By Kamaiyah Lineberger
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Maryland voters can now access a wide range of election information with a new voter resource app called Go Vote Maryland.
The app, which was announced by the Maryland State Board of Elections on March 25, is designed to better inform Maryland voters and increase voter turnout in the state.
According to the SBE press release, the app allows voters to access an election calendar, nearby voting locations, check voter registration, report misinformation and get answers to frequently asked questions.
“People can get information at their fingertips right on their phone without searching or being like, ‘What’s that web address again?’” SBE State Administrator Jared DeMarinis said.
Developed with help from Towson University’s Empowering Secure Elections Research Lab and the University of Maryland’s Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement, the app was a collaborative effort, SBE director of communications, Lexy Rhoden, said.
During the 2022 midterm election, Maryland reached 45.8% voter turnout, or 1 percent below the national average of 46.8%, according to Ballotpedia.com.
This placed Maryland as having the 29th highest voter turnout compared to the other U.S states. Oregon had the highest voter turnout in the country, with 62.3% in 2022.
Joanne Antoine, the executive director for Common Cause Maryland, said the state’s 2022 midterm election turnout was “unfortunately pretty average for us.” She said she would like to see the state do more to increase the number of people who show up at the polls on Election Day.
“I think this is where, as a state, we’re supposed to be adopting tactics, because we’re clearly not doing enough,” Antoine said.
The creation of the voter resource app is one of two big efforts that Maryland is pushing to increase voter turnout in the upcoming 2026 midterm election and in years to come.
The Maryland High School Voter Contest is another effort introduced by the state. Announced on Sept. 16, 2025, the contest gives high schools in Maryland a chance to win the Key Award if at least 90% of seniors are registered to vote in time for the November midterms.
Rhoden said the contest was created to encourage more political engagement by younger voters, who traditionally turnout on Election Day at far lower numbers than older adults.
“Youth participation is historically always the lowest, and they’re the ones that should be involved in this because they’re inheriting all the decision-making that is going on now,” DeMarinis said.
One of the main aspects of this program that’s meant to intrigue high school students is the fact that it’s a competition, DeMarinis said.
Rhoden said the board doesn’t want to give too many details about the Key Award because it wants the specifics to remain a surprise for the students.
“There’s a little bit of pride on the line that the high school senior class might be like, ‘All right, we gotta beat our rival,’” DeMarinis said.
Antoine said where the state misses the mark with high voter turnout among youth is in the informing stage.
“If we want to drive turnout amongst young people, we need to be speaking directly to them,” Antoine said.
DeMarinis also wishes that more high schoolers knew about the election judge position that’s open to people 16 and older. He said the state has implemented a minimum of $250 for the position, plus $50 for training. Election judges help oversee individual polling places on Election Day.
“Just because it starts there doesn’t mean it should end there,” Rhoden said. “We definitely want to continue to encourage engagement and the civic conversations as well.”
This is the first time that SBE has created a contest like this, and it plans on making it an annual event, Rhoden said. They’ve marketed the contest and app through press releases as well as communicating with local election boards.
Antonie thinks the voter registration contest has good programming, but it needs more visibility. She said that if students could see the registration numbers from other schools, it would
foster more competition and encourage participation.
DeMarinis and Rhoden are brainstorming changes for the app to keep users engaged even during the off years. Some of these ideas include notices with time-sensitive information such as upcoming mail and polling place changes and even an in-app voting game.