MoCo Board of Elections Rejects Ambulance Fee Referendum

The Montgomery County Board of Elections has ruled that petition gatherers seeking to overturn the ambulance fee have not submitted enough valid signatures to put the issue on the ballot. Following is their press release.

Board of Elections
Montgomery County, Maryland

Contact: Kevin Karpinski, 410-727-5000
For Immediate Release: August 23, 2010

EMS PETITION – BILL NUMBER 13-10

On August 3 and 4, 2010, a Petition was filed with the Montgomery County Board of Elections, seeking to bring to referendum Bill number 13-10, commonly referred to as the “Ambulance Fee Bill.” Under the Montgomery County Charter, in order for a Petition sponsor to have a local Bill placed on the ballot as a referendum question, the Petition must contain the signatures of five percent (5%) of the registered voters in Montgomery County, Maryland. Fifty percent (50%) of the required signatures must be filed within seventy-five (75) days after the Bill becomes effective, with the remaining fifty percent (50%) due within ninety (90) days after the Bill becomes effective. In this case, 15,366 valid signatures that meet the requirements of Maryland Election law had to be filed on or before August 4, with the remaining fifty percent (50%) due on August 19, 2010.

In conformity with the State Board of Elections’ policy on Petition verification and the Maryland Court of Appeals’ 2009 decision in Doe v. Montgomery County Board of Elections, the Montgomery County Board of Elections has completed its verification of the first petition submissions filed on August 3 and 4, 2010. The Montgomery County Board of Elections verified 13,021 valid signatures that met the requirements under Maryland Election law. Because the petition does not contain the minimum number of required valid signatures, the Petition sponsor has been advised that the Montgomery County Board of Elections cannot certify the Petition to be placed on the General Election ballot in November 2010.

# # #