By Tashi McQueen
AFRO Staff Writer
tmcqueen@afro.com
As discussion over voting rights and access increases across the nation, several lawmakers are championing legislation in the Maryland General Assembly this year in an attempt to safeguard civil rights at the state level. In this, they echo the heart and spirit of civil rights leaders of the 1960s and 1970s.
Though Maryland has long been a Democrat-controlled state, Delegate Gregory Wims (D-Md.-39) said House Bill (HB) 350, Senate Bill (SB) 255 and House BIll 219 aim to strengthen existing voting protections. He said the measure is intended to safeguard Maryland’s election laws amid shifting federal policies and court decisions.
Delegate Stephanie Smith (D-Md.-45), sponsor of HB 219, laid out what her bill in particular would do if passed. HB 219 is referred to as the Maryland Voting Rights Act of 2026.
“My bill is about not just saying that intimidation and harassment is wrong at polling places, it’s about ensuring there’s a legal cause of action for you to sue because of that,” said Smith.
Smith further emphasized that determining something wrong is not the same as having the legal power to hold someone responsible for denying or interfering with your right to vote, which this bill would give Marylanders the right to do.
As of Feb. 13, HB 219 has been heard in the House Government, Labor and Elections Committee, but has not yet been voted out of committee. Each bill in the Maryland General Assembly must be introduced, approved in committee and by its chamber, then passed by the other chamber before going to the governor for a signature to become law.
“Voting rights is the right that makes every other right possible,” said Smith. “When we have a federal judiciary and a federal executive branch that are looking committed to weakening our federal Voting Rights Act, it’s incumbent upon the states to protect access to the ballot that every person in this state deserves to have.”
“We can’t get to the next conversations about how to protect people’s economic needs, health care access, all the things they want to make their lives better if they can’t rely on having access to the ballot,” she added.
Sen. Charles E. Sydnor III (D-Md.-44) is lead sponsor of SB 255, which is the Senate version of HB 350. When bills are cross-filed in the Legislature it amplifies its support and chances of passing both chambers and making it to the governor’s desk to be signed into law.
Wims’ and Sydnor’s bills are referred to as the “Voting Rights Act of 2026.”
Their legislation complements HB 219 by creating state protections for minority voters in local elections. It also allows the attorney general or other individuals to sue over practices that weaken voting power and authorizes courts to order remedies.
Though the courts can give redistricting map solutions, they cannot force local governments to completely change their election systems without agreement from said local government. This bill would also allow people to sue at the state level instead of having to go to the federal level, which would be more costly and time consuming.
For Wims, this fight is near and dear.
“Beside being president of the NAACP in the 1990s, I worked on Capitol Hill with the Congressional Black Caucus as an intern as we looked at discriminatory practices in voting nationwide,” said Wims. “Thirty years ago, I had no idea I would be an elected official.”
Wims said this legislative initiative is not a sure thing yet, but he will be working hard to rally the delegates to get the bill passed in the House and signed into law.
As of Feb. 13, HB 350 remains in the House Government, Labor and Elections Committee, while SB 255 has crossed over to the House of Delegates for consideration.
“We need everyone who is reading this to call their delegates,” he said. “Each voter has three delegates … contact all three delegates and tell them to vote.”