Category Archives: Election Law

Automatic Voter Registration

Jonathan Shurberg   December 11, 2015   No Comments on Automatic Voter Registration

State Senator Roger Manno and Delegate Eric Luedtke are proposing a bill to provide for automatic registration of eligible voters from the records of various state agencies. The Baltimore Sun reported: Maryland’s top Democrats are looking at legislation that would automatically put every eligible state resident on the voting rolls, abandoning the traditional registration system. Senate President Thomas V. Mike… Read more »

Supreme Court Gives New Life To MD Gerrymander Case

Jonathan Shurberg   December 8, 2015   No Comments on Supreme Court Gives New Life To MD Gerrymander Case

I’ve written about this previously, and today the Supreme Court breathed new life into a gerrymandering claim against Maryland’s 2011 congressional redistricting plan. By a unanimous vote of 9-0, the Court (per Justice Scalia) sent the case back to the district court to convene a three judge panel to hear the case on the merits. As previously noted, the precise issue before… Read more »

MoCo Elections Board Violated Open Meetings Law

Jonathan Shurberg   December 5, 2015   No Comments on MoCo Elections Board Violated Open Meetings Law

Back a couple of months ago, the Montgomery County Board of Elections (with a Republican majority as a result of Larry Hogan’s victory in 2014) attempted to shift two early voting sites from Burtonsville and Chevy Chase to Brookeville and Potomac. This created a huge uproar, which resulted in the proposed changes being rejected by the State Board and the… Read more »

BOE Approval Includes Promise To Seek 10th EV Site

Jonathan Shurberg   October 19, 2015   No Comments on BOE Approval Includes Promise To Seek 10th EV Site

Per an email from the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee, part of the approval of the nine original early vote sites was the promise by the MCDCC and the county’s Annapolis delegation to seek a 10th county early vote site during the 2016 session. I assume that this 10th site, if authorized, will end up being located in Potomac. A… Read more »

BOE To Restore BOTH Disputed EV Sites

Jonathan Shurberg   October 19, 2015   No Comments on BOE To Restore BOTH Disputed EV Sites

The Montgomery County Board of Elections meets at 2:30 this afternoon to “reconsider” the nine early vote sites for the 2016 elections. According to this tweet a few minutes ago from Council President George Leventhal, BOE president Jim Shalleck intends to restore both disputed EV sites - one in Burtonsville and one in Chevy Chase. I can’t make the meeting but… Read more »

BREAKING: State BOE Fails To Approve MoCo EV Sites [UPDATED]

Jonathan Shurberg   October 15, 2015   No Comments on BREAKING: State BOE Fails To Approve MoCo EV Sites [UPDATED]

Bill Turque is live tweeting the State Board of Elections deliberations on the proposed Montgomery County early vote sites. He reports that the BOE failed to approve the plan on a 3-2 vote, one short of the supermajority required. No one seems to be sure what happens now - the Board is considering going into closed session. Stay tuned.   UPDATE: Roger… Read more »

BOE Fixes Half The Problem

Jonathan Shurberg   October 14, 2015   No Comments on BOE Fixes Half The Problem

Burtonsville is back on the early vote list, but Bethesda is not. 3-2 “no” votes on two amendments to restore Bethesda, first in place of Potomac and then in place of Damascus. The final motion was also approved, 3-2. It was a wild hearing with some seriously harsh exchanges. I’ll have the video posted as soon as I can figure… Read more »

Jawando On Early Voting

Jonathan Shurberg   October 13, 2015   No Comments on Jawando On Early Voting

Councilmember Tom Hucker has been the leading force behind the early vote issue recently, organizing the petition opposing the BOE’s decision to abandon Praisner in Burtonsville and Lawton in Chevy Chase. A number of other state and local elected officials have been supportive and have turned out for various events and rallies. It’s a critical issue that goes to the… Read more »