[RP TownTalk] More on proposed voter registration expansion

[Kate Kelly]

Greetings, friends.

This note is long and dull, but it addresses some of the questions raised
in the recent discussion concerning the proposed expansion of local voter
registration to noncitizens and to 16-year-olds of any national origin.

Some neighbors might want to know more about Maryland’s rules, which permit
state residents who are U.S. citizens to register to vote in any municipal,
county, state, or federal election. Riverdale Park’s new rules would expand
voter registration only in this town; our list of those new voters would be
separate from county and state voter rolls.

Under Maryland law, voter registration is open to anyone who meets
citizenship, age, residency, and certain other legal requirements. The
state’s website offers pertinent information, FAQs, and data:
http://elections.maryland.gov/index.html.

If you qualify and are not already registered, you can do so there—among
many other places. You have until June 5, 2018, to register for the next
primary and until Oct. 16, 2018, for the next general election. You can
register to vote provisionally during the period of early voting (June 14
through June 21; Oct 25 through Nov 1).

Similarly, if you register through the county, your registration carries
over to town, state, and federal elections. See
https://www.princegeorgescountymd.gov/1980/Voter-Registration.

In addition to basic identifying information, federal law requires your
registration form to list a Maryland driver’s license number, or an MVA ID
Card number, or the last four digits of your social security number. But you
can still register even if you have none of those forms of identification
so long as you affirm, under penalty of perjury, that the information on
the registration form is true. Once your application is complete, you are
considered a registered voter.



The state’s voter registration system assumes the integrity of the voter,
as does the town’s. Both assume that voters accurately report their
identity and residency on election day.



I have heard that, in some cases, Maryland voters can be asked to provide
proof of residency the first time they vote. I have not been able to track
down that rule on the Maryland elections website. I have never been asked
to show an ID since I first voted in Maryland in 1980.



As a local matter, Riverdale Park’s Election Manual (C.1.2) says this about
voter identification (please construe pronouns to apply to any voter):



“(a) A registered voter offering to vote … before being permitted to vote,
shall identify himself by giving his name and address and signing a voting
authority card in the presence of the judges. (b) If the applicant cannot
sign, then the applicant shall state his age so that it can be compared
with the age on the voting authority card. If no age is entered, then the
applicant shall identify himself by such other means as are referred to in
the listed information, so that the judges are assured that he is the same
person as the one who registered and shall be allowed to vote.”


Thanks,

Kate Kelly

Tuckerman Street
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