"Campaign for Verifiable Voting in Maryland"
www.TrueVoteMD.org · 7711 Garland Ave., Takoma Park, MD 20912 ·
301-270-6150

July 5, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For Further Information Contact:
Robert Ferarro
301- 890-1998, 301-768-1163
Helen K. Kolbe 410-772-3785
Elizabeth Bobo, State Delegate 410-730-1206

Disenfranchised Voters to Picket and Address Maryland State Board of Elections Meeting

The State Board of Elections has denied the appeal of Helen K. Kolbe, one of 21 Howard County voters who were disenfranchised in the March 2004 Primary Election. None of the 21 votes recorded on provisional paper ballots in Howard County will be counted. Ms. Helen Kolbe, one of the disenfranchised voters, Robert Ferraro of TrueVoteMD and Elizabeth Bobo, who represents Ms Kolbe in the Maryland House of Delegates, will address the Maryland State Board of Elections, at its July 7, 2004 meeting, on electronic voting issues in Maryland.

Following is a copy of Ms Kolbe's letter to Mr. Burger. A permit has been obtained to picket the State Board of Elections from 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at 151 West Street, Annapolis. We hope to see many of you there on July 7.

June 29, 2004

Gilles W. Burger, Chairman,
State Board of Elections
P.O. Box 6486
Annapolis, MD 21401-0486 Re: The July 7, 2004 Board Meeting

Dear Mr. Burger:

Thank you for your letter of June 22, 2004. I appreciate your decision, as Chairman, to exercise your discretion by permitting me and my colleagues to address the Board at its July 7, 2004 meeting. We shall adhere to the procedural ground rules you have delineated.

I assure you that the first, "The meeting will at all times remain orderly and all participants will refrain from personal attacks on Board members, staff, and other interested parties" would have been observed by me and those I am working with without direct expression as a ground rule. Our purpose is to engage the Board in useful dialog on voting issues that are of concern to Maryland voters including the Board members and administrative staff. There are certain principles on which I think we can agree:

  1. Count every vote; every vote counts,
  2. All voting system options may not be equal,
  3. Laws are subject to interpretation,
  4. Wisdom is not vested solely in elected and appointed officials,
  5. An informed electorate has a right to be heard,
  6. Presidential elections are of even greater importance than primary elections,
  7. Maryland and Georgia are in the national spotlight for the November 2004 election,
  8. Doing the "right thing" sometimes requires adjustments in the decision making process,

Yours sincerely,

Helen K. Kolbe
10500 Faulkner Ridge Circle
Columbia, MD 21044-2206

cc: Joan Beck, Bobbi S. Mack, Richard E. Menikheim, A. Susan Widerman, Linda Lamone

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