MARYLAND (DC News Now) — Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown ordered a D.C. organization to stop sending threatening letters to Maryland voters who may choose to not vote in this year’s election.
The Office of the Attorney General (AOG) and the State Board of Elections (SBE) said they received several complaints about the letters sent by the Center of Voter Information/Voter Participation Center (CVI/VPC) claiming to be “Voting Report Cards.”
These letters identified whether the recipients voted in each of the last four elections and compared their voting histories to the records of two of their neighbors on the same street.
The letters stated, in part:
“We’re sending this mailing to you and to your neighbors to share who does and does not vote in an effort to promote election participation. While we have hidden the name and street number of your neighbors to protect privacy, these are true voting records.”
“We will be reviewing these records after the election to determine whether or not you joined our neighbors in voting.”
The OAG issued the organization a cease and desist letter on Thursday, just five days before the 2024 General Election.
CVI/VPC was ordered to “immediately stop sending letters to Maryland voters that threaten to publicly expose those registered voters who do not vote in this year’s election, to refrain from sending threatening communications in the future, and to agree not to follow through on threats to embarrass non-voters by publishing that information to their neighbors.”
While Maryland residents are allowed to receive copies of the voter registration list with voters’ voting history, upon request, it is illegal to “influence or attempt to influence a voter’s decision” to vote, Brown noted in a news release.
Brown stated that recipients of the letters are being led to believe that their decision not to vote will be published to their neighbors.
Recipients reported feeling “intimidated, threatened, shocked, and ill-at-ease by this mailing,” according to a release.
Brown demanded the CVI/VPC enter into a court-enforceable agreement to stop sending threats to voters and to refrain from publishing voter participation records after the election.
DC News Now contacted CVI/VPC for a statement and has not yet heard back from them as of publication.
