Maryland panel OKs nomination of elections board member

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A Maryland Senate panel voted Monday night to support a Republican nominee to the state elections board to replace a previous board member who resigned this year when he was charged with participating in the January 2021 rioting at the U.S. Capitol.

The vote by the Senate Executive Nominations Committee sends the nomination of Diane Butler to the full Senate for a confirmation vote.

Earlier this month, the board questioned Butler at a hearing about where she was on Jan. 6, 2021. She said she was at home.

Committee members said they would be more careful in confirmation proceedings for state election officials. They have asked similar questions of Democrats nominated to posts overseeing the election process. They also asked Butler about her beliefs in the integrity of the state’s election system.

Butler is a former member of the Howard County Board of Elections.

Three of the Maryland State Board of Elections five members are Democrats, since the current governor is a Democrat. The Maryland Republican Party chooses the other two members to submit to the governor, and the governor forwarded Butler’s nomination to the Senate committee.