Opinion ID: 2298767
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Duplicate Signatures

Text: The final issue for this Court to address is whether Appellant properly refuses to validate duplicate signatures of individuals who already have signed the same petition. We hold that the trial judge erred in concluding that a signature on a petition may be invalidated as a duplicate only if the individual's prior signature was validated. The plain language of § 6-203(b) indicates that the signature of an individual shall be validated and counted if that individual has not previously signed the same petition, without any mention of the disposition of that previous signature. Accordingly, after Appellant evaluates a petition entry by an individual, and determines whether to validate or invalidate the entry, any additional signature by the same person on the same petition is appropriately invalidated as a duplicate. Appellant claims that the plain meaning of § 6-203(b)(3) provides support for its position that duplicate or multiple signatures on a petition by the same individual should be invalidated, regardless of whether a previously evaluated signature of that individual has been validated or invalidated. Citing § 6-203(c), a provision allowing for removal of petition signatures, Appellant contends that [t]he [C]ircuit [C]ourt's decision improperly shifts to the State Board the responsibility that the General Assembly placed instead on petition sponsors, circulators, and signers, to generate one correct, valid, and countable signature for each signer. In addition, Appellant notes that [a]ny incentive, however marginal, to sign a petition more than once contributes to fraud and mistake in the petition process, in direct opposition to the law's express prohibition [under Md.Code (2002, 2010 Repl.Vol.), § 16-401(a)(9) of the Election Law Article] against signing more than once. Appellees construe § 6-203(b) differently and contend that signed in the context of duplicate signatures must mean validly signed. While Appellees concede that the issue of duplicate signatures did not amount to a large number of invalidated signatures on the petitions they submitted, the more daunting issue, according to Appellees, is that Appellant's current policy of refusing to validate signatures of individuals who have already signed the same petition prevent[s] voters whose signatures are rejected from fixing the problem and registering their support as part of a supplemental submission by the petition sponsors. Appellees maintain that the prohibition against validating and counting any individual's signature twice provides sufficient safeguards against the fraudulent purposes that apparently influence Appellant's current guidelines. As we have stated, we begin an analysis involving statutory interpretation by looking to the plain, normal meaning of the language in the statute. See Doe, 406 Md. at 712, 962 A.2d at 351. If the relevant language in the statute is clear and unambiguous, we need not consult any other sources to determine the Legislature's intent. See id. Appellees would have us read into the statute the requirement that a signature shall be validated and counted if an individual has not previously validly signed the same petition. This we refuse to do. The relevant language in § 6-203(b)(3) provides that [t]he signature of an individual shall be validated and counted if ... the individual has not previously signed the same petition[.] The plain meaning of the word sign is [t]o identify (a record) by means of a signature, mark, or other symbol with the intent to authenticate it as an act or agreement of the person identifying it[.] Black's Law Dictionary 1415 (8th ed.2004). Likewise, a signature is [a] person's name or mark written by that person or at the person's direction. Id. Thus, the unambiguous meaning of § 6-203(b)(3) is that a signature is to be validated and counted if the individual has not previously provided a written attestation on the same petition. The language in the statute does not make reference to whether the prior signature was validated or invalidated. Therefore, we conclude that the Legislature did not intend for signed to mean validly signed. In further support of our conclusion, we note that § 6-203(c) places the onus on the signer, sponsor, and circulator of the petition to correct the error of a potentially improper signature by removing the signature from the petition before it is submitted. The statute provides, in relevant part: (1) A signature may be removed: (i) by the signer upon written application to the election authority with which the petition will be filed if the application is received by the election authority prior to the filing of that signature; or (ii) prior to the filing of that signature, by the circulator who attested to that signature or by the sponsor of the petition, if it is concluded that the signature does not satisfy the requirements of this title. This statutory provision indicates that the Legislature intended to place the burden of correcting a signature error upon the signer, sponsor, and circulator of the petition, not upon the State Board. Appellees, therefore, had an opportunity, before the petitions were submitted, to remove and subsequently correct or replace petition entries that contained defects, including flaws in the signatures. Lastly, Title 16 of the Election Law Article addresses offenses and penalties, including offenses related to petitions. In relevant part, § 16-401 provides that [a] person may not willfully and knowingly... sign a petition more than once[.] Thus, the General Assembly has determined that, in an effort to prevent fraud in the context of new party petitions, it is an offense for a person with the requisite culpability to sign a petition more than once. This provision lends additional support to our conclusion that Appellant appropriately codes as duplicates, and refuses to validate and count, signatures by individuals who already have signed the same petition. Once Appellant evaluates a petition entry by an individual, and determines whether to validate or invalidate the entry, any other entries by the same individual on the same petition that are subsequently evaluated by Appellant are duplicates within the meaning of § 6-203(b) and should not be validated and counted. Therefore, we hold that the trial court erred in determining that a signature on a petition may be invalidated and marked as a duplicate only if a previously evaluated signature by the same individual was validated. JUDGMENT OF THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY IS VACATED. CASE REMANDED TO THAT COURT FOR ENTRY OF A DECLARATORY JUDGMENT NOT INCONSISTENT WITH THIS OPINION. COSTS IN THIS COURT TO BE PAID BY APPELLEES.