Campaign to expand Baltimore County Council by four seats fails

Despite a last-minute push from Democratic leaders, a campaign to expand the Baltimore County Council by four seats failed to gather enough signatures to appear on the Nov. 5 ballot.

A host of politicians at the local and state level, including Democrats County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. and Maryland House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones, last week endorsed the Vote4More campaign led by Linda Dorsey-Walker. Proponents of the measure say expanding the council by four would have allowed more women and minorities to participate in public life. They argue it also would have resolved complaints that the county’s current district makeup disfavors Black candidates in an area where they make up 30% of the population.

Baltimore County elections director Ruie LaVoie said via email that Vote4More failed to turn enough valid signatures despite turning in 10,275 signatures earlier this month (the threshold is 10,000 valid signatures). Almost 3,000 signatures were discounted upon review, which is the next step in the verification process, and a second tranche of 1,428 the group submitted Monday failed to meet state code requirements, LaVoie said. Signees must include their full names as listed on voter rolls, including middle initials, and must include the date of signing, according to state law.

Dorsey-Walker, an advocate for council expansion since 2001, did not respond to multiple requests for comment Monday or Tuesday.

Vote4More began collecting signatures in March 2022 , earning early endorsements from Sen. Charles Sydnor, Del. Cathi Forbes, and County Councilman Mike Ertel, but failed to gain much momentum until last week. Democratic leaders, including Speaker Adrienne A. Jones, said at a news conference they were endorsing Vote4More because they believed a separate two-seat expansion effort passed by the county council undercut their state appointment power. That bill, which will appear on the ballot, would halve the governor’s power to appoint four people to the county Board of Education and shift them to the two new council members.

The county has grown threefold since adopting its charter-style government in 1956 and is now nearly 50% people of color , but the council has only one Black member, Councilman Julian Jones, and six white men.

Sydnor said last week he and his fellow lawmakers were considering “all options,” including legislative action against the council, but declined to give details.

Vote4More’s defeat comes four weeks after the Baltimore County Council, led by Council Chair Izzy Patoka, passed the measure asking voters to approve expanding by two seats.

Baltimore County has periodically considered expanding its seven-member council but no such proposal had successfully come before the council until last fall. Patoka put together a work group that produced a report in March recommending the council expand by two, which was one of his stump issues during his first council campaign in 2018.

Patoka’s bill passed 5-1 but lacked support from Jones, who was absent, and Councilman Pat Young, who voted against it. Both Jones and Young endorsed Vote4More.