<div dir="ltr">
<p style="margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Greetings, friends. <span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">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. <span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">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.<span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">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: <a href="http://elections.maryland.gov/index.html" style="color:rgb(5,99,193);text-decoration:underline">http://elections.maryland.gov/index.html</a>.
<span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">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). <span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Similarly, if you register through the county, your registration carries
over to town, state, and federal elections. See <a href="https://www.princegeorgescountymd.gov/1980/Voter-Registration" style="color:rgb(5,99,193);text-decoration:underline">https://www.princegeorgescountymd.gov/1980/Voter-Registration</a>.<span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">In<span style="background:white"> 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 </span>you can still register <span style="font-size:12pt">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.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="background:white"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="background:white">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.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="background:white"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="background:white">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. <span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="background:white"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="background:white">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): <span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="background:white"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="background:white">“(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.”</span><span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="background:white"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="background:white">Thanks,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="background:white">Kate Kelly</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="background:white">Tuckerman Street</span></p>
<br></div>