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The Law and Your
Voting Rights in Maryland
Primary Day - Tuesday,
September 11, 2007
Election Day - Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Polling places will be open in Maryland from 7AM to 8PM
Voting in local, state, and national
elections is one of the most important things you can do as an
American. You can help decide what happens here in Maryland and
across the United States by choosing who you want to represent you
in public office. When you vote, your voice is heard.
Who can
vote?
In order to vote in Maryland, you must be a:
Even if you meet these requirements,
you cannot vote if:
- You are under guardianship for a
mental disability; or
- You have been convicted of
certain crimes.
How do I
check to
see if I am
registered? Problems?
About three weeks after you register, you should receive a voter
registration card in the mail. This
verifies that you are registered.
You can also call your
local Board of Elections.
You can also look on-line at a website created by the secretaries of
state to allow voters who move to see information from other states
as well as their own state
www.canivote.org
What if I did not receive a voter registration card after I
registered?
If you do not
receive the card in the mail, there may have been a problem and you
may not be registered even if you completed the
voter registration form
(pdf). You should contact your
local
Board of Elections
immediately.
What if I moved or changed my
name?
You do not need to re-register if you move to another place within Maryland,
but you will
need to contact your local
Board of Elections to update your address.
Md. Ann. Code art.
EL, § 3-304.
- When you complete a change of
address form at the Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA) this
information will be sent to your local
Board of Elections.
- You can choose not to change
your voter registration information, for example if you are
military personnel being deployed overseas or are a student who
is attending college out of state who chooses to remain a
Maryland resident.
- If you move from Maryland to
another state, you will need to register to vote in that state.
- You also need to update your
information with the local boards of election if you
legally change your name.
If you moved or changed your name and
did not update your information with your local
Board of Elections,
you must use a
provisional ballot. Your new address
determines which candidates you are able to vote for. You have two
options:
- You may fill out a provisional ballot at your
old precinct.
- If you
choose to vote at your old precinct, only your votes
for candidates whose name also appears on the ballot at your
new voting location will be counted.
You
may not vote at your old precinct without informing the
election judge of your change of address and asking for a
provisional ballot. Voting in an election district where you
do not currently reside is illegal.
MD Const. art. I, § 5.
Do I need
ID to
register?
You will need to provide a Maryland driver’s license number or
Motor Vehicle Administration identification card number, or your
Social Security number to complete the
voter
registration.
Do I need
ID to vote? Election judges prefer that you take a picture ID to the polling
place. You must have identification if:
- It is your first time voting in
Maryland,
- You sent your voter registration
in by mail on or after January 1, 2003, and
- You have not already met the
identification requirements of the federal
Help America Vote
Act (Pub. L. 107-252, 42 U.S.C.
15301 et seq.)
Acceptable picture IDs are:
- Maryland driver's license
- Student, employee, or military
ID card
- U.S. passport
If you do not have a picture ID, you
may also use:
- utility bill,
- bank statement,
- government check,
- paycheck (Pub. L. 107-252, 42
U.S.C. 15301 et seq.)
If you are already registered and you
are denied the right to vote because you do not have a picture ID,
you may cast a
provisional ballot. When the board of elections confirms that
you are in fact a registered voter, your provisional ballot will be
counted.
I want to learn more about the candidates.
What information is there?
You
can find a great deal of information on the candidates for local,
state, and national elections on the internet:
- Project Vote Smart
- nonpartisan organization protecting democracy through
education, provides extensive information on
Maryland candidates. Project Vote Smart
provides citizens with many candidates' answers to the "National
Political Awareness Test,"
(NPAT) a series questions exploring his/her stance on several
important issues such as "National Defense" and Welfare and
Poverty Issues". Some candidates chose not to answer
the NPAT and therefore Project Vote Smart was not able to
provide much information about him/her. The website also
provides the voting record of incumbent candidates on such
topics as "Budget,
Spending and Taxes" and "Education."
-
Vote-USA.org
- a nonpartisan group providing citizens with information
directly from the candidates. Simply by entering your address
Vote-USA.org
will generate your sample ballot and provide you with
comparisons of each candidate.
The candidates wrote their own entries.
-
League of Women Voters of Maryland
- a nonpartisan group dedicated political
education and participation, provides a
voter's guide with
information on candidate's positions.
What are my rights if they try to
keep me from voting? Polling officials must allow you to vote on a provisional ballot if:
- you do not have picture ID
- if an error at the polls leaves you
off of the registered voter list OR
- if the
election judge says you are not eligible to vote
Md. Ann. Code art. EL, § 9-404.
Information about the requirement and procedures of
provisional voting on the
Maryland Board
of Elections website.
If you are registered and they refuse to allow you to vote on a
provisional ballot, you need to contact one of the election watchdog
groups and tell them you were denied the right to vote.
-
True Vote MD, nonpartisan,
grassroots, organization of Maryland citizens, at their Election
Day hotline 301-270-6150. True Vote MD will also have volunteers
manning several polls and are willing to investigate any
reported irregularities.
-
Save Our Votes,
nonpartisan, grassroots nonprofit organization, at 410-381-1811
or by email info@saveourvotes.org.
Save Our Votes will be working closely with True Vote Maryland
to make sure elections are "Secure,
Accessible, Verifiable" in Maryland.
How do I find out if my
provisional
vote was
accepted?
The federal
Help
America Vote Act (Pub. L. 107-252, 42 U.S.C. 15301 et seq.)
requires states to create a system where individuals can find out if
their provision ballot was accepted or why it was rejected. In
Maryland, there are two ways to obtain this information:
What is the
current problem with the voting
machines? What if I suspect my vote was not counted?
Some precincts in Maryland had problems with the electronic voting
machines in the 2004 elections. These problems were criticized by
many private groups that operate as election watchdogs. If you
suspect your vote was not counted, contact these groups:
-
Save Our Votes,
nonpartisan, grassroots nonprofit organization, at 410-381-1811
or by email info@saveourvotes.org.
Save Our Votes will be working closely with True Vote Maryland
to make sure elections are "Secure,
Accessible, Verifiable" in Maryland.
-
True Vote MD, nonpartisan,
grassroots, organization of Maryland citizens, at their Election
Day hotline 301-270-6150. True Vote MD will also have volunteers
manning several polls and are willing to investigate any
reported irregularities.
Report to
the Maryland Department of Legislative Services found that
(prior to the March 2004 primary in Maryland), the Diebold
electronic voting system had moderate to serious security flaws that
could be fixed. The report found that paper receipts would be needed
“at least in a limited fashion”.
The Washington Post printed an article on October 27, 2006 that
mentions these same Diebold electronic voting machines Diebold had
to
repair 4700 machines in Maryland.
| Source: Maryland
Legal Assistance Network |
Last date
legal reviewed: 07/05/07
(MLAN/AC/KF) |
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