Election Day

Forty-five minutes into his speed dating-style presentation, County Councilman Chris Trumbauer had finally reached "Question O" on the Anne Arundel County ballot, the most crowded of any in Maryland. "Last one!" Trumbauer said to an Annapolis crowd during the recent meeting. "You guys excited? Ready for a new act? The Trumbauer Show's getting old, I know. " The long ballot piles 15 local questions atop of seven statewide initiatives and a presidential election, prompting fears that Anne Arundel voters will face long lines as people try to figure out the questions in the voting booth or that voters will just skip them altogether.

PARIS -- There's a good chance that American voters will screw up the presidential election. "How could you say such a thing when in a democracy the people are, by definition, correct?" you ask. Because there's no such thing as collective intelligence, that's why. Sure, there are individuals within a given society who happen to be informed and intelligent -- but it requires work to overcome the sort of inertia that has so many other people in that society pinned to their recliners watching "Dancing With the Stars" while precariously balancing a mound of salsa atop a tortilla chip.

In light of Howard Bluth's disgust with the presidential offerings of both major parties ("Voting is an exercise in futility," Oct.18), it is understandable that he has refused to participate in the upcoming election. However, on Nov. 6, most voters will be surprised to discover that their choice for president is not limited to President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. The Green Party's Jill Stein and the Libertarian's Gary Johnson are legitimate national candidates who have gained ballot access in most states and have qualified for federal matching funds.

Here's a game the whole family can play: Step 1: Place a pad and pen next to your phone. Step 2: When you receive a robo-call from a politician, place a tick mark next to his or her name. Step 3: On Election Day, vote against the politician with the greatest number of tick marks next to their name. Larry Schiavi, Glyndon

Can Mitt Romney possibly recover? Pundits and pollsters are beginning to doubt it. A survey conducted between Sept. 12 and Sept. 16 by the Pew Research Center -- before the "47 percent of Americans are victims" video came to light -- showed President Barack Obama ahead of Mr. Romney 51 percent to 43 percent among likely voters. That's the biggest margin in the September survey prior to a presidential election since Bill Clinton led Bob Dole, 50 percent to 38 percent, in 1996. And, remember, this poll was done before America watched Mr. Romney belittle almost half the nation.

There has been quite a bit of controversy over the last several months about requiring people to show a government-issued photo ID card in order to vote. In my opinion photo IDs should be required to assure that people who want to vote are who they say they are. Photo IDs will cut down on voter fraud, but they will not disenfranchise any class of voters, as liberal Democrats claim. I speak from experience, as I was an election board judge for there past 12 years in Montgomery County, and I was removed from my position twice because I asked voters I could not Identify to show a photo ID. I appeared before the county election board and was re-instated, but they informed me that I could not ask any voter to show a valid photo ID. For that reason I currently choose not work as an active election board judge.

Although it's clear that the Senate and President Barack Obama will not concur on the House's symbolic vote to scuttle "Obamacare" ("Summer reruns in the House," July 12), the representatives who made that symbolic anti-president vote on July 11 without proffering an alternate solution for the voters deserve what they gave us, come election day - Nothing. Thad Paulhamus, Baltimore

In the weeks leading up to the Maryland gubernatorial election in 2006, the campaign of then-Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.commissioned and distributed "voter guides" which were, in fact, filled with misinformation. The leaflets falsely implied that Mr. Ehrlich and Republican Senate nominee Michael Steele were Democrats and that they were endorsed by popular Democratic leaders including Kweisi Mfume and Wayne Curry. Four years later, Mr. Ehrlich's campaign manager, Paul Schurick, commissioned robocalls on Election Day in 2010 in primarily African-American districts, informing voters that the Democrats had already won and that they should stay home.

Political consultant Julius Henson's attorney used a stack of fake oversized money, invoked slavery and called prosecutors' election fraud case against his client a "bunch of bull-honky" during his closing argument Wednesday afternoon. Using props, charts and a blend of humor and outrage, Edward Smith Jr. talked to the jury for an hour, shifting his style between folksy and erudite. He quoted lyrics from the song "Backstabbers" by the O'Jays, showed jurors a photo of what he called a "twisted" man meant to represent the prosecution, and recommended that the deputy state prosecutor "just walk out the door right now" rather than present his arguments.

Two Democratic candidates in Maryland's 1st Congressional District remained locked Thursday in a too-close-to-call contest for the party's nomination, after an initial tally of absentee ballots left them separated by fewer than 100 votes. In the only still-undecided race from Tuesday's statewide primary, Cockeysville businesswoman Wendy Rosen had an 86-vote lead over physician John LaFerla of Chestertown, out of more than 25,000 ballots cast. Rosen has declared victory, but LaFerla has said the race remains too close for him to concede.