Back a couple of months ago, the Montgomery County Board of Elections (with a Republican majority as a result of Larry Hogan’s victory in 2014) attempted to shift two early voting sites from Burtonsville and Chevy Chase to Brookeville and Potomac. This created a huge uproar, which resulted in the proposed changes being rejected by the State Board and the original EV sites being reinstated.
As part of the Democratic response on the issue, the County Council held hearings at which it was revealed that the three Republican members of the Board had all participated in at least one conference call with the county GOP central committee. A complaint was filed with the state’s Open Meetings Compliance Board, which this week concluded that the actions of the GOP Board of Elections members had in fact violated the Open Meetings Act.
The decision of the OMCB is here for those nerdy enough to want to read it. Kudos to Paul Bessel for initiating and pursuing this action to its conclusion.