Maryland Finds One Violation in Five Complaints Under Its New AI Election Deepfake Law

Maryland election officials have received five complaints under the state’s new law against AI-generated election disinformation and found just one violation, a campaign advertisement that gave voters the wrong Election Day date, The Baltimore Sun reported in a story republished by Government Technology on November 2.

The law, enacted in June, gives the State Board of Elections limited authority. Spokesperson Lexy Rhoden said the board reviews complaints and works with the attorney general’s office to seek removal of inaccurate material and issue corrections, but only when false information concerns the time, place or manner of an election, its results or voting rights. Complaints outside that scope go to the state prosecutor’s office, which declined to discuss them. Violations can bring up to five years in prison or a $5,000 fine. Donald Tobin, an election law professor at the University of Maryland’s Carey School of Law, noted that the law requires a deepfake to be made with intent to harm, and he expects court challenges over how that test fits with First Amendment protection for political speech.

Cases have still surfaced. Weeks after the law took effect, former Republican gubernatorial candidate Ed Hale posted an AI-generated image of his then-primary rival Dan Cox embracing Gov. Wes Moore, and Moore’s lawyers later complained about an ad they said misused his likeness on the redistricting ballot measure. In Annapolis, a restaurant owned by a District 7 candidate posted an AI-altered Capital Gazette front page with claims the paper never made; the owner said an agency’s AI clean-up had hallucinated them, apologized and posted a corrected version.

Why it matters

Candace Turitto, director of the University of Maryland’s Applied Political Analytics Program, warned that a $5,000 fine may not deter a campaign that gains coverage or votes from a misleading ad, especially when legal action might come only after the election. Of the four local election directors who answered the Sun, none had reported AI-generated disinformation this season, although Baltimore County had to correct a false, non-AI claim that mail-in ballots needed postage. The narrow scope contrasts with other state approaches, such as Pennsylvania’s new labeling requirement for AI-generated ads.

What to watch

Watch how the board resolves the complaints involving Moore, whether the intent-to-harm standard is tested in court, and whether lawmakers revisit penalties or the board’s remit when the General Assembly returns in January.