Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

HB 656
                       Department of Legislative Services
                              Maryland General Assembly
                                    2021 Session
                            FISCAL AND POLICY NOTE
                               Third Reader - Revised
House Bill 656                   (Delegate Crosby)
Ways and Means                              Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs
                    Election Law - Early Voting Centers - Bus Stops
This bill requires that – if an early voting center is located within one-half mile of a fixed
local bus route – buses operating on that route must, to the maximum extent practicable,
allow passengers to embark and disembark at the entrance of the early voting center during
the times the center is open for voting. The bill applies only to a fixed local bus route
(1) funded by a county or municipal corporation and operated by the local government or
a contractor or (2) in Baltimore City and Baltimore County only, funded and operated by
the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA). It does not apply to specified long-distance
commuter bus routes funded by MTA.
                                     Fiscal Summary
State Effect: Transportation Trust Fund (TTF) expenditures and revenues may increase
annually, beginning in FY 2022, as discussed below.
Local Effect: Local government finances may be affected, beginning in FY 2022, as
discussed below.
Small Business Effect: None.
                                         Analysis
Current Law: Pursuant to statute, each early voting center must satisfy general
requirements that apply to polling places, including that each polling place must be located
as conveniently as practicable for the majority of registered voters assigned to the polling
place.
No later than six months before a primary election, the State Board of Elections (SBE), in
collaboration with the local board in each county, must designate each early voting center
in that county.
SBE regulations require local boards of elections to submit to SBE, at least seven months
before a primary election, a form for each proposed early voting center that includes
information on, among other things, whether the proposed early voting center:
      is located within specified distances of where specified percentages of the registered
       voters in the county live;
      is served by public transportation and roads; and
      has parking facilities sufficient for early voting taking into consideration the normal
       business activities of the proposed early voting center.
Upon receipt of a form for a proposed early voting center, the SBE regulations require the
State Administrator of Elections to review the form and make a recommendation to SBE
as to whether to accept or reject the proposed early voting center. Under the regulations,
SBE must vote on a local board’s proposed early voting center within 30 days of receipt of
the form and give deference to a proposed early voting center that meets the criteria on the
form.
State and Local Fiscal Effect: TTF expenditures and revenues may increase annually,
beginning in fiscal 2022, due to the deviation of MTA bus routes in Baltimore City and
Baltimore County to early voting centers within one-half mile of a route. Based on bus
operations cost information provided by MTA, it appears that TTF expenditures may
increase in the range of $10,000 over the course of the eight days of early voting, for
each deviation of a bus route to an early voting center, due to lengthening of operations for
existing buses on those routes and/or the addition of a bus to a given route to maintain
service levels despite the lengthening of the route. In the 2020 general election, there were
19 early voting centers in Baltimore City and Baltimore County combined. If more than
10 deviations of bus routes to early voting centers are required under the bill, increased
expenditures may surpass $100,000 each fiscal year.
The increase in expenditures may be offset, at least to some extent, by increased fare
revenue from deviated routes during early voting to the extent that additional individuals
use the bus routes in order to reach early voting centers as a result of the route deviations.
The extent of any increase in revenues, however, cannot be reliably estimated.
Local government finances may also be affected by deviation of local bus routes to early
voting centers in other jurisdictions. However, in jurisdictions contacted (Calvert, Howard,
Montgomery, and Prince George’s counties), local officials anticipate that the bill will have
minimal or no impact on local transit expenditures based on the current locations of early
HB 656/ Page 2
voting centers and local bus routes. This estimate assumes that the bill does not require
expansion of service hours of any routes that do not otherwise provide service throughout
all early voting hours.
                               Additional Information
Prior Introductions: HB 487 of 2020 received a hearing in the House Ways and Means
Committee and was referred to interim study.
Designated Cross File: None.
Information Source(s): Calvert, Howard, Montgomery, and Prince George’s counties;
Maryland Department of Transportation; Department of Legislative Services
Fiscal Note History:     First Reader - February 5, 2021
rh/hlb                   Third Reader - March 24, 2021
                                Revised - Amendment(s) - March 24, 2021
Analysis by: Scott D. Kennedy                        Direct Inquiries to:
                                                     (410) 946-5510
                                                     (301) 970-5510
HB 656/ Page 3
Statutes affected: 
Text - First - Election Law - Early Voting Centers - Accessibility by Public Transportation: 10-301.1 Election Law
Text - Third - Election Law - Early Voting Centers - Bus Stops: 10-301.1 Election Law