Major court victory for military voters (MD)

October 30, 2010 at 5:26pm
Elections 2010

Press Release
MVP Project Wins Court Battle in Maryland

October 29, 2010

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A federal judge in Maryland today granted the Military Voter Protection Project’s request for a preliminary injunction to ensure that Maryland’s military members have sufficient time to vote in November. Under the terms of the order, the Maryland State Board of Elections will be required to count all military and overseas absentee ballots so long as the ballot has been cast on or before Election Day and is returned by 5:00 p.m. on November 22, 2010.

The MVP Project filed this case after the Maryland State Board of Elections sent military voters an absentee ballot that only contained federal races. While the State Board subsequently mailed absentee ballots with both federal and state races, these ballots were not mailed until October 8, 2010. The MVP Project argued that the federal only ballot did not comply with federal or state law. As for the October 8 ballot, the MVP Project argued that military members would not have sufficient time to receive and return their absentee ballots, especially if they were serving in a war zone.

The federal judge agreed with the MVP Project’s constitutional argument. In particular, the court pointed to well established mail delivery times to war zones, which indicate that mail delivery to and from a war zone may take as much as 36 days. The court further noted that even after the mail arrives in Iraq or Afghanistan, there is no guarantee that the military member will receive it that day. The court determined that Maryland simply failed to provide military voters with sufficient time to receive and return their state absentee ballots. This failure, according to the court, placed an unconstitutional burden on their right to vote.

“We are thrilled with the court’s decision today,â€