BALTIMORE CITY—With the 2022 Maryland Primary elections right around the corner, Mayor of Baltimore Brandon Scott urged the people of Baltimore—specifically young residents—to register to vote at a press conference Monday afternoon.
The conference focused on emphasizing the end of voter registration in Maryland ending on Tuesday, June 28, 2022.
Mayor Scott was joined by several members of the Baltimore community such as Ben Cardin, a Democratic Senator from Maryland.
“The message is simple. We want all eligible voters to register to vote, then we want all registered voters to vote…and then the third request is to be an informed voter,” Cardin said.
According to Mayor Scott, the upcoming primary election is a “critical crossroad” on both a local and national level as all three branches of government are represented on the ballot this year: U.S. Congress and Senate, state legislators, city committee members, Sherriff, Attorney General, and state governor.
To represent and advocate for young voter registration, Mayor Scott introduced the Founder of the Baltimore City Youth Voter Registration Committee Aeriss Prince, and Deputy Director of Advocacy for Black Girls Vote Inc. Natasha Murphy.
The decision by the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade was a hot topic for all leaders who participated in the conference.
Both Prince and Murphy lead non-profit organizations that are nonpartisan, meaning that they focus on providing the necessary tools and information to empower young voters to be civically active regardless of party affiliation.
However, when asked about Roe v. Wade, Murphy said that the Supreme Court decision “highlights the fact that elections at every level have consequences and, if anything, it really reveals that the critical importance of ensuring that the electorate is electing individuals that represent the will and the voice of the people.”
Voter registration numbers are currently unknown, according to Elections Director of Baltimore City Armstead C. Jones, Sr.
While he did not confirm that voter registration is down, Jones said that numbers have not been enlarged through the [registration] process this year as he “has not seen a large number of people come in requesting forms to do that.”
In a slight pivot from these topics, Jones also said that they are still looking to fill 800 to 1,000 election judge positions not just in the city but statewide due to continuing pandemic anxiety.
Most of these positions in the city were traditionally filled by 60+ retired citizens that would work; the Board of Elections found that most of these persons “are not coming to train and to work.”
If you are interested in becoming an election judge call 410-396-5550 and let the elections board know.
Early voting is set to take place July 7-11, 2022 with Election Day being on July 19, 2022.