Maryland’s November 3 ballot includes three statewide constitutional amendments and 48 local questions, according to the State Board of Elections. This column argues that voters should treat those local items as seriously as the candidate races, because they often decide how much a county may borrow and how it is governed.
This is an opinion column. It reflects the author’s views, not the Maryland Herald’s news reporting.
How many questions are really on the ballot?
The State Board of Elections lists 48 local questions across nine jurisdictions, as of October 26, 2026. The count by jurisdiction:
| Jurisdiction | Local questions |
|---|---|
| Baltimore County | 14 |
| Prince George’s County | 10 |
| Baltimore City | 9 |
| Anne Arundel County | 3 |
| Dorchester County | 4 |
| Wicomico County | 4 |
| Howard County | 2 |
| Cecil County | 1 |
| Frederick County | 1 |
Add the three statewide amendments and a voter in Baltimore County may face 17 questions beyond the candidate races. The Board’s page does not say how long any ballot will be, but the arithmetic is plain: for many voters the questions are a substantial share of what they will read in the booth.
Why do the dull questions matter?
Candidate races draw the advertising, the debates and the headlines. Questions draw little of any of it, yet they carry real consequences. The Board’s list includes charter changes, such as term limits for the Frederick County Council and Executive, a plan to eliminate two at-large Council seats in Prince George’s County, and a Baltimore County question on the vote threshold tied to farmland preservation. Charters work like local constitutions, and once voters change one, only another vote changes it back.
For background on the statewide amendments that sit above these local items, see the Herald’s guide to Maryland’s 2026 ballot questions.
What is being borrowed in your name?
Many of the local questions are bond issues. Using the amounts the Board lists, the totals are substantial. This is illustrative arithmetic, not an official figure:
- Baltimore County, questions F through N: $5,000,000 plus $18,620,000 plus $54,380,000 plus $2,000,000 plus $200,000,000 plus $6,000,000 plus $4,000,000 plus $20,000,000 plus $81,750,000 comes to $391,750,000.
- Baltimore City, questions A through D: $22,000,000 plus $60,000,000 plus $50,000,000 plus $148,000,000 comes to $280,000,000.
- Prince George’s County, questions F through J: $67,306,000 plus $140,089,000 plus $117,848,000 plus $33,656,000 plus $53,503,000 comes to $412,402,000.
Together those three jurisdictions put roughly $1.08 billion of borrowing questions before voters. The largest single item the Board lists is Baltimore County’s $200,000,000 school bond. The Board’s page gives the purposes in broad terms, such as schools, public works, parks and library facilities, and links to the full amendment text for each county.
A fair reading is not that borrowing is bad. Schools and water systems need capital, and bonds spread the cost across the years the assets are used. The point is that these are voters’ decisions, and a “yes” or “no” should be an informed one.
What does a careful reader look for?
A few habits make a long list manageable, and none requires legal training:
- Start with the subject line. The Board labels each item plainly, such as “school bonds,” “term limits” or “budget submission date,” so a voter can sort the list in a minute.
- Separate money from governance. Bond questions ask whether to authorize borrowing for a stated purpose. Charter questions ask who holds power and how decisions get made. They call for different kinds of scrutiny.
- Ask who gains authority. Several questions on the Board’s list shift duties among councils, executives and appointed boards, including acting appointments in Wicomico County and the responsibilities of the County Manager in Dorchester County.
- Read the full text for anything you plan to vote on. A short title can hide detail, and the county amendment text is the controlling document.
- Remember the vote is permanent until the next vote. Charter changes do not expire on their own.
Taking ten minutes with these five steps turns a wall of text into a short, ordered list. It also makes clear which items are routine and which deserve a harder look before Election Day.
Is it too much to ask voters to read this?
The strongest counter-argument is that it is unrealistic. Most people cannot study dozens of items, many written in legal language, and a long ballot invites fatigue. Voters who skip a question lose nothing on the rest of the ballot, and some argue that leaving a technical charter question blank is a reasonable choice when you lack the background.
That is a fair concern, and the answer is not to demand perfection. A voter can pick the three or four questions that touch their daily life, such as the school bond in their county or a question about how their council operates, and read only those. Leaving the rest blank is better than guessing. But the choice should be deliberate, not a product of finding the list for the first time with a line behind you.
Where can voters read the actual text?
The Board’s ballot-question page links to the Department of Legislative Services summaries and the proposed amendment text for the statewide questions, and each county has its own amendment-text document. According to the Board, the public comment periods have closed, and some questions were updated to reflect petition determinations, so the posted versions are the ones to trust.
Early voting runs from Thursday, October 22 through Thursday, October 29, 2026, with centers open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. each day, according to the Board. Election Day is November 3. Our overview of key dates and voting hours lays out the calendar, and the Herald’s column on making a voting plan makes the case for deciding your day ahead of time. Add reading to the plan: set aside twenty minutes for the questions in your county.
Conclusion: the bottom of the ballot is not the least important part
The candidates at the top of the ballot will change over time. A charter amendment or a bond authorization can shape a county for decades. With 48 local questions and more than a billion dollars in borrowing questions across three jurisdictions alone, voters owe it to themselves to look before they arrive. Read what affects you, skip what you cannot judge, and leave the booth knowing what you chose.
This column is general information and opinion, not voting or financial advice. Confirm current details with the State Board of Elections or your local board of elections.
Sources: Maryland State Board of Elections
