It was admittedly a Hail Mary, but a farmer-led group that was hoping to collect 20,000 signatures in a matter of days to petition a new solar power bill to referendum said it fell just short last week.
The farmers were one of two groups that talked about putting new energy policy before voters but, despite the rumblings, neither one turned in petitions to challenge the new laws via referendum, state elections officials say.
In order to do so, the groups would have had to turn in 20,053 signatures by May 31, which would have given tbem until June 30 to collect the 60,000 signatures they would ultimately need to put the issue on the ballot in 2026.
The lack of submissions means Maryland will go another year without a statewide referendum on the ballot. The last one was in 2012, when voters petitioned same-sex marriage to the ballot, which voters ultimately approved.
One group — which registered itself as the Maryland Environment, Labor and Industry Coalition — planned to challenge the Next Generation Energy Act, and would have focused its campaign on a portion of the bill that denies renewable-energy subsidies to trash incinerators that burn waste to generate electricity.
The other group was targeting the Renewable Energy Certainty Act, which focuses on solar farm siting in the state.
Both groups had pushed for Gov. Wes Moore (D) to veto their bills, but he signed each during his final bill signing session of the year, on May 21. With just 10 days until the petition deadline, the waste-to-energy supporters decided their chance for a successful petition drive was unlikely.
But the farming community decided to throw the Hail Mary, and collected thousands of signatures in an attempt to hit the cutoff.
The solar bill essentially prohibits local governments from establishing zoning rules that preclude large solar fields and sets uniform statewide standards for solar sites.
Farmers are particularly concerned by a provision that caps solar facilities at 5% of “priority preservation areas,” or agricultural land, in any one county. They say the ceiling is too high, and could take too much farmland out of production. Many believe that no farmland should be used for solar panels at all.
“While this cap is certainly better than nothing, it still leaves thousands of acres of farmland open to commercial solar development,” wrote Maryland Farm Bureau President Jamie Raley in a recent statement. “The result of this bill is concerning, but it only strengthens our resolve to keep fighting for Maryland’s farmland.”
Jay Falstad, a leader of the solar energy petition effort, said his group amassed just under 20,000 signatures before it ran out of time. The group estimated that it would have needed at least 23,000 to meet the state’s cutoff, because signatures are frequently tossed out for non-compliance with a strict set of state rules.
But Falstad, who is a founder of Farmers Alliance for Rural Maryland, or FARM, said that a State Board of Elections official initially informed him that he’d have until Monday, June 2 — the next business day after the May 31 deadline, which fell on a Saturday — to make the submission. He said he was shocked when officials reached out on May 30 to say he’d only have until midnight on May 31. He’s confident he could have reached the cutoff number with a few extra days.
“We would have made the necessary number, had it not been for this accelerated timeline,” said Falstad, who is also the executive director of the Queen Anne’s County Conservation Association. “The momentum was on our side.”
Jared DeMarinis, Maryland’s state elections administrator, said the initial communication, allowing until June 2, was a mistake. While other election deadlines, such as business contribution filings, can move to the next business day, the ballot petition filing deadline is set under the state constitution, he said.
Once the office realized its mistake “we made sure that they were aware of it,” DeMarinis said. “It is in the Maryland Constitution, so it’s not like it was hidden in any sort of fashion.”
Regardless of the outcome, Falstad said he was impressed by the strong response to the petition drive. Organizers received signatures from each Maryland county, he said, although the effort was focused in rural areas on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, as well as in Montgomery, Harford and Carroll counties.
Falstad himself collected signatures on the Eastern Shore at fairgrounds and ballfields, farm stores and local parks.
“We had people running from their car to the pavilion to sign the petition through rain and thunder,” Falstad said. “The level of commitment and dedication on the part of people that wanted to sign the petition was inspiring.”
by Christine Condon, Maryland Matters
June 5, 2025
Maryland Matters is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Maryland Matters maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Steve Crane for questions: [email protected].
