Nine Districts for MoCo

In the midst of a global pandemic, a group of community leaders in Maryland’s most populated jurisdiction, Montgomery County, had an ambitious goal: they wanted to gather the required valid 10,000 petitions signatures  to place a charter amendment referendum on the 2020 November ballot. 

The measure, if approved by the voters, would transform the structure of the county council. At the time, the council had 5 district seats and 4 At-Large countywide seats. This charter amendment  would eliminate the countywide seats and create a council made up of 9 district representatives.

Goal:

Due to the COVID-19 epidemic, we had to acquire the required 10,000 valid petition signatures by utilizing unorthodox but safe grassroots and digital tactics.

Strategy:

Fells Group utilized four main methods to ensure that the charter amendment petition made the ballot. 1) We utilized digital platforms to allow people to submit signatures online. 2) The canvass program was conducted within CDC guidelines for staff safety. 3) A robust quality assurance program reviewed and tracked signatures to ensure that more than enough valid signatures were submitted.

Outcome:

Over 15,000 petitions signatures were submitted. 5,000 more than necessary. The charter amendment successfully made the ballot after three months of long and especially uncertain odds.