Two years ago I worked hard to convince Republicans to vote by mail. I knew the Democrats would go all out in mail-in voting, and we all knew that normal Democrats' and Republicans' only shot was to beat the far left at their own game, the vote by mail game. Biden, Harris and Tim Walz were bad news, and Trump would be much better. It paid off, we greatly increased the Republican vote in MoCo…it even got national attention – I talked about it to the New York Times – it even got noticed at the White House, and we helped to turn the country around.

Two years later, so many Republicans have signed up for mail-in voting that they were just waiting for their ballots…and last week it backfired. The Maryland Board of Elections sent over 400,000 bad ballots, Republican to Democrats – Democrat to Republicans, then invalidated the ballots they had sent and promised to send more. What a mess!

And of course, Montgomery County Republicans got the highest number of bad ballots because we now have the highest number of Republicans requesting mail-in voting. I guess we were too successful.

Yes, we believe in one day voting. We believe in showing ID to vote – to prove who you are and that you’re a US citizen. And we believe if you HAVE TO vote by mail (illness or military service) your ballot has to get there by the close of the polls on election day. ONE DAY elections, quick counting and quick, valid results. Make Elections Great Again. Pass the SAVE Act. 

Have we done too much? Have we been too successful in promoting mail-in voting? Perhaps. If you’ve received a bad ballot please don’t throw it out, don’t vote it (obviously), and either vote your next ballot (if it’s the right one…) or take it to the polling place and deposit it there. Let’s get ‘er done.

One Party rule is going down. Moderates are looking darned attractive to the highly taxed, highly burdened electorate. We’ll see a great change in November, and it’s just in time.

What do you think? Will there be a change in MoCo and Maryland? Do we need a change? Do you think the ballot screw up was a mistake, deliberate sabotage, or just ineptitude? Let me know at [email protected].

Dennis Melby