---
type: "Bill"
title: "Election Law - Petitions and Ballot Questions - Contents, Plain Language Requirement, and Procedures"
description: "Election Law - Petitions and Ballot Questions - Contents, Plain Language Requirement, and Procedures"
jurisdiction: "us/states/md"
legislature: "Maryland General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "SB 29"
citation: "Maryland SB 29 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Kagan"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 14
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2025-08-20"
last_action: "2026-05-12"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/753038e9-6575-4fc6-8b9a-8789321a2e3e"
source_url: "http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/sb0029?ys=2026RS"
source_hash: "0cca18a41d5f1fa1b8ae8aaa4043c894eb27010b6bb6c6a416a01311047eb4ca"
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 29 (2026) — Election Law - Petitions and Ballot Questions - Contents, Plain Language Requirement, and Procedures

## Version chain

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

1. **Chapter - Election Law - Petitions and Ballot Questions - Contents, Plain Language Requirement, and Procedures** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Chapters_noln/CH_439_sb0029t.pdf)
2. **First - Election Law - Petitions and Ballot Questions - Contents, Plain Language Requirement, and Procedures** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/bills/sb/sb0029f.pdf)
3. **Third - Election Law - Petitions and Ballot Questions - Contents, Plain Language Requirement, and Procedures** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/bills/sb/sb0029t.pdf)

## Votes

- On Third Reading — **135–0** (pass) · lower
- On Third Reading — **44–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Kagan — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2025-08-20** Pre-filed `introduction`
- **2026-01-14** First Reading Education, Energy, and the Environment `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-16** Hearing 1/21 at 11:00 a.m.
- **2026-02-02** Favorable Report by Education, Energy, and the Environment `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-02-03** Favorable Adopted `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-02-03** Second Reading Passed
- **2026-02-05** Third Reading Passed `passage`
- **2026-02-06** Referred Government, Labor, and Elections `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-24** Hearing 4/01 at 1:00 p.m.
- **2026-04-11** Favorable Report by Government, Labor, and Elections `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-04-11** Favorable Adopted Second Reading Passed `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-04-13** Third Reading Passed `passage`
- **2026-04-13** Returned Passed
- **2026-05-12** Approved by the Governor - Chapter 439 `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/753038e9-6575-4fc6-8b9a-8789321a2e3e`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Maryland legislature records).