{"data":{"id":"us-md/md.-code-local-government-9-313","jurisdiction":"us-md","citation":"Md. Code, Local Government § 9–313","heading":"","body":"(a) (1) The voters of a code county may submit to referendum, by\npetition, a public local law or a part of a public local law enacted under this subtitle.\n(2) The referendum shall be:\n(i) at the next regular congressional election unless the county\ncommissioners, by resolution, schedule a special election;\n(ii) in accordance with the requirements of Title 7 of the\nElection Law Article as to time, notice, and form; and\n(iii) for adoption or rejection by a majority of those voting on\nthe question.\n(b) (1) Subject to paragraph (2) of this subsection, a referendum petition\nshall:\n(i) be filed with the county board of elections within 40 days\nafter a public local law is enacted; and\n(ii) contain the signatures of at least 10% of the voters of the\ncode county.\n(2) If more than one–half but less than the full number of signatures\nrequired to complete a referendum petition against a public local law are filed within\n40 days after the public local law is enacted, the time for the public local law to take\neffect and the time for filing the remainder of signatures to complete the referendum\npetition is extended for an additional 40 days.\n(c) (1) Subject to paragraph (2) of this subsection, a referendum petition\nmay consist of several papers.\n(2) Each paper shall:\n(i) contain the full text of the public local law or part of the\npublic local law petitioned to referendum; and\n(ii) have attached to it an affidavit of the individual who\nprocured the signatures on the petition that certifies that to the best of the\nindividual’s personal knowledge, information, and belief:\n1. each signature on the petition is genuine; and\n2. the signers are voters in the code county.\n(d) The county board of elections shall verify the voter registration of each\nsigner.\n(e) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, if a legally\nsufficient referendum petition on a public local law is filed with the county board of\nelections, the public local law does not take effect until 30 days after its approval by\na majority of the voters voting on the question.\n(2) An emergency law petitioned to referendum:\n(i) remains in effect from its effective date notwithstanding\nthe filing of the referendum petition; but\n(ii) is repealed 30 days after its rejection by a majority of the\nvoters voting on the question.","path":["Article - Local Government"],"source_url":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=glg\u0026section=9-313","current_through":"2026-01-01","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T19:59:58Z","sha256":"9ebcb64dc161a34dd17162fd168eb3a079fbb45cc3bcef4fb95f15e3fd856a81","source_id":"us-md","stale":false,"prev":"us-md/md.-code-local-government-9-312","next":"us-md/md.-code-local-government-9-314"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}