NEWS
June 2, 2009
The failure of those who oppose Maryland's new speed camera law to collect enough signatures to bring the matter before voters may be a victory for traffic safety, but it also raises troubling questions about the challenge of taking any new law to referendum. Speed camera opponents had until Sunday night to collect more than one-third of the necessary 53,000 signatures to put the matter on the ballot next year, but they came up an estimated 1,600 short. And that's assuming the state would have considered the signatures valid; new requirements on what constitutes a legal signature might have caused many of those collected in recent weeks to be disqualified anyway.
NEWS
March 9, 2009
Still optimistic on voting reform Maryland has been through a years-long process to try to replace the costly paperless, touch-screen voting machines that were first implemented in some counties in 2002 ("Paper voting unlikely," March 4). The governor put funding to purchase an accessible optical-scan system in the State Board of Elections' current budget. This purchase will ultimately be a cost-saving measure. The state currently supports more than 20,000 touch-screen voting units but would need only about 2,000 optical scanners and 2,000 ballot-marking devices under a new optical-scan system.
NEWS
By Gadi Dechter and Laura Smitherman | November 4, 2008
Maryland voters will flock to the polls today, lured by a momentous presidential election but also called to decide on slot-machine gambling and to settle one of the most competitive congressional races in the country. Expected record turnout could produce long lines at precincts, which might influence decisions on a proposed constitutional amendment to allow early voting in Maryland. Pages and pages of down-ballot bond issues could further cause voting delays. But long lines are not likely to stifle voter enthusiasm, said Linda Lamone, the state's elections administrator.
NEWS
October 12, 2008
In 23 days, Maryland voters will decide an issue that has vexed Annapolis lawmakers for years: whether to establish slot-machine casinos across the state in a bid to boost state revenues, save the horse-racing industry and stem the flow of gambling dollars to nearby states. Under a constitutional amendment up for voter ratification, the state would establish up to 15,000 slot machines in five jurisdictions: Baltimore City and Anne Arundel, Cecil, Allegany and Worcester counties. The chief beneficiaries of "Question 2" on the November ballot would be public education, the horse-racing industry, gambling operators and local governments.
NEWS
September 23, 2008
Don't be duped by slots language Thanks to Annapolis' sleazy politics, Maryland voters are being duped once again ("Slots decision is a win for referendum proponents," Sept. 16). Appeals to the highest court in the state failed to convince the judges that the language in the constitutional amendment to legalize 15,000 slots at five locations is misleading and deceptive and needs to be revised so that voters will see clearly the full picture as to exactly how the revenue generated from slots would be divided and understand that education would only get a piece of the pie. The court should have made it evident to voters that the state has passed legislation that allocates slots revenue to beneficiaries that have nothing to do with education.
NEWS
February 12, 2008
Maryland voters get their rare chance to have an impact in a presidential primary today, particularly on the Democratic side, where Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are in an exceptionally tight race. Along with serious challenges against incumbent Reps. Wayne T. Gilchrest and Albert R. Wynn in the 1st and 4th Congressional Districts, there's ample motivation for a record-setting turnout at the polls. The reality, of course, is that "record-setting" doesn't have to be all that high.
NEWS
By Laura Smitherman, Gadi Dechter and Timothy B. Wheeler | January 15, 2008
Gov. Martin O'Malley and his fellow Democrats in the state legislature brushed aside any concerns yesterday about his dismal approval ratings and voter discontent over tax increases approved during the November special session, saying that even if they aren't doing what is popular, they are doing what is right. "Popularity is a nice thing, and I have enjoyed it from time to time as a public servant," O'Malley said yesterday. "But more important to me is making the right decisions for the long-term interests of the people I serve."
NEWS
November 14, 2007
Thirty-five years ago, Maryland voters were given an opportunity to decide whether the state should run a lottery. At the time, choosing to conduct a lottery was considered momentous. States were just beginning to organize them, and skeptics fretted that it wasn't an appropriate activity for government. The measure passed the General Assembly by the necessary margin and voters went along. Now lawmakers are moving to pass another amendment to the constitution, one that would permit slot machine gambling at various locations around the state, and it, too, would require voter approval.
NEWS
By Jennifer Skalka | August 3, 2007
FREDERICK -- Diners at Ruby Tuesday were greeted this week by a grisly sight: the enormous image of the mangled half-formed skull of an aborted fetus. Blown up large, bigger than an adult, the graphic "photo" was one of more than a dozen signs held up on the sidewalk along U.S. 40. The scene -- repeated across the region from Towson to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington -- is part of Defend Life's weeklong "Face the Truth Tour," a multistop, anti-abortion rally that aims to shock Maryland voters into changing their views on the procedure.
NEWS
June 25, 2007
Last fall, Maryland's local election boards mailed out 3,788 absentee ballots to uniformed military personnel and another 6,018 to civilian state residents living overseas. Of these, just 3,049 were returned and wound up being counted in the general election. That is an abysmal performance - less than half the traditional return rate of absentee ballots. But it's also fairly typical for U.S. military and expatriate voters. Next year's elections are likely to produce similar results, nationwide.