How Maryland’s partisan election system disenfranchises a quarter of voters

There's an election in November, but for many Maryland offices the winners were picked in the primary, writes Roberto Alejandro, disenfranchising not only voters not affiliated with a party but the unaffiliated candidates who face a steep hill just to get on the ballot.

By: Roberto E. Alejandro

Outlets: Maryland Matters

Published: August 10, 2026

Words: 848

Last Updated: 1 week, 1 day ago

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The party primary season recently wrapped up in Maryland. Unfortunately, for many Maryland offices, there will be no real general election, as the primaries have already settled the races. This means many Marylanders end up disenfranchised, playing no role in the election.

This is especially true of the roughly one-quarter of Maryland voters registered as unaffiliated. These voters are both functionally excluded from elections as well as denied the opportunity to see unaffiliated candidates on …

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