ACLU Lauds House Passage of Bill Improving Access to Voting

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 22, 2013

CONTACT: Meredith Curtis, Communications Director, 410-889-8555; media@aclu-md.org

Sara Love, Public Policy Director, 703-963-2710; love@aclu-md.org

ANNAPOLIS - The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Maryland today lauded the Maryland State House for voting to approve House Bill 224, which would improve access to voting. The ACLU of Maryland strongly supports the same-day registration and early voting expansion proposals in House Bill 224, which was introduced on behalf of Governor Martin O'Malley.

The ACLU believes voting to be the defining act of citizenship and that the act of voting should be made available to all eligible voters. Additionally, the ACLU believes that same-day registration and expanded early voting will accomplish the goal of encouraging eligible voter participation by making the act of voting more accessible. The ACLU testified in the House on HB 224 and will continue to support the passage of the bill in the Senate.

The ACLU is supporting various aspects of the legislation in coalition with a broad range of organizations, including Common Cause Maryland, Communities United, Demos, the League of Women Voters of Maryland, Maryland PIRG, Progressive Maryland, and the Progressive States.

The following may be attributed to Sara Love, Public Policy Director, ACLU of Maryland:

"This past election, we heard from members across the state that they stood in line for hours only to find they had been kicked off the voter rolls, and there was no option for them to register at the polls to cast a ballot that counted. Thanks to the legislators in the House, Maryland is one step closer to ensuring that when voters go to the polls during early voting, no eligible voter will be turned away. "

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