Election Fraud

The election fraud trial of veteran political consultant Julius Henson was postponed Wednesday because of the illness of the state's primary investigator in the case. Baltimore Circuit Judge Emanuel Brown postponed the trial, which centers on an Election Day 2010 robocall, until Feb. 23, when jury selection is expected to begin. Prosecutors believe Special Agent John C. Poliks will have recovered enough by then to participate in the trial. Lawyers in the case finished a motions hearing on Tuesday, during which one of three conspiracy charges against Henson was dismissed because Brown deemed it repetitive.

Paul Schurick was recently found guilty for election fraud, but this is not the first time such activities have occurred in Maryland elections, and, unfortunately, it's probably not the last ("Schurick guilty of election fraud in robocall case," Dec. 6). What is a fair sentence, one that respects both the franchise rights of voters and discourages such activities from taking place again? Some have suggested Mr. Schurick will be sentenced to a suspended jail term and put on probation.

A national group that fights election fraud announced plans yesterday to use 5,000 volunteers to monitor polling places in Maryland's coming election for governor -- an effort to prevent the kind of fraud accusations that marred the 1994 vote.The Voting Integrity Project, based in Arlington, Va., has made news in San Francisco, Louisiana and Virginia since its creation in 1996. The group calls itself nonpartisan, but some Democrats have accused it of having a conservative agenda.Its Maryland program will be headed by Drake Ferguson, who previously chaired Voters Organized Toward Election Reform, a group formed in response to Republican Ellen R. Sauerbrey's narrow loss to Democrat Parris N. Glendening in the 1994 governor's race.

Legislature opening door to voter fraud While other state legislatures are enacting laws to close loopholes against election fraud, Maryland is moving in the opposite direction. The Democrat-dominated Maryland legislature has passed three bills over the Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich's vetoes, which make the possibility of fraud much more likely. These new laws include the right to cast an absentee ballot for just about any reason. A second bill permits voters to cast ballots anywhere in Maryland using a provisional ballot.

MEXICO CITY -- An unusual cultural exhibit has hit town here. It isn't about Mexican treasures, or Cancun or even the North American Free Trade Agreement.This one is billed "ExpoFraud.""It is the story of a government that insists on keeping power despite the will of the people," said Javier Rivas, a leader of a conservative opposition party who helped organize the exhibit in a hotel here. "It is a plea to those in power who truly believe in democracy and who can help remedy the situation."

Julius Henson, the former political consultant sentenced to 60 days in jail last month for writing a 2010 Election Day robocall that prosecutors said was designed to suppress black votes, has requested his immediate release so that he can visit his elderly mother before she dies. Henson's attorney, Edward Smith Jr., was advised Monday night that Mary Henson had been admitted to the critical care unit of Good Samaritan Hospital in New York, where she was forced to move to live with her daughter after her son, whom she'd previously lived with, was incarcerated, according to court documents.

WEATHER Today's forecast calls for sunny skies with a high near 52 degrees. It is expected to be partly cloudy tonight, with a low temperature around 37 degrees. TRAFFIC Check our updates for this morning's issues as you plan your commute. FROM LAST NIGHT... Election fraud trial of Ehrlich consultant set for Monday : Julius Henson, 62, is accused of election fraud, conspiracy to violation election laws and failure to provide a campaign authority line on an Election Day 2010 robocall he created for former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. Deliberations to resume in Arundel death-penalty trial : Jury deliberations in the death-penalty trial of a convicted killer charged in the murder of a correctional officer are scheduled to resume Monday morning in Anne Arundel County.

It is ironic that The Sun titled its editorial on voter ID laws "The phantom menace" (Feb. 27). The "Phantom Menace" in the Star Wars trilogy actually refers to a dark force in politics that hides in plain sight pretending to be a public servant. Similarly, the Brennan Center for Justice cited in your editorial claims to be a nonpartisan organization in service of the public good, but it actually takes positions against laws that would prevent fraud in elections. The Brennan Center's outrageous statistics about the number of voters without identification have been discredited by former Federal Elections Commission member Hans von Spakovsky, an election law scholar.

Political consultant Julius Henson, who wrote the 2010 Election Day robocall that prosecutors said was designed to suppress black votes, was led from a Baltimore courthouse in handcuffs Wednesday after being sentenced to 60 days in jail. Baltimore Circuit Judge Emanuel Brown also ordered Henson, 63, to complete 300 hours of community service. Brown announced his sentence after listening to Henson cast himself as a victim in his final remarks to the court. "The state has a problem with the First Amendment.