Maryland Election Board Quietly Changes Rules, Threatens Legal Action Against Those Who Challenge Elections Based on Voter Rolls
The Baltimore County Board of Elections (BOE) quietly amended Regulation .06, which governs the Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) for the purchase of voter registration lists.
The change, proposed on February 9, 2023, and later adopted on April 7, became effective on July 10, Uncover DC reported.
Kate Sullivan, a Maryland citizen actively involved in voter canvassing and scrutinizing voter rolls, has raised concerns about recent amendments to an NDA governing the use of voter lists.
During an unrecorded BOE meeting on July 26, board attorney Andrew Bailey read the updated NDA language.
According to Kate Sullivan, the board’s presentation of the NDA was conspicuously orchestrated.
Sullivan recalls, “He stood up, looking directly at me, and first said, ‘This is the oath that you sign. We want to read it to all those who purchased the list.’
He did not say there’s updated language. He did not say this is a new oath. He just said this is the oath you sign when you purchase these lists.”
She added, “I felt that the oath he [the Board’s lawyer] read was slightly different from the ones I’ve signed in the past. And sure enough, I went home, did some research, and discovered that the oath language had indeed been changed.”
Sullivan had been directing a legal, nonpartisan volunteer canvass to help Baltimore County clean and properly maintain its voter rolls. Despite being adequately certified to conduct the canvass, she was asked to cease her efforts by the Director of the Baltimore County BOE, Ruie Marie La Voie, citing complaints about the canvassing.
Sullivan believes that her activism in challenging the board’s maintenance of voter rolls may have played a role in the change in regulation language.
According to Sullivan, the amended NDA has “new language [that] was a lot more threatening.” She describes the prior oath as essentially being a promise not to use voter lists for commercial solicitations, like door-to-door sales.
owever, the new language potentially threatens legal action against those who challenge elections based on the voter rolls they purchased.
“It was making it very clear that we understood that if we used this list to challenge elections, then we could be responsible for a misdemeanor or be charged in some way,” Sullivan explained.
AND THEN THERE'S THIS:
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