Petition

Twenty years after the last time Maryland voters weighed in on a law passed by the General Assembly, they got the chance to do it three times in 2012, with referendums on in-state tuition for some illegal immigrants, same-sex marriage and a gerrymandered congressional district map designed to deliver one more seat to the Democrats. The powers that be in Annapolis are not thrilled - Gov. Martin O'Malley proclaimed it "a little too easy" to put a law on the ballot - and now several of them have introduced legislation to make the task harder.

Baltimore County's chief attorney is urging the local board of elections to reject petitions gathered last year in a controversial referendum drive that, if successful, could let voters overturn many of the County Council's zoning decisions. In a letter dated Thursday, County Attorney Mike Field told elections board Director Katie Brown that the petition sponsors did not give all the necessary information to voters when gathering signatures. Brown's office is weighing whether to approve the petitions, and place the referendum on the 2014 ballot.

George Huguely V, the former University of Virginia lacrosse player convicted last year of drunkenly beating to death his girlfriend Yeardley Love, has asked the Virginia Court of Appeals to review his case. Huguely's attorneys argued in a petition filed Tuesday that the court violated Huguely's constitutional rights. Love, the victim, was from Cockeysville. "The circuit court's response to the intense media interest was to rush through the trial, rather than to ensure that the accused received a fair trial," Craig S. Cooley and Paul D. Clement, the attorneys, wrote in the petition.

Your report on moves to change state referendum procedures repeatedly refers to "electronic signatures" ("Petition process under scrutiny," Jan. 9). That is a misnomer. It would be nice if in the 21st century we were allowed to petition our government in a modern way. But in fact the voter must sign a physical piece of paper with a pen. The only part of the process that can be interpreted as "electronic" is that the petition form itself is created individually, with the name and address fields filled in with information extracted from the state's voter registration database.

Petition signature collectors have hit the streets again in Baltimore County for a referendum effort on development issues - this time targeting a recent County Council bill that would protect a Middle River project from an earlier referendum challenge. Last month, County Councilwoman Cathy Bevins, a Middle River Democrat, sponsored and won approval for a bill that would let a Middle River development proceed, even if the zoning is overturned through a pending referendum attempt.

After petitions sent three Maryland laws to voters this fall - the first such referendums in 20 years - state leaders said Tuesday that the process designed in the era before electronic signatures needs a fresh look. "Our forefathers never imagined everything that we did in Annapolis would be subject to referendum," Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller said. Opponents of same-sex marriage, the Dream Act that granted in-state tuition to some illegal immigrants and the redrawn congressional boundaries harnessed the petition process, gathering enough signatures to place each law on the November ballot.

Since the November election, I have been approached by numerous citizens wondering how petitioners could have lost all the referendum questions. In responding to them, I am reminded of Sun Tzu's more recognizable quote, which demanded that one "know yourself, know your enemy, and you shall win a hundred battles without loss. " It should seem obvious to everyone that the citizenry neither knew themselves nor their enemy. The only remaining question should be, "why not?" The simple truth is that the side of the citizens was being led by those who never cared about knowing the environment of the battle.

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Over the years I have always found the letters to the editor to be at times informative and at times uninformed. It's a credit to The Sun's editors that often they allow both sides of an argument to be heard, and I believe most readers appreciate this effort. Personally I've always limited myself to reading the letters and either nodding my head in agreement or shaking my head in disbelief. However, this morning I found myself rereading two or three times a letter titled "Here's to the venomous secessionists" (Nov.

It's amazing that the Gov. Martin O'Malley would make such an asinine assessment of a referendum process that was approved by the people both at its inception and during the 2012 election cycle ("A referendum on referendums," Nov. 13). First, the online process created by Del. Neil Parrott, MDPetitions.com, is in no way different from that of the physical forms presented by citizens at community meetings, events and grocery markets across the state. The online petition process serves only as a conduit for those who believe the legislature has gone too far. It allows them to print a physical form that is then signed and returned either to the state Board of Elections or to the group promoting the ballot referendum.