Issue Position: Voting and Elections

Issue Position

Our elections must encourage broad participation and reflect the will of the people, by protecting voting rights, making voting easy, supporting positive issue-based campaigns, and taking money out of politics. Automatic voter registration has been effective in increasing voter turnout. AVR allows for citizens to be electronically registered to vote when they interact with a government agency, unless they decide to opt out, adding convenience and decreasing costs for elections. Early voting has been tremendously successful in Maryland. Maryland should continue to explore options such as voting by mail or allowing voters to choose to be permanent absentee voters, which can make voting even easier. Another way we can make our elections more fair and more reflective of majority interests is through a ranked choice voting system. In this system, voters can rank the candidates in order of choice until a candidate reaches the most universal agreement. Winners are decided by majorities, not pluralities, and this process encourages more positive campaigning focused on issues rather than insults. The enormous flooding of money into politics from independent political expenditures protected by Citizens United has significantly worsened an already corrupt system where corporate interests far outweigh people's needs in policy-making. Overturning Citizens United through a Constitutional Amendment is a crucial step to stop this influence. The Maryland General Assembly needs to take the initiative in this process. In the meantime, state and local government can decrease the influence of money in politics by developing public financing systems. Maryland should develop a public financing program available to all state candidates and identify funding sources to ensure its sustainability.

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