In this story, an election official in Maryland doesn’t understand the NVRA. Mary Cramer Wagner, the director of the voter registration division of the Maryland State Board of Elections, said she was “incensed” by Election Integrity Maryland’s accusations. She said her office has investigated the latest list that Kelleher’s organization had given her. If the elections board mails an official election item to a voter and it comes back stamped “nonforwardable,” the office sends another piece to confirm the voter’s status, she said. If there is no response on that mailing, the voter goes into “inactive” status, she said. If the voter then does not vote in two federal elections, he or she is moved to “canceled” status, she said. An inactive voter has to verify her status before she can vote. A canceled voter is no longer eligible to vote. “Unless I get that information [that a voter has died] from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene or a family member, I can’t make the assumption they’re dead,” Wagner said.
Really? She’s wrong. A dead voter can be removed immediately from the rolls. If the voter is dead, the registration may be cancelled. The NVRA does NOT permit removal only when the “Department of Mental Health and Hygiene or a family member” tells the election official that the voter is dead. The NVRA requires the removal of dead voters, period. Any Maryland law or policy that permits dead voters to remain on the rolls is inconsistent with NVRA.
If dead voters are deliberately being left on the rolls, and knowingly being left on the rolls in Maryland, it sounds like Maryland could soon end up in the caption of a lawsuit brought under Section 8 of NVRA.