---
type: "Bill"
title: "Election Law - Certificates of Candidacy and Ballot Questions - Revisions"
description: "Election Law - Certificates of Candidacy and Ballot Questions - Revisions"
jurisdiction: "us/states/md"
legislature: "Maryland General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "HB 738"
citation: "Maryland HB 738 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: []
version_count: 3
action_count: 14
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2021-01-26"
last_action: "2021-04-13"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/62586e1f-054d-4965-ae20-2689b055afc9"
source_url: "http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/hb0738?ys=2021RS&search=True"
source_hash: "aa02ea289ba8a32363f4e3f6f66455973273e41f38ceef42ef4a9b2ade7e199c"
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 HB 738 (2021) — Election Law - Certificates of Candidacy and Ballot Questions - Revisions

## Version chain

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

1. **Chapter - Election Law - Certificates of Candidacy and Ballot Questions - Revisions** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2021RS/Chapters_noln/CH_117_hb0738t.pdf)
2. **First - Election Law - Certificates of Candidacy and Ballot Questions - Revisions** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2021RS/bills/hb/hb0738f.pdf)
3. **Third - Election Law - Certificates of Candidacy and Ballot Questions - Revisions** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2021RS/bills/hb/hb0738t.pdf)

## Votes

- On Third Reading — **46–0** (pass) · upper
- On Third Reading — **138–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Chair, Ways and Means Committee — primary (organization)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-01-26** First Reading Ways and Means `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-28** Hearing 2/09 at 1:30 p.m.
- **2021-02-22** Favorable with Amendments Report by Ways and Means `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-02-23** Favorable with Amendments { `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-02-23** Second Reading Passed with Amendments
- **2021-02-25** Third Reading Passed `passage`
- **2021-02-26** Referred Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs `referral-committee`
- **2021-03-18** Hearing 3/25 at 1:00 p.m.
- **2021-04-01** Favorable Report by Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-04-01** Favorable Adopted `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-04-01** Second Reading Passed
- **2021-04-02** Third Reading Passed `passage`
- **2021-04-05** Returned Passed
- **2021-04-13** Approved by the Governor - Chapter 117 `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/62586e1f-054d-4965-ae20-2689b055afc9`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Maryland legislature records).