June 22, 2018 Administrator Linda H. Lamone Maryland State Board of Elections 151 West Street, Suite 200 Annapolis, MD 21401 DELIVERED VIA EMAIL Dear Administrator Lamone: We are writing to request the Maryland State Board of Elections init/ate an investigation in the activities of Progressive Maryland and the campaigns of Roger Berliner and Marc Elrich. As long time followers and participants in Maryland campaigns and elections and in large part based upon media reports of activities that all three entities have engaged, we believe there is reason to suspect the coordination between the two campaigns and Progressive Maryland Liberation Alliance PAC in violation of Maryland campaign finance laws. The March 2017 revision to the Summary Guide, Maryland Candidacy and Campaign Finance Laws outlines the distinction between Independent Expenditures and In-Kind Contributions. It expressly prohibits campaigns from explicitly coordinating activities that are reported as independent expenditures rather than in-kind contributions for the purposes of circumventing the campaign finance limits contribution amounts. ‘The Summary Guide states: Factors to be considered by the State Board in determining whether a candidate and a person making independent expenditures are acting, organizing, or operating in coordination and cooperation with each other for an expenditure, include evidence of. # Sharing campaign material, strategies, or information that is not generally available to the public, such as information about advertising, messaging, strategy, polling, research, o allocation of resources. ‘Publishing or distributing campaign material prepared by the candidate. ‘An agreement with another candidate or person on the payment of expenses or receipt of contributions, for example designs or schemes to evade Election Law disclosure requirements or contribution limits. Whether the candidate is substantially involved in, or had more than incidental discussions with respect to, decisions regarding the content, targeted or intended audience, means or mode of a public communication, specific media outlet used, the timing or frequency or size or prominence of @ communication or fundraising event for another candidate or organization participating in theelection. # Sharing operations, responsible officers, staff, consultants and other third party vendors with another candidate or person. With respect to the relationship between the Progressive Maryland Liberation Alliance PAC and the Elrich campaign, the group has endorsed the candidacy of Marc Elrich and according to the web-site, A ‘Miner Detail, the group planned to run pro-Elrich and anti-David Blair advertisements. The article continued to detail that several Progressive Maryland staffers “are actively aiding Elrich’s campaign.” In essence, Progressive Maryland has directed its staffers to serve on the Elrich campaign while at the ‘same time it claims that its efforts to publicly smear a political opponent of Elrich aren’t being coordinated. Itis difficult to imagine a scenario where personnel actively aiding a campaign haven't discussed activities meant to benefit a candidate at the expense of another. Turning to the suspected coordination between the Berliner and Elrich campaigns, given the similarities in messaging strategies, it is reasonable to assume that the two campaigns have coordinated, sharing Information, messaging and strategy. Such coordination is unethical if not illegal, especially if done with the expectation of receiving political favors. Should Mr. Elrich or Mir. Berliner prevail, | believe an investigation should remain open until such time that the next Executive in Montgomery County has selected their top level staff. Sincerely,