In Maryland, Disenfranchisement Is Spelled A-C-L-U

In addition to Casa de Maryland’s strong-arm tactics trying to prevent voters from signing a petition to put the state’s recently passed DREAM Act to a referendum – where it will likely be overturned – the Maryland ACLU is threatening legal action to block signatures that were printed out through the petition organizer’s website and submitted by mail. Their argument is that this subjects the process to fraud. This supposed defense of the integrity of the petition process exposes the complete lack of integrity of the ACLU. For, in Utah, the ACLU is arguing the exact opposite, “demanding that [Utah] allow online signatures for referendum efforts.” The explanation for this incongruity by the Maryland ACLU spokesperson was that each state chapter operates independently. What she meant was that the ACLU respects the democratic process only when it suits their political agenda.