Will Maryland Legalize Marijuana?: 5 Statewide Referendums To Know

MARYLAND — While the race getting the most attention from Maryland voters and political watchers may be the governor's matchup between Democrat Wes Moore and Republican Dan Cox, a key referendum being decided Nov. 8 is whether to legalize recreational marijuana.

Residents voting on Election Day, which is on Tuesday, Nov. 8, must visit their assigned polling place. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voters can check their polling place at this link.

Marylanders will decide five ballot measures in the Nov. 8 general election. The one with the widest impact is the question of whether recreational marijuana should be legal, known as Ballot Question 4.

If approved by a majority of the votes cast, residents 21 and older could use and possess up to 1.5 ounces of usable cannabis or 12 grams of concentrated cannabis on or after July 1, 2023.

Reuters said 37 states, including Maryland, have legalized medical marijuana.

Maryland would be the 20th state to legalize recreational marijuana, The Washington Post reported. Journalist Karina Elwood said Washington, D.C., legalized weed in 2014, and Virginia followed in 2021.

The exact ballot question asks: "Do you favor the legalization of the use of cannabis by an individual who is at least 21 years of age on or after July 1, 2023, in the State of Maryland?"

• Related: 2022 Midterm Elections: Control Of Congress, Governors, Weed On Ballot

Polls show Americans overwhelmingly support marijuana legalization. With proposals on the ballot in Arkansas, Maryland, Missouri, North Dakota and South Dakota, the number of states where people can buy small amounts of recreational pot could expand from the current 19 states and the District of Columbia.

A September poll from Goucher College, the Baltimore Banner and 88.1 FM WYPR found that most voters want to legalize recreational marijuana.

In the Goucher poll, 59 percent of Marylanders said they will vote to legalize pot. Another 34 percent plan to vote against the ballot question.

Another September poll from The Washington Post and the University of Maryland found greater support. That survey suggested that 73 percent of registered Maryland voters favored legalizing recreational marijuana. About 23 percent opposed legalization.

The law that would regulate marijuana if the measure passes will automatically expunge prior weed convictions that would become legal after the referendum, Ballotpedia reported. Anybody currently serving time for those crimes would then have permission to file for resentencing.

If the marijuana referendum passes, 62 percent of Goucher poll respondents think Maryland should expunge and erase the records of those charged with or convicted of marijuana use and/or possession crime. About 29 percent believe the state should not expunge those records.

Related:

• MD Governor's Election 2022: Wes Moore, Dan Cox Make Pitch To Voters
• Biden Looks To Weed Decriminalization: What It Means Ahead Of MD Marijuana Referendum
• While Advocates Continue To Debate Ballot Question, State Bureaucrats Prepare For Legal Cannabis
• Online, Word Of Mouth Grass-Roots Effort Emerges To Oppose Legalizing Cannabis
• Black Activists And Political Leaders Mobilizing To Make Cannabis Legal In Maryland
• Moore Visits Pot Dispensary, Praises Biden Pardon Announcement On Simple Marijuana Possession

The other statewide ballot measures, as explained by Ballotpedia, if approved would:

• Rename the Maryland Court of Appeals as the Supreme Court of Maryland and change the Maryland Court of Special Appeals to the Appellate Court of Maryland.
• Amend the Maryland Constitution to require that state legislators live in and maintain a primary residence in the district they wish to represent for at least six months before an election.
• Amend the Maryland Constitution to only guarantee the right to a jury trial in civil cases if the amount in question is greater than $25,000. The current minimum for a jury trial is $15,000.
• Amend the state constitution to require that Howard County Circuit Court judges serve on the orphans' court and repeal the county's current elections for three judgeships on the orphans' court.

The Howard County court question needs a plurality of votes statewide and a plurality in Howard County specifically to pass.

The exact wording of each ballot question is listed here. A non-technical summary of each question is available on this webpage.

All these state and county ballot questions will pass if they collect a plurality of votes. That means they just need to secure more yes's than no's.

When Will The Results Be Certified?

Election officials across the state will not certify the final results for at least 10 days. Officials must wait for every mail-in and provisional ballot to trickle in.

All 24 jurisdictions will start releasing their early voting and Election Day tallies on Nov. 8. That evening, only 10 jurisdictions will release their early mail-in ballot results tallied before Election Day.

The Maryland Court of Appeals on Oct. 7 ruled that local election offices can opt to start counting mail-in ballots before Election Day. They cannot release these results until after polls close on Election Day, however. Jurisdictions counting early must continue accepting mailed ballots postmarked by Nov. 8 until the statewide deadline of Nov. 18 at 10 a.m.

These jurisdictions plan to conduct pre-Election Day canvassing of mail-in ballots: Baltimore City and Allegany, Baltimore, Calvert, Frederick, Howard, Montgomery, Prince George's, Saint Mary's and Washington counties.

Fourteen jurisdictions do not have the space or personnel to count early mail-in ballots as they arrive.

These counties will start canvassing their mail-in ballots on Nov. 10, which is two days after Election Day: Anne Arundel, Caroline, Carroll, Cecil, Charles, Dorchester, Garrett, Harford, Kent, Queen Anne's, Somerset, Talbot, Wicomico and Worcester counties.

Election officials will tally provisional ballots on Nov. 16. Mail-in ballots will be counted as they arrive until Nov. 18.

Local boards cannot certify their final results before Nov. 18.