By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews
When the state’s top election official says illegal votes don’t disenfranchise anyone because “they still got to vote,” it’s not just a bad take — it’s a confession of how little accountability remains in Maryland government.
At the October 23, 2025, meeting of the Maryland State Board of Elections, what should have been a routine discussion on voter-roll maintenance turned into a case study in bureaucratic doublespeak.
Board Member Diane Butler again sounded the alarm that Maryland’s voter registration list is bloated, outdated, and undermining public trust. She cited five-year delays in removals, unverified registrations flowing from the Motor Vehicle Administration, and what she called a “glut” of names that may no longer belong on the rolls.
Then came Jared DeMarinis, the state’s Director of Elections, with a line that stopped the room cold:
“People are voting… so they’re not being disenfranchised.”
— Maryland State Board of Elections meeting, Oct 23 2025, 1:21:56 mark
By that logic, if an ineligible person casts a ballot, the lawful voter they cancel hasn’t lost anything — because everyone still got to vote.
Fairness, in other words, no longer matters as long as the paperwork balances.
This is the new bureaucratic theology in Maryland: redefine words until accountability disappears. “Disenfranchisement” no longer means a lawful voter’s ballot being diluted; it now means only an administrative removal — something the state fears more than fraud itself.
Butler’s warning wasn’t partisan. She called for a bipartisan task force to finally clean up the rolls. Vice Chair Jim Shalleck backed her, saying he’s “tired of all the criticism” and wants a larger team to “knock this problem out.” Instead, Maryland’s election leadership defaulted to semantics and process.
DeMarinis defended the delays by pointing to the General Assembly’s automatic voter registration system, which legislators passed despite acknowledging it would cause “unintended registrations.” They even built an affirmative defense into law for people who accidentally registered illegally — a statutory shrug in advance.
Meanwhile, no one at the meeting could say how many ineligible voters were identified, referred, or prosecuted. “Not anywhere near that high,” DeMarinis said vaguely when asked for numbers. The board moved on without a data report, an audit, or a plan.
If “they still got to vote” is Maryland’s new standard for fairness, then the only citizens truly disenfranchised are those who still believe elections are supposed to mean something.
▶️ Watch the Clip
Maryland State Board of Elections Meeting — October 23, 2025
📍 Quote begins ≈ 1:21:00 timestamp on YouTube
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Excellent report and spot on. These issues in our Election process have been carefully crafted over the years. As well as how they are spun and presented to the public. But this attitude of this Administrator is not his alone. Our Election Community as a whole, does not have regard for the concerns of the public, nor any true regard for clean and updated voter rolls. But believe me, the problems don’t end there. Again, great article!