Just this past week, I had the opportunity to watch as members of the Maryland State Senate Education, Health, and Environment Affairs Committee convened to hear testimony on SB 350. The bill, introduced by Democratic Sen. Roger Manno, would provide automatic voter registration for qualified Maryland residents. Currently, only two states have enacted this form of registration, and though it has gained some national popularity, it’s still very controversial.
Taking my seat among a sea of people, I quickly scanned the room to get a read of the audience. We were certainly a diverse crowd; men and women of various ages and colors filled every chair, until finally the room was too full to allow anymore. Scattered throughout I caught a glimpse of several well-dressed and sincere-faced panelists there to give testimony on behalf of Senator Manno in support of the bill, including Project Vote. I noticed a few people on their phones and laptops who stayed in that position throughout the testimony, but I’d like to think they were simply reading up on automatic voter registration.
After their introductions, the panelists began quickly fielding questions from Committee members, some of who did not hide their distaste for Sen. Manno’s proposal. One committee member asserted that issues with voter registration were not to blame for low voter turnout, but that “people are fed up with politicians and politics.” Not finding this argument particularly compelling, I was optimistic that the panelists would be able to dispel any trepidation that the Committee members may have had about potential fraud or security issues.
Instead, I was completely blown away by the confidence and ease in which the panelists answered questions. They were obviously prepared and very well-spoken, and had onlooker’s full attention. One charming panelist dispelled the notion that people would obtain fake identification from the motor vehicles association based on his personal experience. He then apologized to his mother for buying a fake ID in high-school and the room erupted into laughter. Another panelist, a man with a felony conviction on his record, gave solemn testimony about the need to remove registration barriers through this bill and mentioned the recently enacted law to restore the right to vote to hundreds of thousands of people with a history of felony convictions. It was an emotional day, to say the least.
When the Committee members had heard all of the testimony and began to pack up, I felt hopeful for the future of Maryland voters. Even if the bill failed, an important conversation had taken place, and it had the potential to drastically change the way we view voter registration in this country—and that’s not a bad thing.
Courtnay Sellers is a legislative intern with Project Vote for the Spring of 2016.