Montgomery County Board of Elections (BOE) President Jim Shalleck on Thursday defended the controversial decision to replace early voting sites in Burtonsville and Chevy Chase based on “geographic diversity” while one County Council member accused him of “strategizing” with a local Republican activist before making the move.
The council’s Government Operations Committee called the five voting members and two substitute members on the county’s BOE to a hearing to discuss the decision that has roiled many in heavily Democratic Montgomery County.
Shalleck, a Republican who challenged County Executive Ike Leggett in last year’s election, was appointed to lead the BOE earlier this year by Republican Gov. Larry Hogan. Two other voting members of the BOE are Republicans and on Sept. 21, all three voted to bring new early voting sites to Potomac and Brookeville for the 2016 elections.
Because the county is only authorized to have nine early voting sites, two sites used in the 2014 elections had to be replaced. During the hearing, Shalleck didn’t provide a reason why the three Republicans chose specifically to replace the Jane Lawton Community Recreation Center in Chevy Chase and the Marilyn Praisner Community Recreation Center in Burtonsville.
The Burtonsville site, which Democrats have argued is key for black voters in the east part of the county, had the second most early voters of any county site with 4,988 for the 2014 general election.
Other sites that were retained for the 2016 elections had much lower turnouts, including a location in Damascus that attracted 1,468 early voters in 2014 general election.
“We kept seven of the nine previously selected sites [by the previous Democratic-majority BOE]. When we decided to add two areas that never had early voting, Potomac and Olney, then we’re faced with the choice: Which sites do we actually drop? Because we’re limited to having only nine,” Shalleck told reporters after the hearing. “And that’s how we made the decision.”
When asked again why the Burtonsville and Chevy Chase locations were picked for replacement, Shalleck said the three Republican members of the BOE wanted a more even allotment of sites geographically.
“Geographic diversity,” Shalleck said. “We wanted to have a broad range of sites that take you from the top of the county to the bottom and expand the geographic accessibility to everybody.”
During the hearing, County Council members questioned why geographic diversity was used as a criterion. State guidelines for early voting sites say that at least 80 percent of registered voters in a jurisdiction should be within five miles of an early voting site.
David Naimon, a Democratic member of the BOE who voted against Shalleck, told the council the nine sites used for 2014 early voting provided 93-percent coverage in that regard.
When pressed by County Council member Hans Riemer, Shalleck admitted that the location changes would reduce the number of registered voters within five miles of an early voting site.
“Does the net effect of your decision result in more registered voters living within five miles of one of the early voting centers, or fewer?” Riemer asked.
“It’s fewer,” Shalleck said.
That exchange came after the two Democrats on the BOE said they had been given no indication the changes were coming. It also followed questioning from County Council member Tom Hucker, who asked Shalleck about his private conversations with other Republican BOE members and Michael Higgs, the chairman of the Montgomery County GOP.
Shalleck said he did speak on the phone with Higgs about the early voting sites, but denied that they “strategized” about replacing them, as Hucker suggested.
He also bristled at suggestions that the move was talked about with Republicans in Annapolis.
“Absolutely no discussions with the state party,” Shalleck told reporters after the hearing. “And I resent the implication that Gov. Hogan had something to do with this. That’s outrageous. Between his chemotheraphy and running the state, the last thing I’m sure Larry Hogan was thinking about was early voting sites in Montgomery County.
“And in terms of speaking to [local] Republican activists, of course I did. But if I had listened to Republican activists we would have made more changes than just two,” Shalleck said. “We listened to them, but we didn’t do what they wanted.”
As Shalleck spoke with reporters, council members, state legislators and a group of about 40 people prepared for a press conference in which many accused the BOE of voter suppression and vowed to fight the decision at the State Board of Elections, which is expected to review the early voting sites in a meeting later this month.
All nine members of the County Council are Democrats and all nine criticized the BOE’s decision last week the day after it was made.
“I think it’s really a sad day that Montgomery County has had to slide into this,” said Council member Marc Elrich. “This is not the place to bring this kind of childishness. Voter suppression is wrong. Having meetings that aren’t open is wrong. I feel like this is partly a civics lesson, which is wrong because these people are too old to be back in class. This should never have happened.”
County Council member Nancy Navarro, who chairs the council’s Government Operations Committee, called the BOE members to the hearing Thursday and hosted the press conference.
While the County Council can’t reject the county BOE’s decisions, it does decide on BOE funding needed to carry out its duties.
“We need to ensure that those sites are utilized to their maximum potential,” Navarro said at the press conference, “and that they are located near public transportation routes, that they are located in areas of high density. …A particular site such as Praisner, which we know did so well being the second-highest in the county, why would that be the site that is decided by the majority of the county’s Board of Elections to be eliminated?”
State law says the majority of the members of local election boards must come from the same party as the governor, which is why Hogan appointed Shalleck and Republican Alexander Vincent to the BOE earlier this year.
“I expected it to be a vigorous discussion,” Shalleck said.
State legislators vowed to introduce emergency legislation to add back the Burtonsville and Chevy Chase sites if the local or state BOE doesn’t reverse the decision.
District 18 State Sen. Rich Madaleno, who plans to introduce the bill with District 14 Del. Eric Luedtke once the General Assembly starts in January, said “the Board of Elections could correct this situation.”
“That would be the simplest solution,” Madaleno said.
