Early Vote Sites

BOE Approval Includes Promise To Seek 10th EV Site

Jonathan Election Law, Montgomery County, Montgomery County Politics

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 critical part of this decision is that the MCDCC and State Delegation made a commitment to submit legislation at the beginning of the Legislative Session in January to add a 10th early voting center in Montgomery County for the 2016 election. The County Council also made a commitment to establish a 10th early voting center. 

  

BOE To Restore BOTH Disputed EV Sites

Jonathan Election Law, Montgomery County, Montgomery County Politics

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 this would be very good news.

  

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

Jonathan Election Law, Montgomery County, Montgomery County Politics

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 Berliner reports that MCBOE president Jim Shalleck requests state board send EV plan back for reconsideration. Q is what happens if deadlock. Stay tuned x 2.

  

VIDEO: Early Vote Press Conference

Jonathan Election Law, Montgomery County, Montgomery County Politics

Lots of video to share. I missed the first three speakers, but fortunately I have the Council video to fall back on. In order, Councilmembers Tom Hucker, Roger Berliner and Nancy Navarro. Then some original Maryland Scramble video of George Leventhal, followed by Matthew Watney, Sid Katz, Elbridge James,  Odessa Shannon, Jennifer Bevan-Dangel, Mary Ann Keefe, and David Naimon.

Finally, separate short statements from Delegate Kumar Barve, CD8 candidate Will Jawando, and NOW representative Mike Hersh.

An excellent presentation of both elected officials and local groups concerned about access to early voting. There’s an emergency hearing of the local BOE tomorrow at 5, followed by a meeting of the State Board Thursday at 2:00 in Annapolis.

Council Hearing Yesterday On EV Sites

Jonathan Montgomery County, Montgomery County Politics

The travesty of the decision to close two well-trafficked early vote sites by the Republican-controlled Board of Elections continue yesterday when the members of the Board were summoned to a County Council hearing.

It’s clear from the testimony at that hearing that the GOP members believe themselves entitled to do what they wanted on EV sites. They didn’t even try to pretend otherwise.

Check out the video below. Tom Hucker’s office boiled down over an hour of hearings into a three minute highlight lowlight reel. Keeping you informed while saving you time.

MoCo GOP ISO Better Early Vote Talking Points

Jonathan Montgomery County, Montgomery County Politics ,

So the Montgomery County Republican Party is seeking to defend the recent decision by the Montgomery County Board of Elections to abandon early voting sites in Chevy Chase and Burtonsville. The local party chief, Michael Higgs, put out a statement yesterday that is short on, well, any connection to reality.

Our Montgomery County Board of Elections (BoE) team is suffering an unrelenting assault from the entrenched Left-wing establishment media and politicians over its well-reasoned decision to emphasize geographic diversity in the county’s early voting center selection process. At issue is the BoE’s recommendation to replace early voting sites in Bethesda and Burtonsville with sites in Olney and Potomac. The Left is organized in its tired efforts to demonize Governor Hogan’s appointees to the BoE, issuing the usual, thinly veiled accusations of racism and voter suppression. The Montgomery County Council is attempting to coerce the BoE members appear before it (Thursday, Oct. 1, 9:30 am, 7th Floor), even though it has no authority over the Governor-appointed Board whatsoever. If you can make it, please show up and provide support to our under-fire Republican friends.

It is disingenuous to argue that the Burtonsville site is somehow sacrosanct and untouchable. It was only first used for early voting in 2010. So before that, were the good people of Burtonsville, in Democratically controlled Montgomery County Maryland, disenfranchised and unable to exercise their rights to vote? No, of course not. Did you know that the site they are fighting so hard over is heavily used by residents of PG County? Voters in Montgomery County’s northeastern sections had to drive significantly longer distances than voters along our southern and central corridors. By spreading our early voting sites out around the county, we are reaching out to a rapidly expanding area and making the early voting process more convenient for more of Montgomery County’s citizens.

There is also a misperception about how the sites are actually chosen. The Montgomery County BoE merely votes to recommend the 9 early voting sites to the State Board of Elections, who will make the final decision regarding which sites are selected. Yet the onslaught against our friends continues. Please share your thoughts on social media, write letters to the editor, and tell your friends and neighbors that you support our Republican BoE team. We cannot be cowed by the Left’s false outrage and despicable name-calling.

Let’s unpack the bizarreness:

“The Montgomery County Council is attempting to coerce the BoE members appear before it (Thursday, Oct. 1, 9:30 am, 7th Floor), even though it has no authority over the Governor-appointed Board” - while the County Council can’t tell the Board of Elections what to do, the County pays a substantial amount of the Board’s operating expenditures. It is certainly within the Council’s purview to exercise oversight over the Board of Elections.

“It is disingenuous to argue that the Burtonsville site is somehow sacrosanct and untouchable. It was only first used for early voting in 2010. So before that, were the good people of Burtonsville, in Democratically controlled Montgomery County Maryland, disenfranchised and unable to exercise their rights to vote?” - hey, uh, Mr. Higgs, a quick news bulletin. There was no early voting in Maryland before 2010. So your rhetorical flourish needs a wee bit of work. Sorry.

“Did you know that the site they are fighting so hard over is heavily used by residents of PG County?” Under Maryland law, voters can vote at any early voting site, so long as it is in their county of residence. So any resident of Prince George’s County who attempts to vote in Burtonsville will not be allowed to do so. So this argument is a non sequitur. But Mr. Higgs’ formulation does stir up fears of “those people” voting - yes, there are black and Hispanic people in the Burtonsville area and yes, there are black and Hispanic people in Prince George’s County. Mr. Higgs, are you pathologically incapable of making any kind of argument about voting that isn’t racially and ethnically offensive?

“Voters in Montgomery County’s northeastern sections had to drive significantly longer distances than voters along our southern and central corridors.” This is unadulterated nonsense. With an EV site at Burtonsville, there was not one patch of voters that was outside five miles from an early voting location. Moving the site from Burtonsville to Brookeville means that the entire 29 corridor from Randolph Road north to the Howard County line is now outside the five mile radius that Maryland law requires. Drives of as much as 10-11 miles are now required.

“By spreading our early voting sites out around the county, we are reaching out to a rapidly expanding area and making the early voting process more convenient for more of Montgomery County’s citizens.” What rapidly expanding area? Olney? Yes, by geography, Olney is now “closer” to early voting than it was before. But Brookeville is north of Olney. Folks in Olney drive to work - south, whether to other parts of Montgomery County or to DC. They aren’t going to get up in the morning, drive in the opposite direction to Brookeville, and then go to work. Certainly not in the same numbers as Burtonsville, where there is a substantial population that remains in the area during the day and where public transit-dependent apartment dwellers are not going to take a bus to Brookeville or Downtown Silver Spring to vote early. Olney is also one of the more predominantly white areas of the county. Just sayin’.

We on the left may be “despicable name-callers,” Mr. Higgs, but when I get indignant, I try to use actual facts to fuel my outrage. You, sir, need some facts. ANY facts, I dare say. “Fat free” things can be good for you (their tastiness is questionable, though). “FaCt free” - not so much.

h/t Neal Carter for alerting me to the MCGOP link.

UPDATE: a couple of other points. The picture Mr. Higgs uses is of Nancy Dacek, former Councilmember and BOE member. Ms. Dacek passed away on January 12, 2015. Second, Mr. Higgs repeatedly refers to the three Republican members of the BOE as “our team.” The BOE is supposed to represents the interests of the county, not one political party, as Delegate Eric Luedtke notes.