The District 14 Republican Legislative Ticket has issued a statement in reaction to the Board of Election decision not to allow petitions, signed by over 30,000 county citizens and voters to put to a vote the recall of Bill #13-10, commonly known as the Ambulance Fee Bill. This is a violation of the spirit of the State Constitution and more fundamentally of democracy. Citizens and citizens groups should be provided every opportunity to recall legislation they disagree with. This right is enshrined in the State Constitution Article 16, Section 1. Minor technicalities in the election law should not stand in the way of the citizen’s right to vote on an issue when they, in good faith, have collected the signatures required to place an issue on the ballot.
If elected in November we pledge to present legislation at the state level to change the Election Law Article of the Maryland Code, Sec. 6-203 which mandates signature duplication on petitions. We will also encourage local legislation to allow legitimate petitions from citizens to be put on the ballot. The rejected petitions would have put the issue of recalling the Ambulance Fee bill before the voters this November. In a democracy we need to err on the side of putting issues before the voters so that the citizens can decide matters using the ballot box. This is a fundamental right of the People.
The Democratic Party leadership has, over the years, passed laws and instituted fees against the peoples will and hid behind technicalities, so they won't have to face the citizens at the polls. They have the majority in Annapolis to change the election law if they wanted to, but they didn’t. It’s time for a change, for new voices. We say, “Let the people Vote!"
Republican State Senate Candidate, District 14
Eric Cary, www.ericcary.com
Republican State Delegate Candidates, District 14
Patricia Fenati, www.patriciafenati.org
Henry Kahwaty, www.HenryforMaryland.com
Maria Peña-Faustino, Maria4House@gmail.com
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