Ballot

Howard County residents have tried four times in the past nine years to challenge local government decisions on taxes and land use by referendum and failed each time to get the questions on the ballot. They've been rebuffed by opinions of the county's law department and by the courts, getting hung up on legal technicalities and the details of how signatures are validated. As difficult as it is to put a question on the local ballot, the bar would rise a bit higher if voters on Election Day approve one particular county charter revision, one of five changes proposed this year.

Some voters in Montgomery and Prince George's counties have received absentee ballots that are missing a page containing referendum questions, state officials said Wednesday. The state Board of Elections has found that fewer than 20 absentee voters received ballots missing a second page, Gov. Martin O'Malley said in a statement. "Residents who have requested an absentee ballot should check to make certain they have a complete ballot with a second page that includes Questions 4-7, as well as any of the local county-related questions," O'Malley said.

Maryland's Board of Elections has acknowledged sending out some incomplete absentee ballots and some with incorrect address information, but officials say both problems were limited in scope and have been resolved. A handful of voters in Montgomery and Prince George's counties received ballots that did not include a page with some of the state's controversial referendum questions - including whether to allow same-sex marriage, expand gambling and extend in-state tuition discounts to some illegal immigrants.

Nearly 40 minutes into a panel discussion about Question 6, the Maryland referendum on same-sex marriage, the Rev. Robert Anderson of Colonial Baptist Church in Randallstown is about to wrap up his contribution to our understanding of what the Bible says about homosexuality. Of course, he reaches for Leviticus, 18:22. "You know what that says," Anderson tells the audience at Manna Bible Baptist Church in northwest Baltimore. "That a man is not to lay down with another man. If they do that, it's an abomination.

Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett, who is fighting for political survival in the competitive 6th Congressional District, said during a televised debate Tuesday that he is conflicted about an upcoming ballot question that would let some illegal immigrants pay in-state tuition rates at Maryland schools. In the liveliest and highest-profile debate of the closely watched race, the Republican incumbent said the state's Dream Act pits concerns over "respect for our laws" against the economic benefits of educating immigrants and others.

Whether the issue is gay marriage, Vegas-style gambling or college for illegal immigrants, all of Maryland's ballot campaigns have this in common: They are lavishing attention on black voters. African-Americans are expected to be fully a quarter of the Maryland electorate this year, a surge in participation attributed to robust support for President Barack Obama. Their sheer numbers make them important as Maryland, for the first time in decades, faces a trio of major ballot questions.

A committee set up to oppose Gov. Martin O'Malley's new congressional resdistricting plan has told the State Board of Elections that it has raised less than $1,000 toward the Nov. 6 election. Repeal the Gerrymander, a group chaired by Republican activist Antonio Campbell, thus does not have to file the detailed financial disclosure required for committees that reach that threshold. The committee was among a handful that had filed its paper work hours before the close of business Friday.

The League of Women Voters and the Towson branch of the Baltimore County Public Library have scheduled several discussions, starting Thursday, on referendums that will appear on the Nov. 6 ballot. A panel will delve into Perspectives on the Dream Act, the measure that would allow in-state tuition rates to children of illegal immigrants, at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. Panelists include Mark Krikorian, executive director at the Center for Immigration Studies; Tamar Jacoby, president of ImmigrationWorks USA; and Patricia Chiriboga-Roby, office director of World Relief Immigration Legal Clinic.

The Baltimore Sun It hasn't received much attention, but there's a provision in the Maryland Dream Act, up for your approval or rejection on the November ballot, that extends a benefit to veterans. Voters ought to take note of it, because if we vote down the college tuition break for young adults who came here as undocumented immigrants, we'll be saying nay to a generous provision for men and women who served in our military, too. Says right there, in the last phrase of Question 4 on the statewide ballot: The Dream Act "extends the time in which honorably discharged veterans may qualify for in-state tuition rates.

Some community leaders in Baltimore County are fighting a referendum drive they say is backed by developers who are trying to "hijack" the county's zoning process because they didn't get their way. A coalition calling itself "Don't Sign It!" urged county residents Monday not to sign the petitions, which would put land-use decisions in Council Chairwoman Vicki Almond's and Councilwoman Cathy Bevins' districts on the 2014 ballot. The petition drive has ties to Howard Brown of David S. Brown Enterprises and to the Cordish Cos., two prominent development firms.