In Maryland, vacancies in the General Assembly are filled by locally elected party central committees, which forward a candidate’s name to the governor for final approval. Stand-ins, who must belong to the same party as the person they are replacing, then fill out the remainder of that person’s four-year term.
A renewed push to change how vacancies are filled in Md. legislature
11.27.2023 / By Ovetta Wiggins
This article originally appeared in the Washington Post on November 26, 2023 and was written by Ovetta Wiggins.
Below is Common Cause Maryland executive director Joanne Antoine’s comment on Maryland’s current, undemocratic process for filling legislative vacancies.
Nearly half of the state lawmakers from Maryland’s largest county and about 1 in 4 statewide were not originally elected to their seats. Instead, they were appointed, sent to Annapolis by a handful of local party officials, according to a recent analysis from Common Cause Maryland, a nonpartisan organization that advocates for fair elections.
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“The General Assembly can’t continue to allow a handful of individuals to speak on behalf of thousands of voters,” Joanne Antoine, executive director of Common Cause Maryland, said of the process.
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