Posted on June 30, 2011

Will Gansler Investigate CASA’s Voter Suppression?

Washington Examiner, June 29, 2011

{snip} To demonstrate that he truly is acting without political motives, [Maryland Attorney General] Gansler should immediately investigate CASA de Maryland’s attempts to intimidate voters attempting to halt implementation of Maryland’s Dream Act.

Del. Michael Smigiel, R-Eastern Shore, told The Washington Examiner that callers from around the state informed him that CASA operatives were interfering with the referendum petition drive and harassing voters, even to the point of deliberately standing between them and the signature gatherers. Under Article 16 of the Maryland Constitution, the people have a right to pursue a referendum that voids the actions of the state legislature, which in this case is an extremely unpopular law forcing taxpayers to subsidize college tuition for illegal immigrants.

As Smigiel points out, CASA’s actions are “more in-your-face than robocalls,” and thus constitute a more serious attempt at voter suppression. Equally egregious is the State Board of Elections’ initial decision to hand over original petition documents containing tens of thousands of signatures so CASA could take them to an outside firm for copying. {snip}

CASA, which lobbied heavily in favor of the Dream Act and referred to petition gatherers as “a small minority of extremists,” has a vested interest in the outcome of the referendum, which will be on the November ballot if the required 55,736 signatures are verified by today’s deadline {snip}.