Maryland Resources

Maryland's present constitution was ratified September 18, 1867, but has been amended approximately 200 times. The General Assembly can propose amendments to the Maryland Constitution. Each amendment must be proposed in a separate bill, embodying the constitutional article or section. Amendments must first be approved by three-fifths of all the members elected to each of the two houses of the General Assembly, then published in newspapers around the state and approved by a majority of Maryland voters. Md. Const. art. XIV, § 1.

Every 20 years (beginning in 1970), as part of the general election, Maryland voters must decide whether to call a constitutional convention for the drafting of a new constitution. If such a convention is called, any draft constitution it produces must be approved by a majority of Maryland voters. Md. Const. art XIV, § 2.

Maryland had three other constitutions before the Constitution of 1867: 1776, 1851, and 1864.

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The Annotated Code of the Public General Laws of Maryland. Constitutions.