Referendum

I am very concerned that our elected Democratic leaders in Maryland are missing an extremely important concern this special session of the legislature. The efforts to ram another casino onto the November ballot threaten two extremely important referendum initiatives, namely, the gay marriage referendum, and the Dream Act referendum. This past Tuesday in North Carolina should be a warning to us all because by a 61-39 margin, voters adopted an anti-gay marriage amendment to that state's constitution.

I am very concerned that our elected Democratic leaders in Maryland are missing an extremely important concern this special session of the legislature. The efforts to ram another casino onto the November ballot threaten two extremely important referendum initiatives, namely, the gay marriage referendum, and the Dream Act referendum. This past Tuesday in North Carolina should be a warning to us all because by a 61-39 margin, voters adopted an anti-gay marriage amendment to that state's constitution.

The opponents to Maryland's new same-sex marriage law are holding a series of closed-door training sessions to teach volunteers how to properly collect signatures to petition the measure to referendum. In an email, the Maryland Marriage Alliance said it wants to "gather a minimum" of 150,000 signatures by May 31. "Past efforts have proven that the Board of Elections will invalidate at least 30% of the signatures, so it is imperative that we gather thousands and get it right!" according to the email.

For almost a decade, the Maryland business community has urged the legislature to raise revenue to invest in our state's clogged transportation infrastructure. And for good reason. The Baltimore area is the fifth most traffic-congested in America - and the Washington area is No. 1. As nations like China build high-speed rail and cities from Portland to Dallas expand light rail, Maryland continues to fall behind even in repairing potholes and bridges. Building the Red Line in Baltimore, the Purple Line in the D.C. suburbs, and the kind of MARC commuter rail Maryland needs remain aspirations, not financed projects.

Regarding your report about Casa de Maryland and the ACLU's effort to block a referendum on in-state tuition for noncitizens ("Vote on tuition bill faces lawsuit," Aug. 2): I have been watching the letters to the editors expecting to see someone point out the irony in the efforts of these groups, who are contesting the petition signatures on narrow legal grounds. Yet they are the same people that insist anyone can come into a polling place and vote, even if they are not registered and present no identification.

Shame on CASA de Maryland, the group shamelessly advocating for illegal immigrants, and the ever-flaky ACLU. They are trying to sift through signatures on the petition against in-state tuition for illegal immigrants in order to throw out as many signatures as possible. Really? Obviously, CASA has no respect for the rule of law and the rights of law-abiding citizens. But the ACLU pretends to be about individual rights even if the individuals are not legal and breaking multiple laws.

A petition drive to reverse a portion of the 30-year redevelopment plan for downtown Columbia by referendum appears to be gaining momentum. Late Friday, organizers of the drive turned in 40 percent more signatures than required for the first deadline they faced, and they vowed to continue working. The group, Taxpayers Against Giveaways, turned in 3,510 signatures, spokesman Russell Swatek said, far more than the 2,500 required. They now have until April 30 to pass the 5,000 mark, which is Howard County's threshold for petitioning a County Council zoning vote to referendum.

Opponents of a casino at Arundel Mills mall appear to have enough signatures to force a voters' referendum in November that could block the largest site of the state's fledging slots effort. According to its Web site, the Anne Arundel County Board of Elections has accepted 19,054 signatures - more than the necessary 18,970 - on a petition to place a slots referendum on the fall ballot. The petition seeks to overturn a hard-won zoning measure to allow a 4,750-machine parlor to be built on a mall parking lot. Slots opponents submitted 40,407 signatures.

Governor Martin O'Malley's announcement that he intends to lead efforts to pass a same-sex marriage bill is about the worst decision this liberal Democrat has made yet to pull Maryland into the gutter ("O'Malley to back same-sex marriage," July 23). Same-sex marriage has no business in the Free State or anywhere else in the country. A marriage is between a man and a woman - period. This is all about the votes that the Democrats hope to win in the next election. If Governor O'Malley goes through with this foolishness, let the citizens of Maryland force it to another referendum like the one on the Dream Act's granting of college tuition breaks for illegal immigrants.

Voters will decide in November if they want to allow in-state tuition for some illegal immigrants at Maryland's public colleges and universities, an Anne Arundel County judge ruled Friday. Circuit Judge Ronald A. Silkworth rejected arguments by immigrant advocacy group Casa de Maryland and others that the law adopted by the General Assembly last year cannot be the subject of a referendum. The group's attorneys had argued that the law was an appropriations measure and therefore could not be put before voters.

We in Maryland have petitions to override laws the legislature enacted and to approve amendments to the Maryland Constitution. Other States have similar laws. California also allows petitions to enact new laws. Sounds very democratic, in a political structure sense, not a partisan sense. However, the Constitutional Convention debated the question of democracy and concluded that democracy can only work in small settings, not in large state or national structures. Thus, Constitution's Article IV section 4. states: "The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government ... " A republican form of government requires a representative, elected legislature.

The drive to throw out Maryland's new congressional district maps by petitioning them to referendum is, in all likelihood, something of a futile gesture. Even if the opponents can muster the necessary signatures - battling in the process referendum fatigue from parallel efforts on same-sex marriage - the new, convoluted maps will still be in effect this November. And if the critics of the maps prevail at the ballot box, all they will succeed in doing is getting the same people who brought us the current mess to draw the maps all over again.

A group that has already put one referendum issue on November's ballot has turned its sights to Maryland's new congressional map, announcing Tuesday that it will try to gather enough signatures to give voters a chance to throw out the redistricting plan. "The map is patently unfair," said Del. Neil C. Parrott, a Frederick County Republican who founded MDPetitions, the group that successfully petitioned Maryland's "Dream Act" to referendum. The Dream Act — a law that would allow some illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition rates at Maryland colleges and universities — would be overturned if a majority of voters cast ballots against it. The new map of congressional districts will be used in next week's state primary and in November's general election.

The opponents to Maryland's new same-sex marriage law are holding a series of closed-door training sessions to teach volunteers how to properly collect signatures to petition the measure to referendum. In an email, the Maryland Marriage Alliance said it wants to "gather a minimum" of 150,000 signatures by May 31. "Past efforts have proven that the Board of Elections will invalidate at least 30% of the signatures, so it is imperative that we gather thousands and get it right!" according to the email.

CardinalEdwin F. O'Brienof Baltimore calls same-sex marriage, signed into law by the Maryland governor on Thursday, a "radical redefinition of marriage. " Of course, many people - most likely a majority - believed 50 years ago that ending racial segregation in the United States constituted a "radical redefinition" of American society. The races were meant to be separate, they said; it wasn't natural for blacks and whites to drink from the same fountains, and they certainly should never be allowed to marry each other.

The Maryland legislature has passed a law to allow gay marriage. The issue should now be resolved. However, a human rights issue decided in the legislature is now poised to go to the polls. The U.S. Constitution has many built-in features that protect minority groups from the "tyranny of the majority. " The problem is that full rights have never been allotted to sexual minorities. A rights referendum would throw Maryland back to the dark ages. Quite simply, civil rights legislation is not put to the vote.

In bucolic Sykesville, the No. 1 complaint received by Police Chief John Williams is motorists speeding on quiet streets. But with a force of only seven officers, he said, there is no way to enforce traffic laws with radar guns alone. Encouraged by the experience of other Maryland towns, Williams recommended a new approach: speed cameras. Earlier this year, the Town Council agreed to take advantage of a 2009 state law giving municipalities the option to install the electronic devices near schools and in road-construction zones.

Opponents of a planned slots parlor at Arundel Mills are asking the state's highest court to overturn a judge's decision to block a ballot referendum challenging the zoning for the project. Alan M. Rifkin, an attorney representing the Maryland Jockey Club, which financed the referendum effort, filed a petition with the Court of Special Appeals late Monday. The petition seeks to reverse a lower court's decision striking down a ballot referendum on slots in Anne Arundel County. The case is expected to bypass the intermediate appellate court and be heard this summer by the Court of Appeals.

The two sides in Maryland's fight over same-sex marriage agree on this: It won't be over until November. With the state Senate's approval Thursday night of the governor's bill to legalize civil marriage for same-sex couples, opponents are expected to mobilize quickly to gather the signatures to petition the legislation to referendum. State elections officials say they are already getting calls seeking information on how to start the process. Even the bill's staunchest supporters expect its opponents to easily gather the 55,736 signatures necessary to put the question on the November ballot.

Voters will decide in November if they want to allow in-state tuition for some illegal immigrants at Maryland's public colleges and universities, an Anne Arundel County judge ruled Friday. Circuit Judge Ronald A. Silkworth rejected arguments by immigrant advocacy group Casa de Maryland and others that the law adopted by the General Assembly last year cannot be the subject of a referendum. The group's attorneys had argued that the law was an appropriations measure and therefore could not be put before voters.