Sign The Petition For Referendum

The petition sponsored by "Maryland for Responsible Enforcement" to force Senate Bill 277 (authorizing the statewide use of speed cameras) to a referendum is now ready to be signed.

The rules for forcing a new law to a public vote in Maryland are extremely strict. A total of over 57,000 valid signatures must be collected, and signatures can be disqualified for many reasons, with 1/3 of those signatures submitted before may 30 and the rest by June 30. You must be registered to vote in Maryland in order to sign the petition. (If you are a Maryland resident but are not registered to vote, go REGISTER TO VOTE right now. If you don't vote you have no right to complain). Your name must appear on the petition exactly as it appears on your voter registration (there is a tool you can use to check your voter registration).

If you only want to sign the petition, you can go to www.mdscamera.com to print, sign, and mail the petition. Be sure to read the complete instructions for petition signers on that website before sending in your form. It is necessary to have someone "witness" the signature by signing as the "circulator" of the form (the circulator can be any person over the age of 18).

However what is really needed is for you to gather signatures. If you know others who might be willing to sign, please read the "instructions for those collecting signatures" and then ask them to sign as well. Better yet, go out and circulate the petition wherever you can.

MRE needs to receive the first batch of signatures by 5/25/2009. Please spread the word about this effort as widely and as quickly as possible. Senate Bill 277 significantly reduces YOUR rights as a maryland driver to face your accuser, gives an unreasonable amount of new power to local government, and will create the legal precedent and the physical infrastructure for even more sweeping mass surveillance and machine enforcement of drivers in the future. This affects everyone who lives in or visits the state of Maryland. The People deserve a real public debate and a direct vote on this issue and your signature and petition gathering efforts can make that possible.