Maryland Democratic Party Executive Director David Sloan issued the following statement after the Maryland Democratic State Central Committee joined Dennis Whitley III, Anne Neal, Karren Jo Pope-Onwukwe, Joanna Hanes-Lahr, and Matthew Thomas in filing a complaint against the State Board of Elections:
The Maryland Constitution and Election Law lay out clear standards for reviewing and validating petition signatures. The State Board of Elections failed to fairly apply these standards and inappropriately approved thousands of signatures that violated the definitive requirements set forth in law and regulation. By doing so, the State Board caused irreparable harm to the millions of voters who chose not to sign the petition. The Maryland Democratic Party is committed to ensuring confidence in and protecting the integrity of the petition process, and has taken appropriate steps to do so today.
The Maryland Congressional Districting Plan, which was supported by an overwhelming majority of the General Assembly and upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, reflects Maryland’s diversity and largely Democratic population growth over the last decade. The Maryland GOP’s partisan effort to overturn this plan is simply a desperate ploy by a declining party who has abandoned all hopes of winning elections and has turned instead to constantly churning out questionable petition signatures.
Maryland voters will undoubtedly see this effort as a transparent attempt by Republicans to subvert legislative procedure and impose a radical tea party agenda. We are confident of victory, up and down the ballot, in November.
View the complaint here
Maryland Democratic Party Executive Director David Sloan issued the following statement after Maryland Republicans officially announced how many signatures they submitted in their effort to petition the Congressional Districting Plan to referendum:
Despite exhausting all of their limited resources on the redistricting petition, the Maryland Republican Party has fallen far short of their intended goal. The GOP has failed to convince even their own activists to support their far-right, tea party agenda. Voters will see the GOP’s referendum effort as a desperate partisan power-grab designed to overturn a redistricting plan that reflects Maryland’s diversity, creates more competitive districts and was upheld by the US Supreme Court.
Pending the State Board of Elections’ determination that the validated petition signatures satisfy constitutional requirements, the Maryland Democratic Party will weigh all options to protect the integrity of the referendum process and ensure that every petition was completed and collected in line with Maryland laws and regulations.
This November, we are confident that Maryland voters will once again resoundingly reject Maryland’s dead end Republicans, and will choose to move forward with President Obama and Democrats.
Maryland Democratic Party Chair Yvette Lewis issued the following statement today after Maryland Republicans submitted signatures to petition the Congressional Districting Plan to referendum:
In the face of dwindling electoral success and political irrelevancy, Maryland Republicans have turned to the petition as a means to circumvent legislative procedure and impose their partisan agenda. The GOP attempt to overturn a fair, transparent and legal process, which was supported by the Governor and an overwhelming majority of the General Assembly, is nothing but a brazen attempt to hold onto political power despite being out of step with the values of most Marylanders.
The new congressional map reflects Maryland’s diversity and largely Democratic population growth over the last decade, creates more competitive districts and complies with the letter and spirit of the law. The map was unanimously upheld by a panel of three federal judges, and has withstood all legal challenges.
The choice in this election is whether we will continue to move forward by promoting opportunity, expanding dignity and investing in the future. We are confident that voters will continue to resoundingly reject the Maryland Republican Party and their tea party allies at the ballot box.
As the required petition signatures are filed and reviewed, the Maryland Democratic Party will consider all options to verify the integrity and transparency of the petition effort, and engage and mobilize voters in the fall.
