Maryland to DOJ April

8/9/2019 Maryland to DOJ April

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MARYLANDSTATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS

P.O. OX 6486, ANNAPOLIS, MD 21401-0486 PHONE (410) 269-2840Linda H. Lam

Administraobert L. Walker, Chairmanobbie S. Mack, Vice Chair

hel T. McGuckianvid J. McManus, Jr.

harles E. ThomannRoss Golds

Deputy Administra

April 20, 2010Via Electronic Mail OnlvIJ. Christian Herren, Jr., Acting DirectorVoting Secti~n - Civil Rights DivisionRoom 72541 NWBu .s. Deparrrryent of Justice950 Pennsyl~ania Avenue, N.W.Washington fC 20530Dear Mr. Heren:

Thank yo for the opportunity to update the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division onthe State of Nlaryland's implementation of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee VotingAct (UOCA \fA) as amended by the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act. Iam pleased ttrep0l1 that Maryland was in a good position to implement the MOVE Act and iswell on its ay to implementing those requirements that were not previously in effect inMaryland.Complving with the MOVE Act

With the enactment of the MOVE Act, one of the first steps we took was to incorporate thenew federal rbquirements into Title 33 of the Code of Maryland Regulations. While the proposedregulations ate not yet in effect I, the changes address the following requirements:

I. Estabfish procedures for military and overseas voters to request by mail or electronically avoter fegistration application and absentee ballot application, the means by which a votercan sJ1ecify bow the voter would like to receive the application, and requiring that electionofficials send by the method the voter requested the application or if the voter did notdesigriate a method, by mail ( 102(a));

2. DeSig~ate not less than one means of electronic communication for UOCA VA voters andinclu~e the designated means of electronic communications on absentee votinginformation and instructions ( 102(b)). The proposed designated means are our generalemail ~ddress ([email protected]), website (www.elections.state.md.us). and faxnumber (410.974.2019) and are included on the absentee voting instructions;

I The proposed egulations were adopted by State Board of Elections at its January 2010 meeting and as requiredunder the State' Administrative Procedures Act, published in the Maryland Register (Vol. 37, Issue 6) on March 12,20 IO. The 30 dfY public comment period ended on April 12, 20 I0, and the proposed regulations will be presentedfor final action O f April 29, 2010. The expected effective date of these regulations is May 31, 2010.

FAX(410) 974- 2019 Toll Free Phone Number (800) 222-8683 151 West Street Suite 2MDRelay Service (800) 735 2258 http://www.elections.state.md.us Annapolis, Maryland 214


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Letter to Mr. HerrenPage 2 of4April 20, 20 I0

3. Transmitting a blank ballot by the method requested by the voter or if the voter did notdesignate a method, by mail ( 102(1)). In prior elections, Maryland as generallyhonored the delivery method requested by the voter. The proposed regulatio s will codifythis practice;

4. Establish a free access system to inform voters about the status of their abse tee ballots (102(h)). In 2008, the State's voter look-up website included information on he status of avoter's absentee ballot application and absentee ballot (if it had been receive and whetherit was accepted or rejected during the canvass), and this practice will conti ue for futureelections;

5. Use of Federal Write-In Absentee Ballots (FWAS) in all elections for fe eral office (103(a)). By policy, Maryland has permitted the use of the FWAB fo all elections(primary and general elections') and for all contests (federal, state and local). Theproposed regulations merely codify the existing policy; and

6. Repeal of the requirement to consider an absentee ballot application fro a UOCAVAvoter a request for two election cycles. The proposed regulations limit absentee ballotrequests to one election cycle, although we are honoring 2008 requests for a11senteeballotsfor the 20 10 election cycle.

An additional requirement of the MOVE Act - prohibiting states from reject ng otherwisevalid applications and ballots solely on the basis of lack of notarizations or restric ions on paperor envelope type - does not apply to Maryland. There are no requirements in Maryland tonotarize signatures on applications or ballots or for paper or envelope types.

For the 2010 General Election, Maryland intends to apply to the Federal Voting AssistanceProgram (FVAP) for a hardship exemption as we will be unable to meet the requirement to mailabsentee ballot at least 45 days before the general election. The State's primary eledtion is tbe 2ndTuesday in September (September 14th),a mere 48 days before the general election.

Although a representative of the FVAP told one of my staff members that the ~VAP was notready to accept applications for a hardship exemption, I understand that Robert Car1Y' Director ofthe FVAP, was quoted in the media last month as stating that states are "free to a9ply wheneverthey want." Without information or guidance to the contrary, we will begi1 drafting ourapplication and submit it once it is complete. To the extent that the Voting Secti9n of the CivilRights Division is working with the FVAP on this effort, it would be helpful to kno '" whether theFVAP is in fact ready to accept these applications and if so, whether there is a required orpreferred format for the application.Other Efforts to Improve Access by UOCA VA Voters

In addition to the proposed regulations, we have already implemented or are in he process ofimplementing improvements tbat benefit our military and overseas voters. We ha'fe a section ofour website dedicated to UOCAVA voters (see "Overseas and Military Voters" Quick Link onwww.elections.state.md.us).This section provides information about voter registration and2 Mar yland do es n ot h old run-of f elec tions.


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Letter to Mr. HerrenPage 3 of4April 20, 20 0absentee voti g for these voters and includes links to the Federal Post Card Application (FPCA)and FWAB. f.Vhen using the voter look-up website, the voter will see his or her mailing addresson the page lhat displays tbe voter's registration and other information. This assists all voters -but especiall] UOCA VA voters - in knowing where voter registration information is beingmailed.

Before the passage of the MOVE Act; election officials in Maryland generally honoredvoters' requ+ts to transmit absentee ballots by mail, fax or email. While receiving ballots andvoting infonfation by email was effective and expeditious for voters, the process for electionofficials walime-consuming and tedious3 Because of the administrative challenges withemailing absentee ballots to voters, we began exploring more efficient ways to transmitelectronicall absentee ballots and decided to use the State's voter look-up website as the meansof deliverin absentee ballots electronically. We amended our existing agreement with theUniversity 0 Maryland College Park, the entity that hosts and maintains the voter look-up site, tomake these elhancements. The electronic ballot delivery system will generally work as follows:

l. Voter completes a FPCA or the State's absentee ballot application and checks that hewants to receive his absentee ballot via our website (i.e., voter look-up website). Votermails he FPCA or absentee ballot application to the appropriate local election official.

2. A local election official processes in the statewide voter registration system the FPCA orabsenJ1eeballot application.

3. Once bsentee ballots are ready for distribution, we provide the University of Marylandwith daily export file. The information in this file enables the University of Maryland topost t,e correct ballot style, instructions, and forms and other information for voters whoreqUered an absentee ballot electronically.

4. We send the voter an email telling the voter that his absentee ballot is available on ourwebsite. The email includes a link to the voter look-up page and the voter's ballot trackingnumbJr4

5. The vlter clicks on the link in the email. On the voter look-up website, he enters his firstname,llast name, zip code, and date of birth to retrieve his voter information. On the pagewith His voter information, there will be link to his absentee ballot and other relevantinfom1ation. When he clicks the link to his absentee ballot, he will be prompted to enter,his ballot illnumber (provided in the email).

6. Once the voter enters the correct ballot tracking number, the voter prints the absenteeballot hnd all associated documents.

I3 An election 0ttcial created a unique email for the voter and attached the voter's correct ballot, voting instructions,and other information. Care was taken to ensure that the voter received the correct ballot and other documents uniqueto the voter but it was time-consuming and admittedly, there were mistakes.4 The ballot trac~ing number is a unique number generated by the voter registration system; it is unique to the voter,to the election, ard to the ballot issuance process. The ballot tracking number is not printed on the ballot. If a ballothas to be can celed and reissued , the orig in al ba llot tracking num ber is voide d and a ne w tracking nu mber is crea ted.


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Letter to Mr. HerrenPage 4 of4April 20, 2010

7. He votes the ballot and mails to his local election official his voted ballot, oath and anyother information that needs to be returned with his ballot.

8. His ballot is counted during the absentee canvass.

We are excited about this new project and look forward to delivering ab entee ballotselectronically and efficiently. We expect to begin testing this summer with the SYSj!emeady foruse hy Maryland's upcoming primary election this fall.Thank you again for the opportunity to update you on Maryland's impleme tation of the

MOVE Act. If you have any questions concerning our implementation, please do ot hesitate tocontact me or have one of your staff attorneys contact Nikki Baines Trella at 410.26' .2843.

Sincerely,L~/&;n4J-Linda H. LamoneState Administrator

LHLlnbt

Maryland to DOJ April

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