Democratic Panel to End Secret Ballot for Vacancies

Montgomery County's Democratic Central Committee has decided to scrap the secret ballot and open up its process for filling vacancies in the General Assembly and on the committee itself.

Montgomery delegates Saqib Ali, Ana Sol Gutierrez, Karen S. Montgomery and Hank Heller introduced legislation this session to try to force the committee to create a more transparent process. The legislation would have prohibited the use of secret ballots by the Democratic and Republican central committees in Montgomery County.

But the Democrats voluntarily decided to change their rules as part of an overhaul of several policies. Karen Britto, the central committee chairman, said the idea was overwhelmingly endorsed to have a "nice, open process so that everyone would know how everyone voted."

Ali praised the committee and said he would withdraw the bill.

"I applaud the central committee for making the process more transparent and improving it for future elections," he said. "They got out in front of the issue."

The committee would have had a chance to try out the new rules last week when it selected a new committee member to fill a vacancy created by newly appointed Del. Kirill Reznik. But there was only one candidate for the job: Darrell E. Anderson, a council member in Washington Grove and the former chairman of the District 39 Democratic Caucus.

Bias Bill Awaits Signature

Now that the council has unanimously approved legislation to protect transgender people from discrimination, the attention of opponents turns to County Executive Isiah Leggett (D), who was expected to sign the bill as early as this week. Once the measure has reached his desk, Leggett has 10 days to act. If he does nothing, the bill becomes law.

Opponents have promised an aggressive lobbying campaign to persuade Leggett to reject the bill. If that fails, they have another option: a referendum. The network of opposition to the bill was highly organized and sparked more than 1,000 phone calls to the council, with more than 400 from residents, according to a log at the council office.

But preparing a referendum would mean collecting the signatures of at least 5 percent of registered voters, or about 25,000, within a 75-day period after a bill becomes law. Otherwise, the measure would take effect 91 days after it is signed, according to the county code.

After the vote, Leggett left little question that he would sign the bill. "There are some acts of discrimination we need to address," he said. Residents raised "some valid concerns, but with those out of the way, it's time to move on."

He also noted that the 8 to 0 vote by the nine-member council was veto-proof. Council member George Leventhal (D-At Large) missed the vote because he was undergoing surgery after his car collided with a deer on the Capital Beltway.

After the vote, council members were essentially ushered out of the seventh-floor hearing room with shouts from angry residents who warned that the council's actions would endanger children in public restrooms and locker rooms.