4th Circuit rejects claims that MD elections are flawed

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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit has rejected a pair of election integrity groups’ claims that the Maryland State Board of Elections mismanaged state electoral operations during the 2020 and 2022 general elections.

In a published opinion written by Judge James Andrew Wynn and filed Tuesday, the 4th Circuit dismissed Maryland Election Integrity and United Sovereign Americans’ lawsuit claiming Maryland’s elections board violated state and federal election laws by having inaccurate voter registration records and erroneous votes cast in the 2020 and 2022 general elections, among other claims.

The two groups filed their complaint in April in the U.S. District Court for Maryland and later moved for a preliminary injunction to halt Maryland’s presidential primary election, though the district court dismissed the complaint and found the groups lacked standing to sue.

The 4th Circuit’s panel of judges followed in the district court’s footsteps Tuesday, finding the groups “do not allege concrete, particularized, or certainly impending injuries.”

“To be sure, ‘the right to vote can be denied by a debasement or dilution of the weight of a citizen’s vote just as effectively as by wholly prohibiting the free exercise,’ ” the 4th Circuit wrote. “But a claim of vote dilution needs a point of reference — diluted compared to whom?”

Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown praised the appellate court’s ruling in a statement Wednesday.

“This decision is a victory for all Maryland voters,” Brown said. “I am proud of our office’s role in ensuring that special interest groups cannot use arguments based on misinformation to disenfranchise Marylanders, and I am grateful that the Fourth Circuit has safeguarded our courtrooms against attempts to unjustifiably hinder free and fair elections, the cornerstone of our democracy.”

Counsel for Maryland Election Integrity and United Sovereign Americans did not immediately respond to The Daily Record’s requests for comment.

The 4th Circuit further explained in its opinion that the groups’ claims of vote dilution “affects all voters in a State in the same way,” and that their “generalized inquiry” cannot support standing.

United Sovereign Americans previously issued a statement in response to the district court’s initial ruling, calling the decision “very obviously flawed.”

“If we don’t have standing to protect the right to vote, what do we have standing for? 150 years of Supreme Court precedent agrees,” United Sovereign Americans said.