Protecting our right to vote has been one of my priorities for many years.  The fraudulent robo calls urging people to stay at home on Election Day in 2010 were prosecuted under a law that I wrote. Last year, I was at Northwestern Senior High for early voting and Election Day  The turnout was impressive, especially the number of new voters.

There were flaws in last year’s election as well.  I proposed that we adopt standards for the location of early voting centers.  Legislation was enacted.  Two of my ideas were included in House Bill 1047, which passed the House but not the Senate.

Voters would be advised that an absentee ballot mailed after the last pick-up on Election Day may not be postmarked in time for it to be counted.  If an absentee ballot needs to be corrected, a voter must be notified. For example, you would be given an opportunity to add your signature if you failed to sign the oath.

When the Supreme Court weakened the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg warned, in her dissent, that gutting a provision of that law “when it has worked and is continuing to work to stop discriminatory changes is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet.”

We don’t know the fate of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.  Will the Supreme Court weaken another enforcement provision of this landmark law?  Will a Republican filibuster kill H.R. 4, the John Lewis Voting Rights Act?

If we have the wrong outcome in Washington, I will introduce legislation next year to provide those protections in Maryland, setting an example for other states by doing so.

 “That attack, that siege, was criminal behavior, plain and simple, and it was behavior that we, the F.B.I., view as domestic terrorism. It’s got no place in our democracy.” That was the testimony of Christopher Wray, Director of the FBI, before a Congressional committee.

We must keep our democratic institutions and our religious institutions safe from these destructive acts.  Senator Shelly Hettleman and I introduced legislation to establish a Task Force on Preventing and Countering Domestic Terrorism.  The task force’s goal: to recommend policies and procedures to prevent and counter domestic terrorism in Maryland.

We cannot let actions remotely like what occurred in the assault on the U.S. Capitol on January 6 happen here.  The Maryland Emergency Management Agency was awarded a federal Homeland Security Grant.  With an amendment to the budget bill, Senator Hettleman and I required MEMA to convene a task force  “to determine how to effectively oppose domestic terrorism in Maryland including, but not limited to, countering online extremism while mindful of First Amendment rights.”

I served on the Speaker’s Workgroup on Police Accountability & Reform. Legislation was enacted requiring that all police officers in the State be equipped with and use body-worn cameras.  An officer may only use force that is necessary and proportional to prevent an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury. A committee of civilians will review any complaint and investigation of misconduct against an officer.

I was actively involved in several of  the work group’s recommendations that are now law.  An officer must intervene if another officer is engaging in illegal or otherwise inappropriate conduct during an arrest.  Officers on the force and officer candidates will be screened for potential bias. An  officer who holds prejudicial views runs a grave risk of improper conduct.  The Maryland Police Officers Scholarship Program will  provide tuition assistance for students who want to be police officers or are current police officers attending a degree program.

I welcome your thoughts on what we accomplished at the 2021 legislative session and what we still need to do.