Following years of tireless advocacy, Maryland voters have scored a major victory in strengthening the freedom to vote in their state. Senate Bill 255 (SB 255), a core component of the Maryland Voting Rights Act (MDVRA), enacts crucial protections to empower historically disenfranchised voters and ban discriminatory voting systems. The bill was sponsored by Sen. Charles Sydnor.
Once signed by the governor, SB 255 will immediately ban cities and counties in Maryland from using any election system, district map or other policy that results in racial vote dilution. Racial vote dilution means cancelling out or minimizing the voting power of historically disenfranchised communities, denying them an equal opportunity to elect their preferred candidates.
Though Section 2 of the federal Voting Rights Act (VRA) also prohibits vote dilution, SB 255 provides Marylanders with stronger, more effective state-level protection. Federal vote dilution claims are notoriously expensive and unpredictable. But SB 255 will streamline enforcement by removing unnecessary barriers to bringing a claim, spelling out clear standards for courts and ensuring strong remedies.
The passage of this bill represents a major milestone in the MDVRA coalition’s efforts to enact a comprehensive state Voting Rights Act (state VRA) in Maryland. Campaign Legal Center is proud to be a part of the MDVRA coalition, which includes a number of state and national pro-democracy partners: Common Cause Maryland, League of Women Voters Maryland, ACLU of Maryland and the Legal Defense Fund.
State VRAs are innovative laws that build on the core protections of the federal VRA to give voters stronger tools to address racial discrimination in state and local elections. Since the U.S. Supreme Court began weakening the federal VRA — most notably in the 2013 case Shelby County v. Holder — states have stepped in to fill the gap.
In recent years, Campaign Legal Center has collaborated with state and national groups to pass state VRA bills in Washington, New York, Connecticut, Minnesota and Colorado. Once the bill is signed by the governor, Maryland will be the ninth state to have enacted a state VRA.
But Maryland is also just getting started. With SB 255 building on last year’s passage of preliminary language assistance protections, the coalition will continue to advance a full suite of voting rights protections to expand the MDVRA, including protections against voter intimidation and suppression and a comprehensive election database to ensure transparency in local election practices.
Join us in the fight today to protect the freedom to vote in Maryland and across the country.
