Maryland Voters

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.

When Paul S. Sarbanes said last month that he intends to run for re-election, state Democratic Chairman Peter B. Krauser rejoiced, calling the state's senior senator "an icon in Maryland politics."Asked how he would characterize Sarbanes' accomplishments, however, Krauser responded: "Can I get back to you on that? I'm not that familiar with the senator's record."Krauser has company.After more than 28 years in Congress, including 22 in the Senate, Sarbanes remains an enigma to much of a state that has given him one resounding electoral victory after another.

Bombarded with negative ads and desperate pleas to register their support at the ballot box, Maryland voters get their chance to speak today when they go to the polls to decide a governor's race that remains too close to call.Starting at 7 a.m. and ending when the polls close at 8 p.m., Marylanders will cast their votes to settle the hard-fought rematch between Democratic Gov. Parris N. Glendening and Republican Ellen R. Sauerbrey. In renewing their battle of four years ago, the candidates have blasted each other as political extremists -- and given voters a stark choice.

A new poll shows that a solid majority of Maryland voters still resents spending $270 million on two football stadiums pushed by Gov. Parris N. Glendening, suggesting that it could emerge as a key issue in his race for re-election.The poll of likely voters, conducted for The Sun and other news organizations, also found that they are divided on whether to allow slot machines at horse racing tracks. But voters ranked many other issues, including education and crime, as far more important to the state.

THE GUBERNATORIAL election's over. The best woman lost.Republican candidate Ellen Sauerbrey garnered only 44 percent the vote in Tuesday's election. Incumbent Gov. Parris Glendening's 56 percent of the total vote included the great majority of Baltimore's 55 percent turnout and about 90 percent of the black vote statewide.The large Baltimore turnout might have been the result of an extensive get-out-the-vote campaign. Mr. Integrity himself, President Bill Clinton, blew into town Sunday and urged black voters to converge on the polls.

WHEN THE INCUMBENT's main achievement in two years is to ban Playboy from the military PX, voters of the 6th Congressional District should recognize that it is time for a change.Roscoe G. Bartlett has repeatedly demonstrated that he is a right-wing ideologue, doggedly consistent in his less-is-best philosophy, even when his stands are directly contrary to the welfare of his constituents. But even in the 104th Congress ruled by conservative Republicans, Mr. Bartlett had little influence.His success in the past two elections stemmed from sound-bite criticisms of the system, a maverick within the minority party.

Maryland voters amended the state constitution to give the public greater influence in the disciplining of judges and to limit the powers of "lame duck" governors.Of the six constitutional questions, voters passed five by wide margins.But they balked at allowing the Harford County Council to use the "quick-take" method of condemning unimproved property needed for a right of way for road, storm drain, sewer or water projects.In Harford, voters overwhelmingly rejected the property measure. With all but one of the county precincts reporting, it was defeated by a 3-to-1 margin.

President Clinton has widened his lead in Maryland over any of the declared Republican candidates, including the GOP front-runner, Sen. Bob Dole of Kansas, according to a poll released yesterday.Mr. Clinton, who came to Baltimore County for a fund-raiser last night, would lose to only one potential candidate, retired Gen. Colin L. Powell, the poll showed.Though he is not a declared candidate, Mr. Powell has come out ahead in many polls around the country. Now on a tour to promote his recently published memoirs, Mr. Powell is expected to decide soon on a run for office.

Maryland voters are generally unhappy with Gov. Parris N. Glendening's job performance, but not as displeased as they used to be.Poll results released yesterday show Mr. Glendening is given a "good" or "excellent" rating by just 34 percent of voters across the state, while 56 percent see his performance as "fair" or "poor." The remaining 10 percent are undecided.While those numbers are considered weak for any politician, they are an improvement from a March poll, which gave the governor a positive rating from 18 percent of voters and a negative review from 65 percent.

As a Republican tide swept across the nation Tuesday, the fate of Democrat Paul S. Sarbanes, Maryland's longtime liberal senator, was never in doubt.After a campaign in which his opponent, Bill Brock, hardly posed a threat, Mr. Sarbanes coasted to a fourth term. He did so even as Marylanders broke with decades of tradition by strongly supporting a conservative Republican -- Del. Ellen R. Sauerbrey -- for governor. He also defied the national current that enabled the Republicans to take control of Congress while dumping longtime liberal Democrats such as New York Gov. Mario M. Cuomo.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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."

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.

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.

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.