Ballot Box

John Rutkowski's recent letter defending voter ID requirements deserves to be challenged ("Voter ID no threat to black civil rights," July 17). A Department of Justice investigation clearly documented that we have no voter fraud problem; it was able to identify only a few hundred instances nationwide. Interestingly, Mr. Rutkowski was able to identify several of them in his letter, suggesting that there may be an organized Republican campaign to promote voter ID laws In order to suppress hundreds of thousands of votes by legitimate U.S. citizens who simply lack a driver's license.

Sunday morning I read with interest the editorial, "Misoverestimating Bush," (April 28). It appears to me that both the writer and The Sun's editorial board forgot a valuable lesson of moral guidance that our parents and others in our lives imparted to us: When you point the finger at someone, it is also pointing back at you. The way I like to phrase it is what someone says about someone else, particularly in politics, says much more about the...

ANOTHER ONE of our liberties is going to be taken away without our consent unless we get on this case now in a major way. Clearly what has solidified our liberty in this nation is the sacredness of the ballot box. We could cast our vote and we knew that our vote really counted. Over the years hundreds and hundreds of elections at all levels were won by a single vote. Already our system of government has been greatly compromised by the so-called Motor Voter laws. People can show up at the polls on Election Day to vote and in most places little is done to check on their authenticity after the fact.

How can Republicans believe it is legitimate to blackmail the country into accepting the same extreme agenda that the American people rejected at the ballot box in November? The Republican Party is threatening to shut down the federal government again over raising the debt ceiling in yet another game of "chicken. " This could seriously damage the economy. The last time they played this game, 2011, Republicans sabotaged confidence in the U.S. economy and were responsible for the downgrade in our credit rating, effectively strangling the economic recovery.

Frankly, I can't believe that I was once a proponent of the system that determines home-field advantage for the World Series. I must have been in the midst of one of my several midlife crises and just didn't think it through when the idea was proposed to link it to the outcome of the All-Star Game. Maybe it seemed to make sense because the old system - which awarded home-field advantage to each league in alternating years - wasn't exactly devised by Archimedes. Maybe we were all just so upset after the infamous All-Star tie in Milwaukee in 2002 that we would have gone along with just about anything to make the midsummer classic more meaningful.

It shouldn't come as too much of a surprise that Chick-fil-A CEO Dan T. Cathy is an opponent of gay marriage or that he has donated to the cause. The family-owned chain has a strong tradition of conservative Christian leadership - it's no coincidence that the restaurants aren't open on Sundays. It should also not have come as much of a surprise to Mr. Cathy that his recent public comments about his stance would cause a backlash at a time when public opinion polls show a steadily growing acceptance of the idea of gay marriage among American voters.

WASHINGTON -- Behind the money madness afflicting the current crop of presidential candidates lies a very compelling fact.Over the last four elections -- 1996, 1992, 1988 and 1984 -- the men who raised the most money in the year before the primaries became the presidential nominees.The competition for early contributions, often described as an "invisible primary," has in some ways become the most influential contest of all."The year of the invisible primary is a year in which candidates are made and unmade," says Thomas E. Mann, director of governmental studies at the Brookings Institution.

WASHINGTON -- With a burgeoning ethics scandal and fall elections looming, ideas about how to curtail the influence of lobbyists in Washington - and burnish the image of Congress - are suddenly popping up all over. Republicans and Democrats alike are talking about new ethics rules, such as banning free trips from outside interest groups for lawmakers and their staff. In a reaction to the crimes of lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who pleaded guilty this month to fraud, conspiracy and tax evasion charges, some are calling for a ban on gifts from lobbyists, plus faster and better public disclosure of lobby activities and an enforcement system with teeth.

Maryland made history yesterday as the first state to approve gay marriage at the ballot box. The outcome on Question 6 was notable not just for what it will mean for thousands of gays and lesbians whose relationships will now be recognized as equal to those of their heterosexual peers but for what it says about the state of gay rights in America. There is good reason to believe that yesterday's vote was not just a victory for equality but a turning point. Technically, Maryland appeared to be tied for the first-in-the-nation distinction, as a similar measure was poised for passage in Maine on the same day. Another was on the ballot in Washington.

Sarah Jessica Parker, Susan Sarandon and former first daughter Barbara Bush are among an extremely long list of celebrities set to appear at a fundraiser for Maryland's same-sex marriage law.  The event will be atop the James Hotel in New York City in mid-September. Tickets start at $250.  The Free State is one of four where same-sex marriage is on the ballot this year. No state has ever upheld gay nuptials at the ballot box, however polling (funded by a gay rights group)

This was the year of the referendum in Maryland, and given how things went at the polls, we're not likely to see a repeat any time soon. The success of all the three laws that were petitioned to referendum exposes the fallacy of Maryland Republicans' notion that they could build support for themselves and check the supposed excesses of the Democratic Party by bringing controversial measures to the voters. When Maryland Republicans, led by freshman Del. Neil Parrott of Washington County, succeeded in putting the Dream Act on the ballot, state GOP Chairman Alex Mooney called it a "game changer" and a counterweight to Democrats who "think that they can do what they want.

Maryland made history yesterday as the first state to approve gay marriage at the ballot box. The outcome on Question 6 was notable not just for what it will mean for thousands of gays and lesbians whose relationships will now be recognized as equal to those of their heterosexual peers but for what it says about the state of gay rights in America. There is good reason to believe that yesterday's vote was not just a victory for equality but a turning point. Technically, Maryland appeared to be tied for the first-in-the-nation distinction, as a similar measure was poised for passage in Maine on the same day. Another was on the ballot in Washington.

One of the biggest winners in Maryland Tuesday night was not technically on the ballot: the Democratic leadership in Annapolis. All four of the controversial ballot questions were about measures championed by Gov. Martin O'Malley and approved by the General Assembly, where Democrats hold the majority. And all four were affirmed by the voters. Those measures expand gambling, legalize same-sex marriage, allow in-state tuition for some illegal immigrants and create new congressional district boundaries.

Sarah Jessica Parker, Susan Sarandon and former first daughter Barbara Bush are among an extremely long list of celebrities set to appear at a fundraiser for Maryland's same-sex marriage law.  The event will be atop the James Hotel in New York City in mid-September. Tickets start at $250.  The Free State is one of four where same-sex marriage is on the ballot this year. No state has ever upheld gay nuptials at the ballot box, however polling (funded by a gay rights group)

Thanks so much for Marta Mossburg's thoughtful critique of our pathetic governor and legislature ("Gambling and pit bulls - this is an emergency?" April 15). One can only hope that they are listening to her. Wishful thinking, I suppose, since they are so arrogant that they do as they please, whenever they please, confident in the fact that they will be re-elected by a bunch of drones that are their constituents. Don't any of the state's voters appreciate that the box of rocks in Annapolis just increased taxes on the citizens of Maryland, only to offer tax breaks to their gambling industry supporters?

There was a brief explosion of optimism from those supporting same-sex marriage in Maryland last week after a poll by Hart Research Associates indicated that voters in the state support it by a significant margin of 54-40. No state has ever approved gay marriage at the ballot box, but advocates here and elsewhere - The New York Times published a piece titled "Hopeful news from Maryland" - contend that the issue hasn't polled this well before either. They shouldn't get too excited just yet. Gay marriage is an issue in which polls don't necessarily reflect what voters will actually do at the ballot box because it is increasingly politically incorrect to oppose such nuptials.

Call them the unsung heroes of election days.Candidates campaign for last-minute votes, supporters hawk the strong points of their choices and party officials urge registered voters to get out to the polls.But without the residents who volunteer to work at county polling places, nobody's vote would be official and voting day would be a lot more hectic.For some polling place workers, it's a chance to spend a day serving their country. For others it's an opportunity to catch up on the neighborhood news.

Thanks so much for Marta Mossburg's thoughtful critique of our pathetic governor and legislature ("Gambling and pit bulls - this is an emergency?" April 15). One can only hope that they are listening to her. Wishful thinking, I suppose, since they are so arrogant that they do as they please, whenever they please, confident in the fact that they will be re-elected by a bunch of drones that are their constituents. Don't any of the state's voters appreciate that the box of rocks in Annapolis just increased taxes on the citizens of Maryland, only to offer tax breaks to their gambling industry supporters?

It shouldn't come as too much of a surprise that Chick-fil-A CEO Dan T. Cathy is an opponent of gay marriage or that he has donated to the cause. The family-owned chain has a strong tradition of conservative Christian leadership - it's no coincidence that the restaurants aren't open on Sundays. It should also not have come as much of a surprise to Mr. Cathy that his recent public comments about his stance would cause a backlash at a time when public opinion polls show a steadily growing acceptance of the idea of gay marriage among American voters.