Montgomery County Board of Elections denies coordination with Praisner campaign

On Friday, we reported that Montgomery County Council candidate Mark Fennel (R-Silver Spring) released a statement accusing his opponent Don Praisner (D-Silver Spring) and the Montgomery County Board of Elections of a coordinated effort to distribute what his campaign deemed “an unnecessary 4-page letter to 90,000 plus voters in council District 4 to try to stimulate voter turnout for Don Praisner.”

The issue revolves around the original Montgomery County Board of Elections sample ballots, which included the candidates' names, but not party affiliation.

The county board of elections began distributing mailings to District 4 residents on Friday, where they identified Praisner as a Democrat and Fennel as a Republican.

Marjorie Roher, a spokesperson for the county board of elections, denied any political maneuvering, saying, “We are a bipartisan group. I cannot imagine that there was any discussion with one candidate over the other.”

Roher said the decision to allocate the new ballots was made by Margaret Jurgensen, the board’s director.

“It is the responsibility of the Montgomery County Board of Elections to make sure the voters are informed,” Roher said. “We have always included party affiliation on our sample ballots.”

“An error was discovered and the decision was made to correct it to make sure the voters are informed when they go to the polls,” Roher added.

She also said the board’s sample ballots do not include information on the candidate’s viewpoints; highlighting the need to remain bipartisan.

“We are not affiliated with any party,” Roher said.

“The Don Praisner campaign could not afford this last-minute election reminder, so they are having the political board of elections do it for him,” Fennel said in a statement last week.

Praisner flatly denied any such coordination, telling PolitickerMD.com Friday the decision was “up to the board of elections.”

Fennel, who could not be reached for comment today, also faulted the board for spending money on the mailings at a time when the county faces large budget deficits.

Roher, who said she did not know the cost of the mailings, acknowledged that the original error was especially “unfortunate given the budget problems,” but said the need for voter awareness was too great so the mistake “had to be corrected.”

Polls are open to District 4 residents tomorrow from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.