Subcommittee advances bill to make two substitute election-board members regular members

The Elections, Education and Housing Subcommittee unanimously advanced MC 6 on a voice roll call, a local bill that would convert two substitute members of the Montgomery County Board of Elections into regular members.

Sponsor Delegate Worman said the measure ‘‘just basically converts the substitute members into members of the board of elections into regular members using a process that already exists in Maryland law’’ and emphasized that ‘‘the bill does not remove anyone midterm’’ or override the governor’s appointment authority. President of the Board of Elections Nieman added that the two appointees would have only about a year left on their current terms and that ‘‘22 out of the 24 local boards have already made this change.’’

A staff review by legislative services (DLS) flagged a potential constitutional timing issue. Committee members agreed to request an Attorney General report and discussed corrective amendments that would delay the change until the end of current terms if the AG advises that timing must be adjusted. Chair asked that the delegation stand ready to offer technical corrections if required.

The roll call recorded the following delegates as present for the vote called by the clerk: Charcutian; Collison; Crutchfield; Kaufman; Shetty; Chi; Ziegler. The committee recorded unanimous support and moved the bill out of subcommittee.

The committee noted county-level support for the bill: the county council and the county executive have signaled support, and the board of elections’ counsel provided legal analysis for the committee. The committee requested an Attorney General opinion to resolve the timing question before the bill proceeds further on the floor.