By Cat Murphy, Charlotte Ormond, Calista Sybrant, Faith Harris
Capital News Service
WASHINGTON — Maryland lawmakers, activists and other leaders championed voting rights protections and voter mobilization efforts at one of the largest public policy conferences focused on issues affecting Black Americans.
“Voting rights, we know, right now are under siege,” U.S. Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, D-Md., said Friday. “And we’re going to protect it with everything we have.”
Alsobrooks and other Marylanders were among the thousands of attendees last week at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 55th Annual Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C. The five-day conference included discussions on topics ranging from AI safety to economic concerns, but voting issues were a central theme ahead of elections this November.
Gov. Wes Moore, who spoke on several panels at the conference, criticized what he called the White House’s efforts to manipulate elections, not only for this year’s midterm elections, but also for the 2028 presidential election.
“This was not about a singular election,’’ Moore told Capital News Service. “This was about our entire election system.”
Voting rights battle in Maryland
Amid what Democrats call GOP attacks on voting rights nationwide, Moore signed the Maryland Voting Rights Act into law earlier this year following a U.S. Supreme Court decision effectively gutting the federal 1965 Voting Rights Act.
Republicans argue their efforts protect the integrity of elections.
The national battle over redistricting is also playing out in Maryland, where voters are set in November to decide on a ballot question to change how congressional districts are drawn.
Del. N. Scott Phillips, D-Baltimore County, said Maryland lawmakers are also considering enshrining the protections of the federal Voting Rights Act into the state constitution.
“I think we’re in a place where we have to be on the offensive,” said Phillips, chair of the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland. “We can’t just rely on being on the defensive.”
Alsobrooks also advocated for protecting voting rights, calling them “the keys to power” in America. She said she was relieved by the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision to reject President Donald Trump’s attempt to limit mail-in voting, but said it was unlikely to mark the end of the voting rights battle.
“We knew that this would come,” she said. “We have to keep fighting.”
U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., who hosted a panel on voting rights, said voter disenfranchisement is not limited to the Deep South and can impact states such as Maryland.
“The system that’s rooted in disenfranchisement does not see boundaries,” he told CNS. “It was created as a deflection in the South, but the attitude and mindset is all over, and it manifests itself even in Maryland.”
U.S. Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Md., a member of the Congressional Black Caucus and an honorary co-chair of the legislative gathering, said the conference aimed to educate voters ahead of the elections.
“It’s a huge pivotal moment for the African American community and for the United States of America,” Ivey said. “What happens this fall, I think, could have a huge impact for American democracy and actually for the world.”
Getting voters to the polls
Hyattsville resident Ciyanda Green said it’s important for voters to know their rights and said she has been working to increase civic engagement among students as a member of Bowie State University’s Student Government Association.
“Our rights are at risk,’’ Green said. “There needs to be more accessibility and people just knowing their rights, being able to know that it’s not too scary.”
Local lawmakers also underscored the importance of voter mobilization in Maryland and in other states.
“Traditionally, the African American community has driven all of the movements that made America a more democratic place,” said Ivey, whose district includes parts of Prince George’s County and Anne Arundel County. “We have to do it again.”
In Maryland, where the Democratic Party holds a supermajority at the state level and controls all but one seat in Congress, Phillips said leaders should focus on helping increase voter turnout in other states.
“We’ve got to get into North Carolina and Pennsylvania and Alabama and Georgia,” Phillips said. “It is in our best interest to make sure the right people are in office around the entire country.”
