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City Council President Brandon Scott wants Governor to create contingency plan to deal with potential election issues

Posted at 10:25 PM, Aug 14, 2020
and last updated 2020-08-14 23:18:10-04

BALTIMORE — Baltimore City Council President Brandon Scott is calling on Governor Hogan to create a statewide contingency plan for the upcoming election.

Scott said he is concerned about a fair election process after President Trump’s comments Thursday where he said he opposed funding for the U.S Postal Service because he didn’t want mail-in voting.

“This is about American democracy [and] people’s right to vote,” Scott said.

Despite the pandemic and concerns over a shortage of election judges, the state of Maryland will hold a traditional election, while Governor Hogan encourages Marylanders to vote-by-mail.

But, Scott is worried about voter suppression because the State Board of Elections plan is to require voters to fill out an application before they can receive a ballot by mail.

He said it could put more pressure on USPS, which is already dealing with delays in mail delivery.

“We should mail everyone a ballot and do it as quickly and humanly possible,” he said. “It will also not cost the state to spend extra tax payer dollars by sending an application and then a ballot.”

On Thursday, a Baltimore postal workers union blamed the postmaster general, who was appointed by the president, for making changes that has resulted in widespread slow downs in mail delivery. The union also believes the main goal is to undermine the election.

RELATED: Baltimore postal workers union president fears Trump-backed postmaster general is trying to 'destroy' USPS

“It makes us feel in a way like they’re trying to self sabotage,” said Courtney Jenkins, who is the Legislative Director at the American Postal Workers Union Local 181.

Scott agrees with the union about the tactics to rig the election, which is why he believes it’s important to have a contingency plan to expect the unexpected.

“Still, the overwhelming majority of people in the primary did it by mail,” said Scott, who mentioned it was record voter turnout in Baltimore because the state mailed out ballots to every Marylander.

He added, “we shouldn’t be forcing people to risk their lives.”

We reached to the Governor. His office referred us to his previous statements, which include a link to a CDC article, saying the best option safety-wise, is to have both main-in and in-person voting available.

The BOE said absentee ballots application will go out later this month. The deadline to return them is October 20th.