OP ED: The Power of the Apple Ballot in Montgomery County Politics

Author: Jeanne Taylor, Treasurer, Friends of Julie Reiley 

While I was volunteering at a polling place during the general election early voting, an individual who was handing out the Apple ballot scoffed at my assertion that Board of Education candidates who are endorsed by the Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA) have a distinct - and in my opinion unfair - advantage over their opponents. I put forth the following reasons: Candidates receive free advertising because the Apple ballot is widely disseminated across the county; Apple ballots may be “mistakenly” placed in all school mailboxes, even in the mailboxes of non-MCEA members; politicians are often reluctant to endorse their preferred non-Apple ballot candidates for fear that their own endorsement will be in jeopardy, and some may even endorse Apple ballot candidates because of political pressure. 

Perhaps the greatest advantage can be seen at the polls. Because MCEA has more than 14,000 members, it is able to staff polling places to hand out literature in far greater numbers than candidates who need to recruit volunteers. At the polling place where I worked, at times there were as many as five people handing out Apple ballots. This included MCEA members and poll workers who were handing out Apple ballots for their candidates. In summary, the teacher's union endorsement equals an enormous "in kind" contribution of free publicity and volunteer hours. As of October 21, 2018, the union reported spending more than $1,000,000 on production and distribution costs. 

Unfortunately, the endorsement advantage doesn’t stop there. At various polling places, Democratic precinct chairs were seen handing out Apple Ballots, while standing at Democratic tables. This activity improperly indicated a Democratic Party endorsement of the candidates on the Apple ballot which include nonpartisan Board of Education members. Lastly, an overwhelming number of voters grab the Apple ballot on their way in to vote, thinking that the “Teacher’s Recommended” list is all they need to know about how qualified a candidate is for the job. This imbalance of power held by a special interest group undermines a fair election and it does not always result in placing the best and the brightest in a position to oversee the Montgomery County public school system.