early voting – Sandy Rosenberg

Counting and contacting early

For 90 days in Annapolis, I have to count to 71 votes in the House of Delegates and 24 in the Senate.

On June 24, Election Day, I have to count to one more vote than the candidate who finishes in 4^th place.

I started campaigning for reelection the day after my last election four years ago – working on policy issues and addressing community concerns.

My 41^st District colleagues, Senator Lisa Gladden and Delegates Jill Carter and Nathaniel Oaks, and I have worked together for 12 years and are campaigning together this year.

Early voting begins June 12, twelve days before Election Day. I learned today that absentee ballots can be requested in early May.

There will be three distinct electorates: those who vote absentee, those who vote early at a polling place, and those who vote on June 24.

You need to contact the voters in each of those groups before they cast their ballots.

Each of their votes counts the same.

Sandy and Sunday

February 7, 2013 | by delsandy | featured, Sandy's 2013 Legislative Diary | No Comments

My work on House Bill 217 began the day before Sandy blew into town.

I wanted to thank early voters at the former Pimlico Junior High. I had to park three blocks away. The line inside snaked around both sides of the entire first floor. The expected wait was more than three hours.

Perhaps some were there because Hurricane Sandy was on its way. Many more were there because “They tried to keep you from voting,” as I said to several voters.

I was referring to the Republican efforts to suppress voter turnout last fall. Since no electioneering is allowed inside a polling place, I did not use the “R” word.

When I got home, I emailed a bill drafting request. Early voting should be extended to the Sunday before Election Day, and the number of early voting centers should be doubled for the general election.

That request became House Bill 217, which had its public hearing today.

The key obstacle to Sunday voting is whether the names of early voters can be downloaded in time to the polling books used in each precinct on Election Day.

The State Board of Elections says no. One committee member with a software background was skeptical. I’ve asked a private-sector computer expert to assess the Board’s written statement.

An increase in the number of early voting centers seems likely. It could be my formula or another.

One of the witnesses for the bill was Rev. Todd Yeary, senior pastor at Douglas Memorial Community Church in Baltimore.

“I feel rewarded because I got an ‘Amen’ from a committee member,” intoned Rev. Yeary.

I’ll feel rewarded if the bill gets a favorable report.

First Bill, Long Arc

January 21, 2013 | by delsandy | featured, Sandy's 2013 Legislative Diary | No Comments

I introduced my first bill of the session.

House Bill 217 would extend early voting to the Sunday before Election Day and double the number of early voting locations in every jurisdiction before the general election.

Baltimore City, for example, would have ten, instead of five.

For the bill hearing later this session, I hope to have data that compare the turnout and the time voters spent waiting in line in the states that have voting on that last Sunday (mostly blue) and those that don’t (mostly red).

We will also need to address the concerns raised by our State Board of Elections that there would not be enough time to prepare for Election Day after Sunday voting.

I’m also looking for a Senator to sponsor this legislation.

The prospects for my bill will be better in the Senate if its provisions have had a full hearing, instead of the brief review that a House bill often gets in the last two weeks of the session.

When I testify on HB 217 in the House (and hopefully, the Senate), I will quote from President Barack Obama’s Inaugural address:

“Our journey is not complete until no citizen is forced to wait for hours to exercise the right to vote.”

However, this portion of his speech moved me the most:

“We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths – that all of us are created equal – is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall.”

At those locations, historic events took place in the history of women’s rights, voting rights, and gay rights, respectively.

“The arc of the moral universe is long,” declared Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., “but it bends toward justice.”

Casting my vote

November 1, 2012 | by delsandy | featured, Sandy's 2012 Legislative Diary | No Comments

The first voting booth I entered was at the Cross Country Apartments. I accompanied my father.

I guess I was in third or fourth grade. I’m pretty sure my father voted the Democratic ticket.

This past Sunday, I went to the early voting center at what was my junior high school.

The lines were very long. It would take two hours before you could vote, people were told.

This turnout was even more impressive, I said to several people, because “they” were trying to prevent people from voting (No electioneering is allowed inside the polling place; so “they” not the GOP.)

When I got home I emailed a bill drafting request to allow the State Board of Elections to increase the number of early voting centers and to extend the duration of early voting to the Sunday before the election.

Today, the lines were shorter, and there were chairs for everyone in the old gymnasium.

75 minutes later, I had cast my vote.

Next Tuesday, I’ll spend virtually the whole day at Cross Country School. For the last two hours, Rachel, my niece, will accompany me.