Though there were some rumblings, no one turned in petitions to challenge actions of the Maryland General Assembly via referendum this year, state elections officials say.

At least two laws, both focused on energy policy, were in the crosshairs this year.

One group — which registered itself as the Maryland Environment, Labor and Industry Coalition — planned to challenge the Next Generation Energy Act, and focus its campaign on trash incinerators, which will no longer receive a renewable energy subsidy under the law.

Another group, led primarily by Maryland farmers, started collecting signatures to challenge the Renewable Energy Certainty Act, which focuses on solar farm siting in the state.

But ultimately, neither group submitted signatures before the May 31 deadline, when they needed 20,053. To actually get on the ballot in 2026, groups would have needed to assemble about 60,000 signatures by June 30.

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 to get same-sex marriage on the ballot, and ultimately the electorate approved it.

This year, both groups had pushed for Democratic Gov. Wes Moore 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 deadline, a representative of the MELIC group said a formal signature campaign 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.

But farmers are particularly concerned by a provision that caps solar facilities to 5% of “priority preservation areas,” or agricultural land, in any one county. They argue 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 whatsoever.

“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 that his group amassed just under 20,000 signatures before they ran out of time. They estimated that they 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 — to make the submission.

Falstad was shellshocked when officials reached out on May 30 to say he’d only have until midnight on the 31st. 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 administrator of elections, said that the initial communication, allowing until June 2, was in error. While other state election deadlines, such as business contribution filings, can move to the next business day, the ballot petition filing deadline cannot move, under the state constitution, he said.

“When we found out of a 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 said.

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.”

Maryland Matters is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501(c)(3) public charity. Maryland Matters maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Steve Crane for questions: scrane@marylandmatters.org. Follow Maryland Matters on Facebook and Twitter.