Both houses of the Maryland legislature now have a bill to cut the number of signatures for a previously unqualified party from 10,000 signatures to 5,000 signatures. SB 947 had been introduced earlier, and now the same bill is in the House as HB 1562.

The Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs held a hearing on SB 947 on March 12. Senator Jamin Raskin made an impassioned for the bill, and no one testified against it. The Committee will vote in the near future.