By Adam Pagnucco.
The Committee to Control Montgomery County Spending, a ballot issue committee advocating for the Stop the Spend charter amendment, has filed suit against the Montgomery County Board of Elections seeking to overturn its decision preventing the committee’s charter amendment from appearing on the general election ballot. The amendment would limit the annual growth in the county’s operating budget to the rate of inflation absent a unanimous county council vote to override it. On August 17, the board found that the committee had submitted 9,698 valid voter signatures on behalf of the amendment, which was short of the 10,000 signatures necessary to qualify for the ballot.
In its complaint in Montgomery County Circuit Court (available for download below), the committee specifically addresses alleged errors in signature determinations. The complaint states:
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14. Attached to this Petition as Exhibit 1, and incorporated herein by reference, is a chart showing, for each signature improperly found to be invalid, the Batch number assigned by the Board, Petition page number, Petition line number, the reason provided by the Board for the rejection of the signature, and the actual status of that signature based on the Committee’s review of the rejected signatures.
15. As shown in Exhibit 1, at least 325 signatures found invalid by the Board are in fact valid and should be counted. The Committee believes that there are additional signatures that should be counted, further increasing the approved signatures over 10,000.
16. When added to the 9,698 signatures already found valid by the Board, the inclusion of these 325 signatures results in submission by the Committee of 10,023 signatures, more than enough to qualify the proposed charter amendment for the November 3, 2026 general election ballot.
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An interesting fact about the suit is that the committee is represented by Joseph E. Sandler of Sandler Reiff Lamb Rosenstein & Birkenstock, P.C. Sandler is a nationally known attorney who has worked for the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Governors Association, the Gore/Lieberman Recount Committee and the Maryland Democratic Party among others. Back in 2011, Sandler represented a group of plaintiffs including Casa de Maryland on a state level case challenging petition signatures. Sandler’s stature and his specific experience on petition signature issues lends credibility to the Committee to Control Montgomery County Spending’s lawsuit.
The committee’s press release is reprinted below. The committee’s complaint and its accompanying Exhibit 1 are available for download following.
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August 27, 2026
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: info@controlmocospending.com
COMMITTEE SEEKS JUDICIAL REVIEW TO PLACE STOP THE SPEND REFERENDUM ON NOVEMBER BALLOT
Court filing identifies at least 325 rejected signatures the Committee contends should be counted, bringing the total above the 10,000-signature threshold
ROCKVILLE, MD — The Committee to Control Montgomery County Spending announced today that it has filed a Petition for Judicial Review in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County challenging the Montgomery County Board of Elections’ determination that the Stop the Spend charter amendment petition fell short of the signatures required for the November 2026 general election ballot.
In their August 17th rejection letter, the Board of Elections validated 9,698 of 14,074 signatures submitted by the Committee. According to the court filing, the Committee’s detailed review of the rejected signatures identified at least 325 signatures that were valid and should have been counted. Adding those signatures would bring the petition total to 10,023 – more than the 10,000 signatures required to qualify the proposed charter amendment for the ballot.
“This filing asks for a review of the signatures and the reasons they were rejected,” the Committee said. “We believe the record shows that Montgomery County voters submitted more than enough valid signatures to place this question on the ballot.”
The Committee respects the honesty, integrity and the role of the Board of Elections and the importance of a fair and accurate verification process.
The Committee appreciates the difficulty with reading handwritten signatures and hopes that future ballot collections could be done electronically.
Judicial review is the process provided by Maryland law when a petition sponsor believes a board determination is incorrect. “We are optimistic and look forward to a favorable outcome,” the Committee said. “This referendum belongs to the thousands of Montgomery County residents who signed it. We look forward to a positive judicial review and to giving voters the opportunity to decide the question at the ballot box this November.”
The proposed charter amendment would require the votes of all County Councilmembers to approve an operating budget that grows faster than the prior year’s budget adjusted for inflation. It would not mandate cuts to any specific program. Instead, it would establish a clear fiscal guardrail while allowing the Council to exceed it through a unanimous vote.
The strong response to the petition reflects broad concern about property taxes, fees, affordability, and the continuing growth of County spending. The Committee remains committed to ensuring that residents have a direct voice in how quickly County government spending may grow.
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The following documents may be downloaded by clicking on the links below.
Complaint: Committee Control MoCo Spending v Montgo BOE PETITION for Judicial Review (1) DOCKETED
Exhibit 1: COMPLAINT EXHIBIT 1 – FILED