Restoring Faith in Elections
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Rockville, MD – Today the Montgomery County Republican Party joins the Maryland Republican Party in calling for the Maryland Board of Elections to take immediate corrective action in their attempt to violate both federal and state law by creating criminal penalties for citizens participating in basic aspects of the electoral process.
Maryland Republican Party Chairwoman Nicole Beus Harris sent this letter to the Maryland Board of Elections outlining specific issues with their recent changes to the Code of Maryland Regulations (COMAR) creating criminal penalties for exercising 1 st Amendment rights of speaking to fellow voters and ensuring the accuracy of voter registration rolls.
"The new changes impede Marylanders’ 1st Amendment rights of speaking to fellow voters and ensuring the accuracy of voter registration rolls. The COMAR changes go as far as creating criminal penalties for those individuals dedicated to cleaning up Maryland voter rolls.
“This is a gross violation of not only the National Voter Registration Act, but also of our fundamental rights outlined in the Constitution. With additional scrutiny, we sincerely hope the Maryland Board of Elections corrects its errors. If not, we look forward to the courts stopping this encroachment on our civil liberties.
“We cannot tolerate this kind of un-American, anti-democratic behavior for even a moment. The letter we sent outlines specific legal issues the Maryland Republican Party has with the changes made. We will fight this at every turn and look forward to seeing its repeal,” said Chairwoman Harris.
To specifically address this violation, Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections (RITE) has issued a litigation notice to the Maryland State Board of Elections highlighting violations of the National Voter Registration Act, the First Amendment, and state law.