Ellis Amendments to SB 100 Page 2 of 2 A LOCATION AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE EARLY VOTING CENTER THAT PROVIDES AN ACCESSIBLE PATH TO THE ENTRANCE DOORS OF THE EARLY VOTING CENTER”.

Bill History

2026-04-14 Post Passage
Approved by the Governor - Chapter 107
2026-04-03 House
Favorable Report by Government, Labor, and Elections
2026-03-24 House
Hearing 4/01 at 1:00 p.m.
2026-03-19 House
Third Reading Passed (97-33)
2026-03-18 House
Favorable Adopted Second Reading Passed
2026-03-18 Senate
Returned Passed
2026-03-02 Senate
Favorable Report by Education, Energy, and the Environment
2026-02-26 House
Referred Government, Labor, and Elections
2026-02-24 Senate
Third Reading Passed (44-0)
2026-02-22 Senate
Floor Amendment { 713229/1 (Senator Ellis) Withdrawn
2026-02-22 Senate
Floor Amendment { 693326/1 (Senator Ellis) Rejected (9-34)
2026-02-22 Senate
Second Reading Passed
2026-02-21 Senate
Favorable Adopted
2026-02-21 Senate
Floor Amendment { 713229/1 (Senator Ellis)
2026-02-21 Senate
Motion Laid Over (Senator Feldman) Adopted
2026-02-20 Senate
Favorable
2026-02-20 Senate
Motion Special Order until 3/4 (Senator Ellis) Adopted
2026-02-09 Senate
Hearing canceled
2026-02-09 Senate
Hearing 2/11 at 2:00 p.m.
2026-01-16 Senate
Hearing 2/11 at 1:00 p.m.
2026-01-14 Senate
First Reading Education, Energy, and the Environment
2025-09-30 Senate
Pre-filed
Maryland General Assembly
Text - First - Election Law - Early Voting Centers - Bus Stops
Maryland General Assembly
Vote - Senate - Committee - Education, Energy, and the Environment
Maryland General Assembly
Text - Third - Election Law - Early Voting Centers - Bus Stops
Maryland General Assembly
Vote - House - Committee - Government, Labor, and Elections
Maryland General Assembly
Text - Chapter - Election Law - Early Voting Centers - Bus Stops

Official Summary Text

Requiring buses operating on fixed local routes funded by a county or municipal corporation and operated by the county or municipal corporation or a contractor for the county or municipal corporation to allow passengers to embark and disembark at the entrance of early voting centers located within one-half mile of the route.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MATTER ADDED TO EXISTING LAW.
[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
Underlining indicates amendments to bill.
Strike out indicates matter stricken from the bill by amendment or deleted from the law by
amendment.
*sb0100*

SENATE BILL 100
G1 6lr0081
(PRE–FILED) CF HB 263
By: Chair, Education, Energy, and the Environment Committee (By Request –
Departmental – State Board of Elections)
Requested: September 30, 2025
Introduced and read first time: January 14, 2026
Assigned to: Education, Energy, and the Environment
Committee Report: Favorable
Senate action: Adopted
Read second time: February 22, 2026

CHAPTER ______

AN ACT concerning 1

Election Law – Early Voting Centers – Bus Stops 2

FOR the purpose of requiring buses operating on certain fixed local routes to allow 3
passengers to embark and disembark at the entrance of early voting centers located 4
within a certain distance of the route; and generally relating to early voting. 5

BY repealing and reenacting, without amendments, 6
Article – Election Law 7
Section 10–301.1(c) 8
Annotated Code of Maryland 9
(2022 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 10

BY adding to 11
Article – Election Law 12
Section 10–301.1(e) 13
Annotated Code of Maryland 14
(2022 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 15

BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 16
Article – Election Law 17
Section 10–301.1(e), (f), and (g) 18
Annotated Code of Maryland 19
(2022 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 20
2 SENATE BILL 100

SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 1
That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 2

Article – Election Law 3

10–301.1. 4

(c) Each early voting center shall be open for voting as follows: 5

(1) beginning the second Thursday before a primary or general election 6
through the Thursday before the election; and 7

(2) during the hours between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. each early voting day. 8

(E) (1) (I) THIS SUBSECTION APPLI ES ONLY WITH RESPECT TO A 9
FIXED LOCAL BUS ROUTE FUNDED BY A COUNTY OR MUNICIPAL CORPORATION AND 10
OPERATED BY THE COUNTY OR MUNICIPAL CORPORATION OR A CONTRACTOR FOR 11
THE COUNTY OR MUNICIPAL CORPORATION. 12

(II) THIS SUBSECTION DOES NOT APPLY TO: 13

1. AN EXPRESS OR A COMMUTER BUS ROUTE THAT HAS 14
LIMITED STOPS BETWEEN ITS ORIGIN AND DESTINATION; 15

2. A BUS ROUTE OPERATED BY THE MARYLAND TRANSIT 16
ADMINISTRATION; OR 17

3. A BUS ROUTE OPERATED B Y THE WASHINGTON 18
METROPOLITAN AREA TRANSIT AUTHORITY. 19

(2) IF AN EARLY VOTING CE NTER IS LOCATED WITHIN ON E–HALF 20
MILE OF A FIXED LOCAL BUS ROUTE, EACH BUS OPERATING ON THAT ROUTE SHALL, 21
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTEN T PRACTICABLE AND CO NSISTENT WITH ACCESS IBILITY 22
REQUIREMENTS, ALLOW PASSENGERS TO EMBARK AND DISEMBARK AT THE 23
ENTRANCE OF THE EARLY VOTING CENTER ON THE DAYS THE CENTER IS OPEN FOR 24
VOTING UNDER SUBSECTION (C) OF THIS SECTION. 25

[(e)] (F) Beginning 30 days prior to each early voting period the State Board and 26
each local board shall undertake steps to inform the public about early voting and the 27
location of early voting centers in each county, including: 28

(1) a series of public service media announcements; 29

(2) mailings to all registered voters in each county; and 30
SENATE BILL 100 3

(3) other measures as appropriate. 1

[(f)] (G) Except as expressly provided in this section, any provision of this article 2
that applies to voting on election day also applies to early voting. 3

[(g)] (H) The State Board shall adopt regulations and guidelines in accordance 4
with the requirements of this section for the conduct of early voting. 5

SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect 6
January 1, 2027. 7

Approved:
________________________________________________________________________________
Governor.
________________________________________________________________________________
President of the Senate.
________________________________________________________________________________
Speaker of the House of Delegates.