(April 14, 2016) After failing to certify the results of the April 5 election and asking at Monday’s council meeting for more time to reach a decision, the Pocomoke Board of Election Supervisors has determined a new election will take place.
The date for the new election has not been set, but it will be open to all residents of District One, City Attorney and City Manager Ernie Crofoot confirmed. Pocomoke City officials had recently discussed holding a new election but limiting participation to the 132 people confirmed to have voted during the previous poll.
The Maryland ACLU and the group Citizens for a Better Pocomoke took exception to the idea of a limited election, arguing it would disenfranchise voters from participating in the “real” election, and cited case law supporting this assertion in a letter dated April 8.
“In situations where elections are invalidated due to error, causing the need for an election to be run anew, the government is constitutionally required to conduct the new election in a completely free and open manner, not to limit the new election in any way that continues the taint of the invalidated election,” Maryland ACLU Legal Director Deborah Jeon wrote in the letter.
The Pocomoke City Board of Election Supervisors on Monday had asked for and was granted a one-week extension to certify a disputed City Council election between District One incumbent George Tasker and challenger Sheila Nelson. However a new decision was reached much faster than that.
At the heart of the issue is a malfunction of some sort in the city’s old, lever-based voting machines, which tallied 127 votes for the 132 verified voters who attempted to cast ballots on April 5, board Chairman John Haynie said.
No explanation as to the nature of the malfunction has been offered.
Addressing the council, Haynie said, “We’ve discussed this [the malfunction] at length and we hope to have information in the next few days to have the solution to the problem before us.”
Haynie also confirmed Crofoot’s assertion last week that there was indeed a winner of the election by a margin of nine votes using the machine totals plus another six votes counted from absentee ballots. But because the accuracy of the machines is now in question, those results are disputed.
Neither Tasker nor Nelson wished to comment on the record about the election. Nelson said she was attempting to remain humble and observant.
District Two incumbent Diane Downing was sworn in during Monday’s session, having run unopposed, for her third term in office.
Later, as Crofoot mentioned the city’s finances with regards to purchasing a new street sweeper, Haynie suggested purchasing new voting machines.
The date for the new election has not been set, but it will be open to all residents of District One, City Attorney and City Manager Ernie Crofoot confirmed. Pocomoke City officials had recently discussed holding a new election but limiting participation to the 132 people confirmed to have voted during the previous poll.
The Maryland ACLU and the group Citizens for a Better Pocomoke took exception to the idea of a limited election, arguing it would disenfranchise voters from participating in the “real” election, and cited case law supporting this assertion in a letter dated April 8.
“In situations where elections are invalidated due to error, causing the need for an election to be run anew, the government is constitutionally required to conduct the new election in a completely free and open manner, not to limit the new election in any way that continues the taint of the invalidated election,” Maryland ACLU Legal Director Deborah Jeon wrote in the letter.
The Pocomoke City Board of Election Supervisors on Monday had asked for and was granted a one-week extension to certify a disputed City Council election between District One incumbent George Tasker and challenger Sheila Nelson. However a new decision was reached much faster than that.
At the heart of the issue is a malfunction of some sort in the city’s old, lever-based voting machines, which tallied 127 votes for the 132 verified voters who attempted to cast ballots on April 5, board Chairman John Haynie said.
No explanation as to the nature of the malfunction has been offered.
Addressing the council, Haynie said, “We’ve discussed this [the malfunction] at length and we hope to have information in the next few days to have the solution to the problem before us.”
Haynie also confirmed Crofoot’s assertion last week that there was indeed a winner of the election by a margin of nine votes using the machine totals plus another six votes counted from absentee ballots. But because the accuracy of the machines is now in question, those results are disputed.
Neither Tasker nor Nelson wished to comment on the record about the election. Nelson said she was attempting to remain humble and observant.
District Two incumbent Diane Downing was sworn in during Monday’s session, having run unopposed, for her third term in office.
Later, as Crofoot mentioned the city’s finances with regards to purchasing a new street sweeper, Haynie suggested purchasing new voting machines.