Group sues Maryland over ‘illegal’ voters

10/28/2014

AP file photo

‘WE ARE AMERICA': After immigrants rallied in Washington, D.C., for legal status, Maryland is sued for allegedly allowing noncitizens on its voting rolls.

By Kenric Ward | Watchdog.org

An election-watch group is suing Maryland over the alleged presence of noncitizens on the state’s voting rolls.

The lawsuit, filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, asserts that individuals who opted out of jury duty because they were not legal U.S. residents have cast ballots in at least three Maryland elections.

Based on the number of potential unqualified voters identified in Frederick County, up to 7 percent of Maryland’s registered voters could be illegal immigrants, according to estimates.

“Their continued appearance on these lists makes it nearly impossible for Maryland law to prevent these declared noncitizens from casting votes in elections and significantly affecting the integrity and outcomes of overall electoral processes,” said Reagan George, president of the Virginia Voters Alliance, which brought the lawsuit on behalf of four Frederick County residents: John Miller, Virginia Grant, Kathy Troxell and Robert Bogley.

The plaintiffs are suing the Frederick County Board of Elections and the Maryland State Board of Elections.

Miller, the lead plaintiff in the case, told Watchdog.org, “How could this happen in America? Whoever is responsible should be prosecuted.”

Neither Frederick County nor state election officials were immediately available for comment.

Christian Adams, an election law expert, said voter rolls cannot be purged within 60 days of a federal election. He said anyone attempting to do so could “be sanctioned.”

George said because the lawsuit is based on “civil rights,” time limits do not apply.

In a separate matter, both VVA and another voter-watch group, Election Integrity Maryland, say Maryland officials have been unresponsive to evidence of dual registrations in the two states.

VVA estimates more than 14,000 voters are registered in both Maryland and Virginia.

Meanwhile, a task force in Montgomery County, one of Maryland’s “sanctuary counties” for illegals, has recommended that certain noncitizens be permitted to vote.

Voter fraud in heavily Democratic Maryland is a misdemeanor.

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