Filing represents more than twice the number of signatures required by Board of Elections
The Citizens For a Strong and Safe Howard County – a group comprised of local business and community leaders organized to challenge Howard County’s new sanctuary county laws – checked off its first major milestone today, filing 6,885 petition signatures with the County Board of Elections to put CB 63-2020 on the Howard County ballot in November 2022.
In doing so, implementation of Howard’s new sanctuary county laws – which were originally scheduled to go into effect on February 9 – will be delayed. According to state and county law, Citizens For a Strong and Safe Howard County must submit a total of 7,169 petition signatures by March 10, which is 90 days after CB 63-2020 was signed by County Executive Calvin Ball.
The group’s chairperson, Lisa Fenton Kim of Laurel said, “This is one of the most controversial issues in Howard County history, and it represents a massive overreach by the county executive and council. Our committee is meeting necessary requirements to ensure the citizens of Howard County, not politicians, have a say on sanctuary county laws. Our campaign is preparing to submit over 11,000 petition signatures. Filing today’s signatures is but the first step in ensuring this issue is on the ballot in November 2022.”
Today’s filing gives The Citizens For a Strong and Safe Howard County until March 10 to file the remaining requisite petition signatures.
In addition to the petition filings, the group’s financial disclosure report showed over $61,900 in fundraising from over 270 donors. Remarkably, 86% of all donations were for less than $150. All but two donations came from individuals living in Howard County.
“The enthusiasm we are seeing among Howard County residents has been amazing to watch. Not only are people lining up to sign the petition, they are donating what they can to support the effort. This is the definition of a local grassroots campaign,” said Sara Loeffler, Treasurer.
The Citizens For a Strong and Safe Howard County organized to subject CB 63-2020 (Sanctuary County) to county-wide referendum so that voters may ultimately decide this important issue. To learn more about this initiative, please visit our website, RepealSanctuaryCounty.com and follow us on Facebook.
