Maryland Green Party Endorses Lawsuit Against State Board of Elections

Since I don't have much time or energy devoted to blogging, I'm just going to be posting press releases here for the time being. Here's one:

The Maryland Green Party (MGP) voted to endorse Glenn L. Ross’ lawsuit against the Maryland State Board of Elections at its December monthly state.

Ross filed his lawsuit on November 5, 2004, on the grounds that the defendants unlawfully allowed his opponent to be a candidate in Baltimore’s 13th City Council district race, despite missing campaign finance reports. Maryland election law prohibits the candidacy of any individual on whose behalf campaign finance reporting is delinquent.

“It’s not about who won the race, it’s about who is eligible to run in the race.” said Ross. “The state board needs to hold all candidates accountable equally and fairly according to law.” Ross noted that citizens and community groups in his district have contacted him to voice their complaints about the November 2 election results.

Baltimore City Circuit Court did not honor a recent request from Ross to issue a temporary restraining order to prevent Branch’s swearing in.

Ross is receiving assistance from Joan Floyd, the 2004 Green Party candidate for City Council President and a civic advocate. Floyd states that the state Board of Elections discussed the eligibility issue during their October 26 meeting, but no ruling was made and no action was taken regarding Branch’s candidacy prior to election day.

Ross and Floyd expect initial hearings in this case will take place in January 2005.