SET MY PEOPLE FREE
I AM PRETTY MUCH IN AGREEMENT.
(with the attached Sunpaper commentary)
I have on many occasions pointed out that "the fastest growing demographic in Maryland are INDEPENDENTS. (Nearly surpassing to number of registered Republicans)."
♦️JULY 13, 2023 -
HERE ARE THE NUMBERS FOLKS ‼️
(I ran the numbers in a few other counties as well and it appears to reflect the same situation).
✅2016 - Baltimore County
(D)307,392
(R)143,003
(U)87,703
Other 9,231
👉🏼2016 - STATE TOTALS
(D)2,150,795
(R)1,014,307
(U)674,825
Other 60,163
✅2018 - Baltimore County
(D)310,019
(R)142,793
(U)91,948
Other 9231
👉🏼2018 - STATE TOTALS
(D)2,173,884
(R)1,008,369
(U)708,012
Other 63,763
✅2020 - Baltimore County
(D)314,782
(R)142,789
*️⃣County doesn't provide (U) this cycle ⁉️ 🤔
👉🏼2020 - STATE TOTALS
(D)2,230,541
(R)1,009,063
(U)321,914
Other 21,674
*️⃣State provides state totals for "other" only because those parties recognized have changed⁉️🤔
⚠️ AFTER REVIEWING THE ABOVE REGISTRATION NUMBERS I have the following conclusions:
♦️FROM 2016 to 2018 BALTIMORE COUNTY DEMOCRATS
👉🏼GAINED 2,627
FROM 2018 to 2020 BALTIMORE COUNTY DEMOCRATS
👉🏼GAINED 4,763
👉🏼TOTAL NET GAIN 7,390
FROM 2016 to 2018 BALTIMORE COUNTY REPUBLICANS
👉🏼 LOST 210
FROM 2018 to 2020 BALTIMORE COUNTY REPUBLICANS
👉🏼 LOST 4
👉🏼TOTAL NET LOSS 214
STATEWIDE......FROM 2016 to 2020
Democrats GAINED 79,746
Republicans LOST 5,244
*️⃣The "Unaffiliated" (before the State Board decided to "juggle" the published numbers, after it changed the definition of "other".... probably because of THIS number I am about to show) was the fastest growing demographic of voters in the State ‼️
✅In 2016 UNAFFILIATED = 674,825
✅In 2018 UNAFFILIATED = 708,012
❌In 2020 UNAFFILIATED was "re-classed" and now shows 321,914 STATEWIDE
IN SUMMARY......
The Maryland Republican Party AND the Baltimore County Republican Central Committee HAS FAILED in their First duty‼️
Under the STATE Party's Constitution and By-laws, 2.1 & 2.2.....
The primary purpose is to "promote the principles and platform of the Republican Party, organizes and operates an effective political organization.......".
......For all the noise we hear and those fake registration drives (that are nothing more than capturing your names and addresses for donation requests), the PARTY is neither compliant with its own rules, it's un-organized and based on it's FAILURE TO GAIN REGISTERED VOTERS OVER 4-5 YEARS it is definitely NOT effective.
...... Further, due do the epic failure of leadership (over the chairmanship terms of Al Mendelsohn, Kathleen Smero AND Patricia Fallon) to GAIN or attract Republican voters in Baltimore County, it becomes a VIOLATION of County Party by-laws, Article 1 Section 2 Part H - the Party's "principal obligation (is) to provide the successful Republican candidates of the Primary election with a party organization of SUCH DEPTH AND CAPABILITY TO ENSURE the maximum effort on behalf of the Republican candidates in the General election".
AND SO, WE HAVE A PROBLEM.....Because AS I WAS THE 2022 REPUBLICAN NOMINEE for State Senate, I had every expectation that "the COUNTY PARTY CENTRAL COMMITTEE would deliver on it's principal obligation TO ME......
👉🏼......."A party organization of SUCH DEPTH AND CAPABILITY TO ENSURE the maximum effort on [MY] behalf in the General election".
WILLIAM NEWTON
2022 Republican NOMINEE
Maryland State Senate
District 10
.....and as far as POLLBOOKS being useless - I COVERED THAT TOO‼️
♦️ APRIL 9, 2023 -
IMAGINE.... this describes almost the exact same scenerio associated with OUR VOTING EQUIPMENT....
(example: ES&S Optical Scanners
and those Pollbooks)❗
WITH ALL THEIR.....secret access code, special service technicians, corporate & banking investors AND THOSE
ILL-TIMED BREAKDOWNS‼️🤔
(right in the middle of "peak" use).
👇🏽
(pardon the commercial)
♦️AND OF COURSE.....
✅ C'MON MAN. Get with the "program". #NewtonSaidIt
📢 FROM THE BALTIMORE SUNPAPER
GUEST OPINION COMMENTARY
♦️Maryland must open primaries to all voters |
By MELANIE COMBS-DYER
PUBLISHED: August 8, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. 👆🏽
"It was sad to watch the voter place his completed ballot in the bright orange bag. As a provisional election judge in Harford County, I knew why he wasn’t inserting it into the normal ballot scanner like other voters that day and was instead forced to place it with the ballots whose eligibility was in question.
The voter registration database said this voter was registered as neither a Republican nor a Democrat. And in Maryland, primary elections — which are publicly funded and run — have been designed to exclude all voters except registered Republicans or registered Democrats.
There are close to a million independent voters in Maryland — almost one out of every four registered voters. We are barred from voting in primary elections by law, even though our own tax dollars pay for these elections. In order to vote as an independent voter in Maryland, I’ve switched my party affiliation to either Republican or Democrat every other spring for the past 20 years just to participate in primaries. The state of Maryland has forced me to join political organizations whose values I don’t share in order to vote. Many of my fellow independents choose to remain independent and are shut out altogether. This is not how American democracy should work. So much for our motto as the “Free State.”
Think the primaries don’t matter? Actually, it’s the opposite. Primaries in Maryland are the most important elections, while our state’s general elections are rapidly declining in competitiveness. In the 2022 general election races for seats in the Maryland General Assembly, a whopping 60% of races were either outright uncontested or virtually uncontested because the victory margin was so large. Only 5% were actually competitive. If a democracy is meant to give voters choices in who governs them, our system is clearly flawed.
When you don’t have competition, whether in business or in politics, you don’t have innovation. There’s just no incentive for our elected leaders to do anything other than throw red meat to their base. They know that to get elected and stay in office, they have to pander to the extreme partisans who can and do vote in the primaries. Maryland’s closed primary system is producing more and more partisanship as a result while discouraging common ground and compromise. And it’s not just Maryland — closed primaries are leading to so much of the dysfunction of Congress and its inability to reach common-sense solutions to issues ranging from immigration to economic reform.
👉🏾 Independents are the fastest-growing group of voters in the country, including right here in Maryland. If we would allow all voters, regardless of party affiliation, to participate in the primaries, it would encourage candidates to appeal to a broader electorate, promoting moderation and reducing polarization.
Maryland could be an example for other states that have closed primaries. Reduced polarization might result in fewer “show” votes and performative speeches in Congress. And with more moderate legislators in office, perhaps our elected officials could actually compromise and produce more bipartisan legislation to get important things done.
It’s time to fix our broken system. Party membership is stagnating, while the number of independent voters in our state continues to climb year after year.
👉🏾Independents are already the largest group of voters in 10 states. How long can we wait to include them in our democracy? Can’t we do something that would allow every registered voter to cast a primary ballot that counts for sure and not have to face the orange bag?
I want to be an election judge not just for Republicans and Democrats. I want to be an election judge for 100% of the registered voters in my district. Surely, I’m not alone in wanting to repair our outdated system, to advocate for open primaries to ensure all voices are heard. Surely, other Marylanders want to promote candidates who can unite us, not divide us. If you feel like I do, join me in the fight to achieve open primaries in Maryland."
✳️ Melanie Combs-Dyer resides in Harford County where she serves as an election judge.
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