Reacting to five vacancies in the Maryland General Assembly in one year, Sen. Rich Madaleno, D-Montgomery, wants to amend Maryland’s Constitution to let voters, not party bosses, select replacements.

Four of the vacancies have occurred in Montgomery County for reasons including a better job offer for Sen. Patrick J. Hogan and the November death of Del. Jane Lawton.

Madaleno believes current voting technology and methods have made it possible to fill vacancies by midterm special elections instead of by the county’s central committee for the political party of the former lawmaker.

The committee’s choice is sent to the governor for near-certain approval.

This story continues below
Advertisement

In Montgomery County, that means the 23 members of the Democratic Central Committee have been responsible for selecting four legislators who represent close to 336,000 people, or about 35 percent of the county.

Although Madaleno voices “nothing but praise” for the people the committee has selected, he finds the lack of voter participation unnecessary and undemocratic. “The current constitutional structure goes back to the 1960s,” Madaleno said. “I think we can rethink some of the decisions made 40 years ago under a set of assumptions that have now changed because of technology.”

The replacement process has received extra attention this year due to an unusually high number of vacancies in Montgomery County. Before the current crop, the county had seen only four vacancies since 1997.

Even so, the county’s Democratic Central Committee spokesman Milton Minneman believes his team is best equipped to make the selections. Because the group’s purpose is to get Democrats in office, and because it spends time interviewing potential replacements and hosting public forums, it is far more knowledgeable than average voters of each candidate’s suitability.

“Special elections are often held rapidly, and voters don’t have time to get to know the candidates,” Minneman said. “We think we’re more representative.”

lfabel@dcexaminer.com