Earlier this month members of Voters Organized for the Integrity of City Elections held a press conference in front of the Baltimore City Board of Elections to outline dozens of voting irregularities brought to us by voters from across the city ("Baltimore election chief defends primary process amid criticism," May 2).
The incidents ranged from campaign workers being allowed to work as election judges even though they weren't hired, certified or trained by the local BOE to former felons who were wrongly sent rejection letters or forced to vote provisionally.
We knew then that the number of complaints we received proved one thing: The conduct of the 2016 primary elections in Baltimore City did not inspire public confidence and trust as outlined by Article §1–201 in Maryland's Annotated Code, which lays out the provisions governing local and state elections.
One week later, state elections administrator Linda Lamone and the state board of elections intervened and took the unprecedented step of decertifying the results that had just been certified by the city's local board.
The state's actions essentially validated the claims made by VOICE and by the two dozen voters who filled out affidavits swearing to the claims they had made. It all but silenced the critics who couldn't see past their own selfish political leanings in order to ensure that the integrity of the election process was upheld without question.
And while the entire elected class of Democratic leaders from across the state remained silent as to the concerns we raised on behalf of the citizens of the city — some of them even attacking the credibility of those raising concerns, dismissing the matter as mere "sour grapes" on the part of supporters of the Dixon for Mayor campaign — nobody can now deny the level of incompetence that was eventually found to be so widespread that only 25 percent of the 296 precincts throughout the city actually got it right on Election Day.
Yet the city's longtime election director, Armstead Jones, continues to act as if nothing was wrong. Rather than addressing the obvious issues that plagued the election process throughout the primaries, he expresses skepticism regarding the motives of the protesters. His latest comment, "it is what it is," is unacceptable from a public servant whose salary is paid for by the very voters he has chosen to ignore.
The state's findings, as outlined in various Sun reports, highlighted an even more egregious problem with a voting system characterized by negligence and malfeasance. Eight flash drives went missing for more than a day, while one still remains MIA. Hundreds, if not thousands, of electronic votes now cannot be matched with paper ballots cast in those precincts, while more than 1,100 provisional ballots were inappropriately scanned and more than 500 others weren't even considered.
These are issues that need to be answered before anyone re-certifies the results of a process that clearly was flawed and that now prevents a recount that would assure city voters that their votes were counted and that the candidates who were elected actually won their contests.
That is why we are asking the courts to order a new primary election be held on the second Tuesday in September — a date that happens to be the primary election schedule we have been accustomed to in recent decades throughout Maryland.
What's the point of having election laws that spell out the process to be followed if officials are allowed to ignore them and uphold the results despite evidence of fraud, corruption and gross negligence? All eight of the underlying principles that govern Maryland's election law clearly have been violated and petitioning the courts to order a redo the process is the only remedy left.
To the pessimists who argue against ordering a new election, we ask: What amount of money, time and personal or political inconvenience could ever be more valuable that ensuring the integrity of election results? It is the integrity of the democratic process itself in Baltimore that now hangs in the balance.
Hassan Giordano, Cortly 'C.D.' Witherspoon, Doni Glover, J. Wyndal Gordon, Baltimore
The writers are members of Voters Organized for the Integrity of City Elections (Baltimore).