Residents in Maryland with a valid drivers’ license or identification card can now register to vote online for the first time, Gov. Martin O’Malley announced.
Mary Wagner, Maryland’s director of voter registration at the State Board of Elections, called the move, which was passed by the Maryland General Assembly in 2011, “fairly cutting edge.”
Will you register to vote online? Or do you prefer the paper method? Tell us in comments.
State officials did a soft launch of the online voter registration tool July 9 and moved it to the main state elections home page on Tuesday, Wagner said.
Since the soft launch, Montgomery County voters have registered 37 new registrations and six changes of address, as of Thursday afternoon, Wagner said.
Five county voters and one address change had been registered using the tool since Tuesday, she said.
“It’s convenient for the voters,” Wagner said. “If you’re moving, the last thing you’re thinking about is moving your voter registration records.”
Maryland is one of 13 states with online voter registration either implemented or approved by state lawmakers, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
The online voter registration system is expected to increase the number of registrants and "go a long way in cleaning the voter rolls," Wagner said.
"Election officials will not be having to read handwriting, interpret handwriting," she said. "You can’t put in a bad address."
The address that potential voters input must match a state database, which means "you can't misspell an address," she said.
The new tool also should help ensure voters are voting the correct ballot and should help local elections boards by cutting down on the number of people voting provisional ballots, Wagner said.
The deadline in Maryland to register to vote in the Nov. 6 election is Oct. 16. Paper registrations must be post-marked by that date. Voters can register online or by walk-in at their local elections board up until 9 p.m. Oct. 16, Wagner said.
To participate in online voting in Maryland, you must have a state drivers’ license or identification card issued by the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration, Wagner said. Otherwise, you can pre-populate the online form and mail it in, she said.
The state elections board includes a “Frequently Asked Questions” page that includes a way to email the state board specific questions and a “Rumor Control” page that dispels several misconceptions about voting in Maryland.
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Those distributed datbases are a messs. I used to program similar machines.. and I know how easy it is to advertantly or inadvertantly make the wrong forms coming up.. it's all html. and its all changeable before you can make a complaint and then have someone with Distributed databases go in and check.. and then even then... these DB's are fluid.. no way to check unless you have say a netapp box and restore to the point in time of the irregularity.
My cousin in Georgia told me a new law was passed in her state that when one gets a license renewed one must provide proof of ID. Her license expires in October and she need to provide proof of citizen. She went to the SSA office after losing her SS card and asked for a duplicate SS card. She was required to show proof of citizenship or a birth certificate (which she has neither). As myself she was not born in the US and does not have a birth certificate. Her mother is looking for my cousin's naturalization papers which will solve my cousin's requirement to prove her citizenship. My cousin has been in the United States since 1959. Only now is she faced with providing proof of citizenship (has been here legally). She is in support of the new law, but also an example of how difficult it can be if you don't have proper documentation. Getting a replacement for naturalization costs either $600 or $345 and will require at least 6 months. I pray my aunt finds my cousin's naturalization document. People need to realize the importance of official documents and what they mean.
http://www.examiner.com/article/mva-employees-nabbed-maryland-driver-s-license-and-id-card-scam
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Im sure, anything to get a vote, Too Me Im very aware of what some people will do, going through the obituaries in the newspaper to online networks, Its very sad to see this happening. The other problem is Firewalls in the systems, you have to have good firewalls, Because people will use a mirror Ip Address's or change there systems ip address!!!
well afford to live off of your dividens, why don't you take a long cruise to the Bermuda Triangle triiangle
They have no problem giving our jobs, money and benefits to non citizens. $2 billion tax $$ a year we pay to non citizens. Vote them out. "it is ok to swing vote and vote the person not their affiliation” ______________________________________________________ GOVERNOR MARTIN O’MALLEY Dutch Ruppersberger, John Sarbanes, Chris Van Hollen, Elijah Cummings, Steny Hoyer, Donna Edwards, Viva la Babs Mikulski, Obama, Barak Ana Gutierez, Donna Edwards, . Ali Saqib, Curtis Anderson , Charles Barkley, Benjamin Barnes, Kumar Barve, Joanne Benson, Elizabeth Bobo, John Bohanan, Talmadge Branch, Aisha Braveboy, William Bronrot, Michael Busch, Rudolph Cane. Jon S. Cardin, Ben Cardin, Jill Carter, Galen Clagett, Virgina Clagett, Frank Conaway, Norman Conway, Dereck Davis, Ann Marie Doory, Kathleen Dumais, Brian Feldman, Barbara Frush, Tawanna Gaines, James Gilchrist, Cheryl Glenn, Marilyn Goldwater, Melanie Griffith , Guy Guzzone, Hattie Harrison, Keith Haynes , Anne Healey , Henry Hank Heller. Sheila Hixson Marvin Holmes, Carolyn Howard, James Hubbard , Tom Hucker,
Carolyn Krysiak, Jane Lawton. Susan Lee, Garron Levi, Murray Levy, Mary Love, Roger Manno, Maggie Mcintosh, Heather Mizeur, Karen Montgomery, Peter Murphy , Shirley Nathan-Pulliam Doyle Niemann, Nathanial Oaks, Joseline Pena-Melnyk, Shane Elizabeth Pendergrass, Victor Ramirez, Craig Rice, Barbara Robinson, Samuel Rosenberg, Justin Ross, Barbara Robinson, Luiz Simmons, Melvin Stukes, Shawn Tarrant, Herman Taylor 11, Frank Turner, Veronica Turner. Kriselda Valderrama, Joseph Vallario jr, Michael Vaughn, Jeffrey Waldstreicher