Two council members to stay on ballot

Baltimore City Council members Agnes Welch and Paula Johnson Branch will stay on the Nov. 2 ballot despite missing campaign finance reports, some more than a decade overdue, the State Board of Elections decided yesterday.

Pointing to legal opinions dating to the 1970s, state board staff said yesterday that a law prohibiting people responsible for overdue finance reports from filing for office doesn't apply.

Election Board Chairman Gilles W. Burger said state legislators should consider changing the law.

"The fix to this is with the General Assembly, not with the Board of Elections," he said, adding: "I would like to see some more clarity here, but the law is the law."