WHEREAS, in 2014, the Maryland State Board of Elections (SBE) selected and certified the Election Systems & Software (ES&S) ExpressVote ballot marking device (BMD) as the new accessible voting system to be used throughout Maryland starting in 2016; and
WHEREAS, Maryland Election Law Article §9-102(f)(1), Annotated Code of Maryland, states that a voting system selected and certified by the Maryland SBE shall "provide access to voters with disabilities that is equivalent to access afforded voters without disabilities without creating a segregated ballot for voters with disabilities;" and
WHEREAS, the ExpressVote produces a paper ballot that is different in size and content from the ballot that is hand-marked by voters who do not need an accessible system; and
WHEREAS, the opinion issued by the Maryland Attorney General on December 18, 2013 states that if SBE chooses to certify an accessible ballot marking device that produces a ballot that is different in size and/or content from the hand-marked ballots, SBE “must establish randomized polling-place procedures to ensure that a significant number of non-disabled voters will use the accessible voting system” to protect the secrecy of the ballots cast by voters with disabilities; and
WHEREAS, shortly before the 2016 primary election, SBE revealed that contests with more than seven candidates would require voters using the touchscreen feature of the ExpressVote to navigate through multiple screens; and
WHEREAS, threatened legal action by 2016 primary election candidates whose names appeared on the second or third screens, and who complained that navigating to these screens was difficult, caused SBE to severely limit the use of the ExpressVote by implementing a requirement of a minimum of two ballots marked by the BMD for each early voting center or polling place during the 2016 and 2018 primary and general elections; and
WHEREAS, SBE data from the 2016 general election shows that for thirty-four precincts located in eleven counties and Baltimore City, only one ballot cast was marked using the ExpressVote BMD; and
WHEREAS, SBE data from the 2018 primary election shows that for forty-two precincts in eight counties, including Baltimore, Howard, and Montgomery counties, as well as Baltimore City, only one ballot cast was marked using the ExpressVote BMD; and
WHEREAS, recounts in Baltimore, Howard, and Montgomery counties following the 2018 primary election may have deprived the voters who used the ExpressVote of their right to cast a secret ballot in the four precincts where only one ballot marked by the BMD was cast; and
WHEREAS, there were no confirmed reports of BMDs causing errors in marking or casting ballots due to navigating between multiple screens within a contest during the 2016 general election and 2018 primary election; and
WHEREAS, in response to concerns expressed by the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland, and Disability Rights Maryland, the budget committees of the Maryland General Assembly, in The Joint Chairman's Report for Fiscal 2019 Operating and Capital Budgets, requested SBE to prepare a report to evaluate the impact of the two voters per precinct policy on voter secrecy; and
WHEREAS, SBE's Report Regarding Ballot Marking Device Secrecy and Voters with Disabilities submitted to the budget committees of the Maryland General Assembly on July 30, 2018 fails to address the concern of the General Assembly regarding the impact of SBE's two-voters per precinct policy on voter secrecy, fails to analyze BMD usage during the 2016 general election and 2018 primary election, and fails to commit to the institution of a policy prior to the 2018 general election that will ensure the secrecy of every ballot that is cast with the assistance of a BMD: Now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland in convention assembled this 11th day of November, 2018, in the city of Ocean City, Maryland, that this organization condemn and deplore SBE's willingness to subvert the rights of voters to the unfounded fears of political candidates, and failure to protect the right of voters with disabilities to cast a secret ballot by continuing the requirement that only two ballots per precinct be marked by the ExpressVote BMD, thus failing to comply with the opinion of the Maryland Attorney General to establish polling-place procedures to ensure that a significant number of non-disabled voters will use the BMD; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization demands that SBE be responsive to the request of the budget committees of the Maryland General Assembly in The Joint Chairman's Report for Fiscal 2019 Operating and Capital Budgets to analyze whether the two-voters per precinct policy is "sufficient to guarantee the secrecy of every ballot cast with the assistance of a ballot marking device."