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VETOES
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H.B. 675
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State House
Annapolis, MD 21401
Dear Mr. Speaker:
In accordance with Article II, Section 17 of the Maryland Constitution, today I have
vetoed House Bill 675 - Elections - State Board of Elections - Membership
Appointment Process and Authority over the State Administrator.
House Bill 675 was passed as an emergency measure by the General Assembly to
alter the appointment process for members of the State Board of Elections and to
change the criteria relating to the appointment and removal of the State
Administrator of Elections. Specifically, the bill alters current law by: (1) requiring
the Governor to appoint an individual to the State Board of Elections from a
recommendation submitted by the State central committee of the principal political
party entitled to the appointment; (2) requiring advice and consent of the Senate for
the appointment of the State Administrator by the State Board; (3) prohibiting the
State Board from removing the State Administrator unless the Board is fully
constituted with five members duly confirmed by the Senate; and (4) authorizing the
State Administrator to continue to serve subsequent to a valid vote of removal until a
successor is confirmed by the Senate of Maryland.
This bill is an example of a disturbing trend of bills being introduced in the General
Assembly that would restrict or undermine the executive powers of the Governor. For
more than thirty years, the five members of the Board of Elections have been
appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate. A Board
member must be a member of one of the two principal parties in Maryland and the
party of the incumbent Governor receives three of the five appointments to the Board.
Under this bill, the selection process for these appointments is given to the respective
State central committees because they are only required to submit one name for each
vacancy. This proposed process extinguishes the Governor's role in ensuring that this
policy-making Board consists of competent, talented members with expertise in
election law. Furthermore, no rational explanation has been provided by the General
Assembly for the removal of these appointment powers from the Governor.
After the Gubernatorial election of 1994, substantial reforms to the State's election
laws were accomplished by the General Assembly. Considerable attention was given
to create a statutory structure that would insulate the appointment of the State
Administrator from undue political influences. The current structure was adopted
based upon the recommendation of members of the Commission to Revise the Election
Code chaired by Marie M. Garber. The Commission proposed that the State
Administrator be appointed by the State Board instead of by the Governor and that
the removal of the State Administrator must be accomplished by a super-majority
vote of four of the five members of the State Board. See Report of the Commission to
Revise the Election Code (December 1997). This concept was adopted by the General
Assembly and passed into law in 1998.
The evolution of the statute concerning the State Administrator is based upon the
rationale of insulating the election process from direct political involvement. The
theory is that the Governor appoints a "blue-ribbon commission" board that hires a
professional manager who serves as the executive director of the State's election
- 4150 -
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