The time is now to make Maryland a national leader on state voting rights

In November, Maryland elected its first Black U.S. senator and has made significant progress toward building an inclusive democracy in recent years, expanding hours and number of early voting centers in each jurisdiction, for example.

Yet, Maryland is not immune to the attacks on voting rights we’ve seen across the country. This past election saw bomb threats at several local board of elections’ offices and significant disparities in voter participation by race. In several communities across the state, no person of color has ever been elected to public office, despite growing Black and Latino populations.

This included the town of Federalsburg in Caroline County, until a recent federal lawsuit.

“I’ve been here all my life, 68 years. I haven’t seen no African American on the board,” said lifelong resident Roberta Butler. “But we’re not going back. We’re going forward. It’s time for a change and getting young African Americans on that board.”

The town had an “at-large” system where candidates were elected by the whole town rather than running in specific districts. This let the white majority choose every officeholder—and completely block out the voices of their Black neighbors, even though Black residents make up half the town’s population.

That changed when seven Black Federalsburg women filed a federal lawsuit. After a court ordered the town to shift to a district-based system, two Black women were elected to the town council in 2023 for the first time ever in the town’s 200-year history.

Unfortunately, Federalsburg is not an anomaly.

More than half the state’s cities and towns have substantial populations of people of color, yet nearly two-thirds of those communities use at-large elections, and one-quarter of these diverse communities have no elected officials of color. Underrepresentation is worse at the county level where one-third of the counties with substantial populations of color have all-white governments.

Maryland shouldn’t need expensive, cumbersome federal lawsuits to solve our state’s problems. In the most diverse state on the East Coast, Black voters and other voters of color need more protections. Maryland can address this critical need and cement its status as a national leader on voting rights by enacting the Maryland Voting Rights Act (MDVRA).

The MDVRA protects against racially discriminatory at-large elections or local voting districts, prevents discriminatory election practices and voter intimidation, and improves public notice of changes to election rules. It ensures that eligible voters who don’t speak English comfortably can participate in our democracy; and it can stop discrimination before it occurs in jurisdictions that present a high risk of discriminatory voting policies.

On the federal level, the Supreme Court has spent the past decade chipping away at the federal Voting Rights Act and the incoming Congress is unlikely to restore the VRA. And voting rights will be under threat again under a new Trump presidency.

The first Trump administration suppressed expansion of voter rights by spreading misinformation, denying election results, and inciting violence toward election workers and our democratic system. It opposed H.R. 4, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2021, which would have strengthened legal protections against discriminatory election practices.

In a second term, a Trump administration will make it harder for Americans to vote — particularly voters of color. This includes voters with limited English proficiency, voters with disabilities and other marginalized communities.

Maryland cannot afford to sit idle while this occurs. The MDVRA would help ensure that all voters are able to cast ballots and participate freely and fairly in the state’s democratic process – particularly those who have historically been denied equal opportunity and access. It would secure the states’ voting rights before they are gutted.

Polls show 81% of Maryland voters support a MDVRA and 80% would like their state representative to prioritize its passage. The MDVRA is extremely popular across race and party lines, making the 2025 legislative session a perfect time to pass what would be the strongest state VRA in the nation.

Seven states, including Virginia, have passed a state VRA as critical legislation to protect voters and increase fairness and transparency in the voting process. Maryland should be next. These innovative statutes will remain important tools for fighting discrimination even after Congress restores the VRA to its full strength.

The right to vote is the cornerstone of democracy, and turnout for the 2024 election proves just that. With the election now in the past, it’s time for us to secure the future. The work is not done. Now is the time to pass the Maryland Voting Rights Act.