Maryland ballot news
From Ballotpedia
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| Propositions • | Recall | • Law |
Here you'll find a collection of ballot news stories from Maryland.
Delegate Kevin Kelly to introduce referendum
ALLEGANY COUNTY, Maryland:Kevin Kelly, Maryland delegate, will introduce a referendum during the 2010 General Assembly that will allow Allegany County voters the chance to eliminate the Bureau of Police.
The issue of creating and expanding the police agency has been center of a heated debate between the Allegany County Board of Commissioners and Kelly.[1]
Maryland court to rule on petition signature validation process
HOWARD COUNTY, Maryland: The Howard County, Maryland, Circuit Court will hear a case on November 13, 2009 pertaining to whether or not petition signatures in the state are invalid if the signature doesn’t exactly match the name of the registered voter in records.
Norman v Howard County, 13C-09-76855 began in Howard County when a petition for referendum on zoning surfaced. The Howard County Board of Elections eliminated two-thirds of the signatures when it was reviewed for a second time. The signatures were reviewed twice due to another case in Montgomery County that stated that referendum signatures are to be deemed invalid if they do not exactly match the name in registration records.[2]
Princess Anne residents to study voter eligibility
PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland: In June 2009, many area residents believed that they were eligible to vote, thus allowing them to sign a petition calling for a ballot referendum to challenge the town's $2.2 million operating budget. However, 54 residents were deemed ineligible to vote, resulting in the failure of the petition drive.
One resident wasn't eligible due to an address change, and another simply wasn't registered. Now a citizens group organizing a review of voter eligibilty and requirements to become eligible. The group is also putting together a voter registration drive to get ineligible voters on the voter rolls.[3]
According to resident Bernie Cottman, who was one of the 54 ineligible voters: "I never registered to vote at the Board of Elections, but when I renewed my drivers license, I was asked if I wanted to register to vote, and I said, 'yes.' I haven't voted, but I didn't know they would knock my name out after two (federal election) years."
Charles County residents have no authority to petition tax increase, officials say
CHARLES COUNTY, Maryland: Charles County residents had hoped to fight a property tax increase by subjecting it to a veto referendum. However, last month Maryland Assistant State Attorney General William Varga said that the property tax increase, a public general law, is not subject to veto referenda in the same way that other local ordinances and laws are.
County Attorney Roger Fink reiterated the state attorney general's comment, "It's a (state) mandated act for setting the tax rate … and not subject to the referendum process." Varga noted that he did not know how Charles County residents that oppose the tax could petition it to referendum.
However, local petition organizers, La Plata attorney Kurt Wolfgang and Waldorf pastor Mike Phillips, continue to search for support within the county to bring to a vote the county commissioner's decision to maintain the property tax rate at its current level. The residential real property tax rate is $1.026 per $100 of assessed value and the personal property tax rate on business real estate is $2.405 per $100.
Wolfgang argued that a court of appeals case, Board of Supervisors of Elections of Anne Arundel County v. Rayburn H. Smallwood, supports their right to take taxes to referendum.
Should the petition be allowed to move forward, petitioners need to collect approximately 8,500 signatures by Aug. 9, 2009. However, half of the total must be submitted by July before the group can continue collecting signatures. [4]
Princess Anne residents fight property tax rate increase
PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland: Princess Anne residents submitted a petition with more than 300 signatures. The petition calls for a referendum so property owners can challenge the town's 2010 $2.2 million budget. Specifically, the petition developed in light of a June decisions in which town commissioners increased taxes by 10 cents per $100 of assessed property value. The tax increase specifically cannot be challenged, but that is not stopping residents from appealing the tax by challenging the town budget as a whole.[5] Referendum supporters argue that the tax hike, if implemented, will be detrimental to the town's ability to attract new business. Town commissioners said that they understand resident's concerns but emphasized that without the tax hike, town services will have to be cut. In order to place the measure on the ballot referendum supporters are required to collect a minimum of 285 signatures. According to the town charter residents have 20 days following the approval of any ordinance to file a petition. On Friday, June 26, the group submitted 245 signatures, 40 signatures shy of the requirement. However, the official deadline was Sunday, a day when town offices are closed so residents were permitted to submit additional names on Monday.[6]
Maryland speed-camera petition falls just short of certification
Maryland: Maryland citizens just barely failed to attain the number of signatures required to have their petition to put the state's new speed-camera law to a referendum. Out of the 53,000 signatures required to get the referendum to the ballot, "Maryland for Resonsible Enforcement", the group which organized the petition, fell fewer than 2,000 signatures short of the mark, failing to hand in the final third of the signatures by the first deadline. The new law, officially titled SB-277, will take effect in October, allowing local jurisdictions to put speed-monitoring devices near schools and highway work zones. Drivers caught 12 mph over the speed limit will be susceptible to fines up to $40. Proponents of the new law maintain that these efforts will save lives by acting as a deterrent to unruly motorists. Baltimore County police chief James W. Johnson put it simply, saying, "Our citizens want motorists to slow down." Upon seeing a pickup truck pass by the front of a school, he added, "Look at that guy. You think he's doing 25? No way!"[7]
The referendum group, however, has retained their staunch opposition to the act, claiming it is nothing more than a quick source of income for local governments. Group founder Daniel Zubairi said just after the petition failed that "Over the past few weeks many Marylanders have expressed their utter disdain, ranging from anger over it being another tax to concern over an increased big-brother 1984 police state." Co-founder and executive director Justin Shuy made similar remarks, saying "There's no due process; it's you versus the machine."[8] Citing Maryland's notoriously difficult petition and referendum process, both men vowed that they would not end their efforts to ban speed-cameras.
Such efforts, however, might be shortlived, and not only because of Maryland's difficult petition process. County officials say that in Montgomery County, where speed-cameras have been in place since 2007, has seen a 63% decreasein fatal accidents. The same cannot be said of other counties which have not installed the devices: nearby Howard and Virginia's Fairfax have seen a 17% and 57% increase in fatal accidents, respectively. Montgomery County Police Captian John Damskey put it succinctly when he said "They've made a profound impact on driver behavior, and that's our goal. A 63 percent decrease is a stat you can't ignore."[9]
Easier signature bill dies in Maryland
HOWARD COUNTY, Maryland: A bill sponsored by Sen. Edward Kasemeyer that would have eased the state's rules on how to assess the validity of petition signatures has died in committee.
The death of the bill means that the Turf Valley Grocery Store Veto Referendum, 2009 is also dead.
The Maryland Court of Appeals ruled in December 2008 in the case Jane Doe v. Montgomery County Board of Elections that Maryland law requires signatures on a referendum petition to exactly match the printed name on the same page, and also match the voter's exact name on voting rolls, or be a voter's full name, including middle initials.[10]
Speed camera referendum a possibility in Maryland
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Maryland: Daniel Zubairi, a former Republican congressional candidate from Montgomery County, has announced that with the help of a group called Maryland for Responsible Enforcement he intends to collect approximately 53,000 signatures to force a veto referendum on a bill passed in spring 2009 by the Maryland General Assembly that authorizes speed-monitoring cameras near highway work zones and schools.
Zubairi's group believes that speed enforcement cameras are (a) an ineffective money grab and (b) unconstitutionally deny citizens the right to face their accuser.[11]
"Reasonable certainty" standard proposed for Maryland signatures
BALTIMORE, Maryland: Maryland Senate Majority leader Edward Kasemeyer has introduced legislation that would change Maryland law allowing election judges to approved petition signatures based on "reasonable certainty" of their identity. Local election boards have long requested more lenient standards.
Both the Senate and the House of Delegates must approve the bill before April 13, the final day of the emergency legislative session. Since it qualifies as emergency legislation, three-fifths approval is needed.[12]
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