Overview
- The RNC and Maryland GOP filed a federal complaint Friday alleging violations of the NVRA and citing “impossibly high” registration rates, including two counties with more registrants than adult citizens and 10 counties above 95%.
- The Justice Department filed a separate case Tuesday to obtain an electronic copy of the state’s voter rolls, after Maryland queried how the data would be used, with documents reviewed by Reuters indicating potential sharing with the Department of Homeland Security.
- Defendants named in the RNC suit include all four members of the State Board of Elections, Elections Administrator Jared DeMarinis, and members of the Howard and Montgomery county election boards.
- A 2023 legislative audit found 2,426 potentially deceased registrants and 327 possible duplicates, while Maryland’s elections chief has defended removal procedures designed to prevent erroneous disenfranchisement.
- The RNC portrays the action as part of a nationwide campaign for voter-roll transparency, following a July demand letter and earlier efforts in other states, and has retained the conservative firm Consovoy McCarthy.