---
type: "Bill"
title: "Local Boards of Elections - Board Counsel - Qualifications"
description: "Local Boards of Elections - Board Counsel - Qualifications"
jurisdiction: "us/states/md"
legislature: "Maryland General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "SB 443"
citation: "Maryland SB 443 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Carozza", "Hershey", "Kagan", "Mautz"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 13
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2026-01-30"
last_action: "2026-04-28"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/3ec7448e-02d8-44e6-9fd4-ee2661dfcdc5"
source_url: "http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/sb0443?ys=2026RS"
source_hash: "217a6d9907720d0dc95a44988b0b55773c0b9755d03a48ae9cbbf31c4212dc32"
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 443 (2026) — Local Boards of Elections - Board Counsel - Qualifications

## Version chain

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

1. **Chapter - Local Boards of Elections - Board Counsel - Qualifications** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Chapters_noln/CH_257_sb0443t.pdf)
2. **First - Local Boards of Elections - Board Counsel - Qualifications** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/bills/sb/sb0443f.pdf)
3. **Third - Local Boards of Elections - Board Counsel - Qualifications** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/bills/sb/sb0443t.pdf)

## Votes

- On Third Reading (Emerg) — **115–18** (pass) · lower
- On Third Reading (Emerg) — **45–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Carozza — primary (person)
- Hershey — primary (person)
- Kagan — primary (person)
- Mautz — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-01-30** First Reading Education, Energy, and the Environment `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-10** Hearing 2/25 at 1:00 p.m.
- **2026-03-09** Favorable Report by Education, Energy, and the Environment `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-03-10** Favorable Adopted `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-03-10** Second Reading Passed
- **2026-03-12** Third Reading Passed `passage`
- **2026-03-13** 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
- **2026-04-28** Approved by the Governor - Chapter 257 `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/3ec7448e-02d8-44e6-9fd4-ee2661dfcdc5`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Maryland legislature records).