---
type: "Bill"
title: "Election Law – Absentee Voting – References in Public Communications and Prepaid Postage for Return of Ballots"
description: "Election Law – Absentee Voting – References in Public Communications and Prepaid Postage for Return of Ballots"
jurisdiction: "us/states/md"
legislature: "Maryland General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "SB 145"
citation: "Maryland SB 145 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["A"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Hester"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 23
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2020-01-10"
last_action: "2020-05-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/47274e89-3190-4723-a6ee-63e4c8f63e51"
source_url: "http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/sb0145?ys=2020RS&search=True"
source_hash: "ad26cfdfcc97c0220324fa40de770d2a11583bdcc81e7646c2234950f73e51d5"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-md"]
---

# Maryland SB 145 (2020) — Election Law – Absentee Voting – References in Public Communications and Prepaid Postage for Return of Ballots

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Chapter - Election Law – Absentee Voting – References in Public Communications and Prepaid Postage for Return of Ballots** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2020RS/Chapters_noln/CH_37_sb0145e.pdf)
2. **Enrolled - Election Law – Absentee Voting – References in Public Communications and Prepaid Postage for Return of Ballots** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2020RS/bills/sb/sb0145e.pdf)
3. **First - Election Law - References to Absentee Voting in Communications - Mail-In Voting** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2020RS/bills/sb/sb0145f.pdf)
4. **Third - Election Law - References to Absentee Voting in Communications - Mail-In Voting** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2020RS/bills/sb/sb0145t.pdf)

## Votes

- On Third Reading — **45–0** (pass) · upper
- On third reading — **35–10** (pass) · upper
- On Third Reading (Amend) — **100–33** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Hester — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2020-01-10** First Reading Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-15** Hearing 1/28 at 1:00 p.m.
- **2020-01-15** Hearing canceled
- **2020-01-15** Hearing 1/28 at 2:00 p.m.
- **2020-02-10** Favorable with Amendments Report by Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2020-02-11** Favorable `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2020-02-11** Motion Laid Over (Senator Hough) Adopted
- **2020-02-12** Favorable with Amendments { `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2020-02-12** Second Reading Passed with Amendments
- **2020-02-14** Third Reading Passed `passage`
- **2020-02-17** Referred Ways and Means `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-25** Hearing 3/17 at 1:00 p.m.
- **2020-03-14** Hearing canceled
- **2020-03-15** Favorable Report by Ways and Means `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2020-03-15** Favorable Adopted `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2020-03-15** Motion Special Order until Next Session (Delegate Mosby) Adopted
- **2020-03-16** Floor Amendment {
- **2020-03-16** Second Reading Passed with Amendments
- **2020-03-17** Third Reading Passed `passage`
- **2020-03-18** Senate Concurs House Amendments
- **2020-03-18** Third Reading Passed `passage`
- **2020-03-18** Passed Enrolled
- **2020-05-08** Enacted under Article II, Section 17(c) of the Maryland Constitution - Chapter 37 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/47274e89-3190-4723-a6ee-63e4c8f63e51`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Maryland legislature records).