By Dennis Brent Melby
OUR SACRED BALLOT UNDER ASSAULT
She was an elderly black woman from Tobytown down by the Potomac river. It was a community founded by formerly enslaved people after the civil war, and before Travilah was known as Potomac. I was in my early twenties, in college and living with my parents, in a large house with a pool and tennis court nestled between the Fox Hunt Club and the Polo fields at Travilah and Glen Roads…about a mile separated us – that and a lifetime of very different experiences.
It was the mid-70s and I was serving as the Chief Republican Judge during the elections. She came in to vote at Travilah Elementary school. She was illiterate, said she couldn't read or write, so the Democrat judge and I joined her (at the time we used booths with curtains and levers). She was adamant that she wanted to vote only for all the Democrats. I kept asking her how she wanted to vote in different races, but she became angry – so I simply clicked the “All Democrats” lever – with the other judge’s concurrence. That was an option then.
I’m not violating the sanctity of the voting booth – she’s no longer with us but I’m still here – and I still remember, because of her, how important voter’s trusting the system is. Fast forward to today.
Lot’s of folks worry. Lot’s of folks have concerns. The election system many trust often has major issues.
- I just learned last week that the State Board of Elections did not send out 400,000 bad ballots…it was more than half a million.
- I just learned that they’ve decided not to discount the ballots returned (like they said they would) but will accept the first ballot when we mail it back if they deem it correct.
It gives many pause, including me.
I remember President Ronald Reagan saying to Mikhail Gorbachev, the head of the Soviet Union “Trust, but verify” (doveryay, no proveryay) As MoCo Chairman I follow that. Now let me be clear – over the years our local Montgomery County Board of Elections has answered EVERY question and concern I’ve ever raised – and they always err on the side of voter integrity. That comes from both the Democrat and Republican representatives and their staff.
- Do I worry about some of the appointees at the State level?
- Do I worry about the one party dominated legislature?
- Do I worry about the Executive Branch including the Governor and Attorney General?
Yes, I do. Partisanship is a great obstacle…especially if you have a higher national office in your headlights.
As a native Marylander I also know about the importance of Mail-in ballots. Maryland has always been Democrat majority and many times Democrat controlled. It was a slave state even after Republican President Abe Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. The only reason anti-slavery passed was because of absentee ballots cast by service members on the battlefield. After the horrible Civil War the soldiers had seen the extreme violence and death on the battlefield – and as they voted absentee they favored the Republicans and the reform Democrats to end slavery in Maryland – just barely but it was enough to get rid of that great sin of mankind. So yes, absentee ballots for those in service, ill and unable to vote is necessary. No excuse voting is subject to abuse (as President Jimmy Carter said).
We need to pass the SAVE AMERICA ACT. The last time I talked to John Thune at a party in Potomac (again, not far from Travilah and Tobytown) it wasn’t even on the table – but he’s facing pressure from two sides – a few Republicans against it and the White House, the Republican Party and common-sense Americans for it.
As for the mail-in Maryland Fiasco, we’ll keep monitoring. I and our leadership will keep pushing. Our State and Federal leadership will use their resources to challenge any improprieties. We MUST HAVE free and fair elections. I owe it to you, and I owe it to the Democrat woman from Tobytown I met in my twenties who had great trust in our election system.
What are your thoughts? Do you trust mail-in voting? Do you have faith in our appointed election officials? Do you support the SAVE ACT? Let me know at [email protected]