Let the sunshine (week) in
March 21, 2008
We’re coming to the end of Sunshine Week 2008. Its purpose is to promote the idea that you – the public – have a right to know what’s going on in the halls of power.
I’ll let SunshineWeek.org explain:
Though spearheaded by journalists, Sunshine Week is about the public’s right to know what its government is doing, and why. Sunshine Week seeks to enlighten and empower people to play an active role in their government at all levels, and to give them access to information that makes their lives better and their communities stronger.
Sunshine Week actually began as Sunshine Sunday in Florida in 2002, according to the effort’s Web site. The creation was “in response to efforts by some Florida legislators to create scores of new exemptions to the state’s public records law.”
“The increased public and legislative awareness” from the first three Sundays led to the defeat of approximately 300 exemptions to open government laws in Florida.
Other states followed, and a 2003 summit hosted by the American Society of Newspaper Editors led to the creation of the annual Sunshine Week.
Like the quote says, this is the goal of all good journalism, but the public needs to play its part, as well. Last year, newspapers and other organizations recognized Sunshine Week with essays on government accountability, exposes on government databases and even an archive of editorial cartoons.
The week’s almost over, but the mission remains. Ask questions. Demand answers. This is a participatory democracy, and it needs your voice to thrive. Take some time today to read up on Sunshine Week and Maryland’s approach to open government.
JOE BACCHUS, Web Specialist
Sphere: Related ContentWould teen voters make a difference?
December 20, 2007
Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler now says 17-year-olds should be allowed to vote in the Feb. 12 primaries as long as they will be 18 by the general election.
| Maryland | 2002 | 2004 |
| Total voter turnout | 46.6% | 59.7% |
| 18 to 24 | 19.5% | 42.9% |
| 25 to 44 | 37.0% | 52.5% |
| 45 to 64 | 56.4% | 70.9% |
| 65 to 74 | 65.1% | 67.9% |
| 75+ | 63.1% | 60.1% |
That used to be Maryland’s policy — until Gansler advised the Maryland State Board of Elections that a December 2006 opinion by the Court of Appeals, which struck down an early voting statute, suggested the practice was illegal.
In the latest advisory opinion, Gansler stood by the first interpretation but said it’s outweighed by the First Amendment rights of the 17-going-on-18-year-olds.
But here’s the question: even if the policy is changed back, how big a difference will it make? A quick look at U.S. Census Bureau statistics indicates that young people don’t, in fact, rock the vote: Although the 18-to-24 age group dramatically increased in voter turnout from the 2002 to 2004 elections, it still remains the lowest in the state.
Will this proposed change make a difference? Or, in the long run, is it not about numbers but about a constitutional right?
Liz Farmer, Legal Affairs Writer
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