Wicomico Board of Elections requests legislation

ANNAPOLIS -- A proposed law could keep candidates out of polling places during upcoming elections.
Legislation introduced this week in the Maryland General Assembly seeks to prevent anyone whose name appears on the ballot from being designated as a challenger or a watcher within Wicomico County. Those candidates would not, however, be barred from voting.
The bill, cross-filed in the Maryland General Assembly, was read for a first time this week on the floors of the House and Senate following a request by the Wicomico County Board of Elections.
"Our board foresees that issues could arise because a candidate is not allowed to electioneer within 100 feet (of a polling location), so if you can't put a big picture or the name of the candidate within 100 feet, this could conflict with having that person sit right inside the polling place all day long," said Anthony Gutierrez, election director for the Wicomico County Board of Elections. "Also we are hoping other boards of election statewide, including Baltimore City, would (go with) us in this legislation."
Challengers and watchers must be designated within Maryland, and they have access to early voting centers and polling places throughout the entire voting process.
Those individuals have the ability to enter the voting area 30 minutes before voting begins, be present within the voting area during voting hours, maintain a list of registered voters who have cast ballots and be positioned near election judges to hear each voter check in.
Theoretically, if a candidate for County Council, the Maryland General Assembly or U.S. Congress were to be designated, they could spend the entire day inside a polling place. While it is unclear if a candidate has ever done this, Del. Rudolph Cane, D-37A-Wicomico, hopes this legislation will prevent issues.
"(The bill) hopes to smooth operations during election day between the challengers and the watchers to make sure each individual knows their responsibility," Cane said. "It was also for the people who are running to be aware so they won't create unnecessary problems."
Ross Goldstein, deputy administrator for the state Board of Elections, says while the board has not taken a stance on the bill, it's not sure about changing the election laws in just one county.
"The only issue that I think the board would have as state administrators is that we would have a bill that is not uniform statewide," Goldstein said. "If there is a change to the election law, that change ought to be uniform and if we sort of fragment the election law it becomes confusing."
Cane said while no other delegates have signed on to co-sponsor the legislation, they would be able to do so if they receive a signed letter from their county's board of elections.