Marylanders Deserve Accurate Elections
All Americans can agree that confidence in our democracy requires that when election returns are certified, they are accurate.
The most critical component of all accurate elections is the Voter Registration Database. It is so critical, both Federal and State laws require our election officials to maintain the list to ensure the accuracy of each registration. In other words, this is not just a nice and prudent thing to do, it’s ACTUALLY the law. [Maryland Annotated Code, Election Law Article, Title 3. Voter Registration (Subtitles 1-6); § 3-101]
Over the past three years, a team of dedicated Maryland citizens have organized various efforts to verify the accuracy of our official Maryland State Voter Registration Database. Specifically, we have focused on canvassing registration addresses to confirm their validity and analyzing the official registration records in order to identify potential inaccuracies. Our team includes trained data scientists, computer programmers, statisticians, and attorneys plus a group of dedicated registered voters from across all 24 Maryland jurisdictions.
After careful analysis, our team identified over 79,000 inaccuracies currently on our rolls*. The results of our statewide canvass indicate an astonishing 14%-18% of the records on our rolls are inaccurate*. To put this into terms everyone can understand, that is 79,000+ opportunities for fraud. In case anyone might begin to think that is “alarmist” or a “baseless claim”, consider this: In our Statewide Canvass, of the 383 doors we visited, we met and personally spoke with 20 voters who, when asked to confirm they voted in the 2020 election, we determined they were listed as having voted but they did not, in fact, vote. In other words, their registration was used to vote and, until we knocked on their door that day, they had no idea.
Alarming, right? Yet, our State Board of Elections remains silent on this issue. They ignore our requests to address these issues and, worse, seem to firmly believe everything is just peachy. Linked here is the January meeting where they spent roughly 10-15 minutes congratulating themselves for all their “hard work” and “dedication”[ https://youtu.be/QiAEKvEDZjw]. Of particular concern was the discussion about “election worker intimidation”, a very serious claim they have yet to provide clear evidence is actually happening in Maryland. This has not, however, stopped them from devoting a considerable amount of time to this topic every meeting. I strongly recommend tuning into all their monthly meetings.
To be fair, we are in the process of submitting our complete official report to the State Board of Elections so there is still time for them to act. Our primary aim is and always has been to restore confidence in our elections. 56% of Americans have lost faith in our elections (https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/10/politics/cnn-poll-democracy/index.html). We firmly believe this is a perfect opportunity for the State Board of Election to not only further secure our elections but also show Marylanders they are listening to their concerns and taking action.
Kate Strauch Sullivan
Chapter Director
United Sovereign Americans
For more about what YOU can do as a Maryland citizen, see the attached Citizen Action Guide. For more about what YOU can do as a Maryland citizen, see the Call to Action Guide below.
ELECTION ACCURACY CITIZEN ACTION GUIDE
1. VOTE! Your vote is the easiest and best way to keep someone from stealing your registration. Think of it like the childhood game of musical chairs with each registration being like an empty chair: If you’re sitting in the chair, it makes it a lot harder for a criminal to steal it.
2. Support Voter I.D. and Signature Verification. Pressure your local law makers to do the same. HB142 (Voter I.D. Card), HB192 (Voter I.D.) and HB202 (Signature Verification) will be voted soon. Email the Ways and Means Committee and let them know you support these bills. (https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Committees/Details?cmte=w%26m)
3. Sign our Petition! We need thousands of registered voters in Maryland to support our 7 Best Voting Practices for an Accurate Election.
4. Vote EARLY! Yes. You read that right. Thanks to the 2023 bill, HB535, the way our ballots are processed has been dramatically changed (https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/hb0535?ys=2023RS). Now, the ONLY vote that will count is the FIRST ballot received. This means, if you wait to vote on Election Day, you risk being told your vote has already been cast by someone other than yourself and you will not be able to do a thing about it. To be clear, WE DO NOT SUPPORT MAIL-IN VOTING but, we must walk and chew gum! Unfortunately, for now, mail-in voting is allowed in Maryland (we are in the process of filing a lawsuit to eliminate mail-in voting). Therefore, given the tools we’ve been given, I’m begging all of you to fill out a mail-in ballot and HAND DELIVER (do NOT mail it or place in a drop box!) to your local Board of Elections on April 22nd (Primary) and October 15th (General). Note: These dates are the first date ballots are processed NOT counted!! Counting still cannot begin until after polls close on election day so there is no threat they will use mail-in voting to “know how many votes they need to win”.
Questions or need a Petition? Email: Citizenvoter2024@gmail.com
*All underlying data to support our claims is available upon request and we welcome a robust discussion and feedback!
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