Voter Rights Groups Seek To Hold Maryland State Board of Elections Accountable
ANNAPOLIS, MD – Maryland Election Integrity LLC and United Sovereign Americans, Inc. brought a Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief against the Maryland State Board of Elections (hereinafter referred to as MDSBE). The two groups are seeking to hold the MDSBE accountable for the apparent deficient Maryland State Voter Registration Database, improper certification of voting machines, and noncompliance with the Public Information Act (PIA). The plaintiffs primary purpose for filing the lawsuit is to force these identified issues to be addressed and remedied in advance of the 2024 election.
A recently released Election Accuracy Report representing data collected from both a statewide canvass as well as a thorough and scientific analysis of the official Maryland State Voter Registration Database identified numerous vulnerabilities in the Maryland State Election System. Among the various issues identified in the report were the 79,349 apparent voter registration violations reflected in the most recent snapshot (12/5/23). This report was the result of a three year effort from a team of dedicated Maryland citizens to verify the accuracy of the official Maryland State Voter Registration Database. The full report can be found here.
The complaint highlights the critical importance of accurate voter rolls to the security and trust in our election outcomes: “Inaccurate voter rolls have significant downstream consequences in elections. Of the three components of an election, voters, votes, and counts, in that order, each relies on the accuracy of the preceding component(s) in order to be trustworthy. Without all being intact, the system will not meet the requirements for certifying the vote, plainly needing the ability to prove both accuracy and compliance.”
Additionally, the complaint alleges voting systems are being used in Maryland elections with void EAC certifications. Under HAVA there is a requirement for providing “for the testing, certification, decertification, and recertification of voting systems hardware and software by accredited laboratories.” 52 USC § 20971(a)(1). In January of 2020, the EAC determined that ES&S violated Sections 5.14 and 5.15.1 of the EAC Testing and Certification Program Manual Version 2.0 by representing or implying that the DS200 with modem configuration is EAC certified when in fact attachment of a modem is disqualifying. The EAC also determined that ES&S violated Section 5.16 by failing to warn purchasers that adding a modem to the DS200 would void the EAC certification of the voting system in its entirety. Numerous PIA requests were made for the DS200 audit logs and configuration reports which would tend to show the modems were functioning or non-functioning, but not produced.
Finally, the lawsuit seeks to hold the MDSBE accountable for these aforementioned unanswered PIA requests. Maryland’s Public Information Act (“PIA”) gives the public the right to access government records without unnecessary cost and delay. In response to numerous PIA requests in most Maryland counties, MDSBE and the local Boards of Elections stated that they do not have any responsive documents yet, the plaintiffs contend the information being requested (i.e. audit logs, system logs, error logs, configuration reports, etc. of voting systems) is information that should be available because of the audit requirements set under HAVA and COMAR.
Maryland Election Integrity and United Sovereign Americans are seeking to enjoin, or block, MDSBE from using the current error-riddled voting system to administer and certify the 2024 general election. They contend it will result in the same injury as took place in the 2020 and 2022 elections in Maryland. Among other requests, they have asked for a Special Master to be appointed to oversight the MDSBE in the process of making all necessary repairs and changes. Plaintiffs believe that an impartial observer, acting on behalf of the citizens in supervising the behavior of these unelected bureaucrats, is essential to restoring trust in Maryland’s elections in the wake of this massive disclosure.
With the 2024 Primary and General elections approaching rapidly, time is of the essence. The plaintiffs look forward to holding the State Board of Elections legally accountable for their affirmative duty to conduct secure, transparent, and accurate elections.
About Maryland Election Integrity, LLC
Maryland Election Integrity LLC is a Maryland limited liability company. It is comprised of Maryland Registered Voters and concerned citizens. Its principal office is located in Maryland.
About Untied Sovereign Americans, Inc.
United Sovereign Americans, Inc. is a nonprofit corporation incorporated in the state of Missouri. United Sovereign Americans was founded by Marly Hornik, the Executive Director of New York Citizens Audit, and Harry Haury, a cyber-intelligence expert experienced in elections. Their all-volunteer organization has been building teams of programmers, analysts, legal scholars and more to measure error rates of the 2022 general elections in states throughout the country. Voting systems have a legal accuracy requirement of 0.0008% maximum error. United Sovereign Americans is uncovering system error rates as high as 38%, at the time of certification.