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ROBERT L. EHRLICH, JR., Governor H.B. 675
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machinery. The requirement of a super-majority vote insures that any removal of a
State Administrator occurs with bipartisan support. House Bill 675 injects politics
into this process by requiring Senate advice and consent over the Board's selection of
the State Administrator. This provision of the bill pierces the veil of insulation from
political pressures that exists in the current statute.
In a similar vein, the provision that requires five members of the State Board to be
fully confirmed opens the process to political machinations that are not in the best
interests of Maryland's election process. If the State Administrator has lost the
confidence of four of the five members of the State Board, a removal action should not
be held hostage by the fifth member suddenly resigning or by the failure of the Senate
to confirm a fifth member because it is no longer in session. Nor should the State
Administrator be authorized to continue to serve in office after having lost the
confidence of four of the five members of the State Board. That provision of the bill is
ludicrous and would be totally counterproductive to the administration of Maryland's
election laws.
The current statute governing the State Board and the State Administrator has
adequate safeguards to protect the rights of the minority party and to insulate the
election process from undue political influences. The provisions of House Bill 675
contradict the "good government" accomplishments incorporated in the election code
over the past decade by the General Assembly.
For the above stated reasons, I have vetoed House Bill 675.
Very truly yours,
Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr.
Governor
House Bill No. 675
AN ACT concerning
Elections - State Elections Office and State Elections Advisory Committee
Board of Elections - Membership Appointment Process and Authority over
the State Administrator
FOR the purpose of establishing a State Elections Office and State Elections Advisory
Committee to provide guidance and recommendations to the State
Administrator of Elections on certain election matters; providing for the
membership, appointment, powers, and duties of the Committee; establishing a
State Administrator Appointment and Removal Commission; specifying the
membership, powers, and duties of the Commission; altering the process for the
appointment and removal of the State Administrator; altering the powers and
duties of the State Administrator; abolishing the State Board of Elections;
making this Act an emergency measure; and generally relating to the
establishment of the State Elections Advisory Committee and the governance of
State elections altering the appointment process for the members of the State
Board of Elections; requiring the Governor to appoint to the State Board an
individual whose name is submitted by the State Central Committee of a certain
- 4151 -
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