Registering voters for equality

Howard County Executive Ken Ulman will co-host Marylanders for Marriage Equality fundraiser at parents’ home (Blade photo by Michael Key)

Mark Patro sells roasted coffee at Pink House Coffee at the Fells Point Farmers Market on Saturday mornings. He decided that while there, he would collect pledges for the Marylanders for Marriage Equality campaign. As he was collecting signatures, several people said they would sign if they were registered to vote.

Patro, who is the president of the Baltimore County chapter of PFLAG, launched his own voter registration drive to boost marriage equality at the ballot box in November.  He underwent training to teach volunteers who would then be certified for either instructing others or to perform actual voter registration.

Patro told the Blade. “Now I can offer to register unregistered pledge signers at the farmers market and I also can train others to become Voter Registration Volunteers.”

More than 20 people turned out at the GLCCB on the evening of July 3 to receive the instruction from Patro.