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Do You Know Who is Running for Office June 24, 2014?
	Many people are headed to the polls and will vote based on signs and name recognition. Look inside for a snapshot of each candidate before you vote.

PFC Coalition Seeks Greater Action to Help Increase Voter Turnout
	In Prince George’s County where elections are determined in the Primary, what role does the county government play in increasing voter turnout?

How will Redistricting Affect the Upcoming Election?
	Who benefits when lines have been re-drawn and voters are not familiar with the candidates in their new districts?

Do Prince George’s County Elected Officials Need Term Limits?
	Many voters are unaware that our elected officials are discussing extending or eliminating term limits at the local Council level.

PFC Coalition Seeks Greater Action to Help Increase Voter Turnout

In a letter dated April 7, 2014 to County Executive Rushern Baker, the People for Change Coalition (PFC Coalition) called on the County Executive to better engage the citizens of Prince George’s County and increase voter turnout at the polls.

Starting with the June 2014 Primary Elections, the PFC Coalition feels strongly that it’s time to hold the County Executive and the Board of Elections accountable. We need the government to work on behalf of the people.

According to the response from the County Executive, the Prince George’s County Board of Elections only allocates $100,000 of its $3.3 million dollar budget toward outreach during each election cycle; we feel more needs to be done.

The citizens of Prince George’s County need information that will bring more awareness and education to the importance of voting. With the major change in the timing of the Gubernatorial primary from September to June, voters will surely be caught off-guard. The recent April primary in DC has shown that voters are just not that enthusiastic and engaged.

In Prince George’s County, the outcome of the elections are determined based on votes in the primary elections. For that reason, the county government should make it a priority to increase voter turnout. With 900,000 residents and close to 600,000 registered voters in the County, why are we content with a low voter turnout?  For example, in the 2010 Gubernatorial Primary, there was a 21.31% turnout of registered voters. This is unacceptable.

We cannot hope that people will come out to vote in the June 2014 election, we must take a proactive approach to get them to the polls!

That means educating people starting now until the primary election takes place via Prince George’s County Public Access TV, posting signage and flyers all over the county, including Maryland National Park and Planning facilities and county buildings, hosting town halls, running radio and newspaper ads, and placing robo calls to homes.

How will Redistricting Affect the Upcoming Election?

Redistricting happens every 10 years after the census is completed.  Lines are re-drawn for the Congressional and Legislative districts to ensure populations of people have adequate representation from their elected officials.  

Gerrymandering is when lines are drawn during redistricting to give a political advantage for a particular party.

So, if Prince George’s County is majority democratic and majority black, then who benefits when non-contiguous communities are now joined together? Why were lines drawn in 2011 that connected communities that have very little in common? 

On October 20, 2011, the Maryland General Assembly passed, and Governor Martin O'Malley signed into law, Senate Bill 1 to enact Maryland's 2011 Congressional Districts. On February 24, 2012, Maryland's 2012 Legislative Districts took effect.

There was very little resistance from our elected officials when majority black districts in Prince George’s County increased their population of blacks even more in Districts 24 and 25.

In Prince George’s County, we now see that incumbents are being challenged by candidates who previously ran for office. Those candidates are running for seats in their new district due to the lines being re-drawn.

These new lines have also caused confusion for voters who are seeing signs throughout the county for candidates, but when they get to the polls, unfamiliar names may be on the ballot.

A voter recently asked, “did Bobby Henry move? I see his signs in my neighborhood.”

Candidate Bobby Henry lives in Woodmore, which was previously in District 23 but is now in District 24.  He is running in a district with incumbent Senator Joanne Benson, who just completed her first term as State Senator and has been in the House of Delegates for 24 years. 

Another example is candidate Tamara Davis Brown.  She previously ran for Delegate in District 27 in 2006, and County Council in 2010, and is now running for Delegate in District 26 where incumbent Delegates have been in office for over 8 years.

In the congressional race, Congresswoman Donna Edwards, who represents the 4th District which previously covered parts of Prince George’s County and Montgomery County, now covers a majority of Prince George’s County and a small section of Anne Arundel County. She has a new challenger running for office for the first time, retired Lt. Colonel Warren Christopher. 

Are Term Limits Needed in Prince George’s County?

Currently there are no term limits in the Maryland Senate or House of Delegates. Once elected to office, an elected official can serve unlimited terms and remain in office forever. The length of time for each term is 4 years.

Some will say that having no term limits works in favor of the incumbent. Why? Voters have become so complacent that unless there is a death, someone retires from office, or an elected official is removed from office, incumbents are elected back in office for additional terms.

It has also been said that when you have good candidates in office with a lot of knowledge about the operations of your government, you can lose them to term limits.

How long have elected officials been in office?

Below is a list of elected officials who have been in office for 10 years or more. Even though voters go to the polls every four years, without any term limits, the same elected officials continue to get re-elected. If this is what not having term limits looks like, we can expect more of the same if we vote to eliminate term limits at the local county council level.

Elected Official	How Long	Type of Office
Mike Miller	43 years	39 years state senator of which 27 as president, 4 years delegate
Joe Vallario	40 years	delegate
Nathaniel Exum	36 years	12 years state senator, 24 years delegate
Ulysses Currie	28 years	20 years state senator, 8 years delegate
Paul Pinsky	28 years	20 years state senator, 8 years delegate
Carolyn Howard	25 years	delegate
Joanne Benson	24 years	4 years state senator, 20 years delegate
James Proctor	24 years	delegate
Anne Healey	24 years	delegate
Barbara Frush	20 years	delegate
Dereck Davis	20 years	delegate
James Hubbard	22 years	delegate
James Rosapepe	18 years	8 years state senator, 10 years delegate
JJ Peters	12 years	8 years state senator, 4 years delegate
Melony Griffith	12 years	delegate
Michael Vaughn	12 years	delegate
Veronica Turner	12 years	delegate
Marvin Holmes	12 years	delegate
Doyle Neiman	12 years	delegate