Referendum

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.

Editor: I am distressed and saddened that the death penalty repeal is not being brought to referendum because not enough signatures were secured in the short amount of time provided to do so. As the relative of a murder victim I would have liked the opportunity to sign a petition and to go door-to-door to gather signatures. I would have gladly stood outside Harford Mall or any other public place to collect signatures. The petition drive apparently was never well-publicized on TV. I did not encounter any volunteers throughout Harford County seeking signatures.

Last week was a very good one for Maryland's governor. He helped President Barack Obama win another term, increased the number of Democrats representing his state in Congress while also getting all his party's incumbents re-elected and went 7-for-7 on ballot questions, including the history-making same-sex marriage law. So perhaps he was feeling his oats. At least that would explain why Gov. Martin O'Malley so rashly told reporters - practically before the unplugged voting machines had gone cold - that he'd like the General Assembly to consider making it more difficult for a Maryland law to be petitioned to referendum.

So what was all this about a voter referendum or two? Opponents of a pair of controversial measures backed by Gov. Martin O'Malley and approved this year by the Maryland General Assembly - a repeal of the death penalty and landmark gun control legislation - claimed the local populace was outraged by both. So certain was this that many fully expected them to be brought to referendum and defeated by voters in 2014. The petition drive to bring the death penalty repeal to referendum was even championed by Western Maryland Del. Neil Parrott who was instrumental in bringing three laws to referendum last year through use of a web site that made the signature-gathering process easier.

In Dan Rodricks ' column on Christians' view of marriage he says "I can't imagine Jesus condemning gays, [who] should be able to marry under the law" ("Same-sex unions: What would Jesus do?" Oct. 25). But the law stipulates that marriage is between a man and a woman. With the referendum Question 6 on the ballot in November, its supporters are now trying to change the definition of the law. Marie Mullen, Joppa

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.

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.

Fresh off of his referendum victories, Gov. Martin O'Malley said that throughout Maryland's history the state has been better served by "a representative democracy rather than plebiscites. " I looked up the word plebiscite in the dictionary and found it means "a vote by which the people of an entire country or district express an opinion for or against a proposal especially on a choice of government or ruler. " Put simply, the people have the ability to voice their opinion on a choice made on their behalf by the government.

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.

The citizens of the "Free State" have clearly demonstrated their constitutional right to petition to referendum legislation enacted by the General Assembly that they feel is contrary to the will of the majority ("Political map is headed for vote," July 12). Now that three controversial issues will be determined by the voters, you can rest assured that the governor, the legislative leadership and their Democratic puppets in both houses who feel they know what is best for voters will be conspiring to change the number of signatures required to petition laws to referendum and how they are submitted.

Activists who worked to repeal the death penalty anxiously awaited news Friday that their efforts would not be overturned by a successful petition drive.  "It sounds like they're going to announce that they don't have the signatures," said Jane Henderson, executive director of Maryland Citizens Against State Executions. "We're happy with that scenario. Democracy's already been served. ... I'm excitedly waiting to see if, come midnight, I'm out of a job. "  Despite a flurry of last-minute signature-gathering, proponents of capital punishment may abandon their efforts to put the death penalty to a referendum vote in 2014.

Maryland's death penalty will be wiped from the books in October now that efforts to reinstate capital punishment have fallen short. The petition drive to halt repeal of the death penalty ended Friday afternoon, when organizers said they could not collect enough signatures to go forward. Meanwhile, advocates who worked for nearly a decade to end capital punishment in Maryland celebrated the final landmark in their victory. The failure is the first for MdPetitions.com, which had successfully forced a statewide vote on three laws, including same-sex marriage, in 2012.

If you hate Maryland's new gun law and wish you could vote against it, Sue Payne is looking for you. The Montgomery County woman this week filed paperwork with the Board of Elections to petition the controversial new gun-control bill to referendum.  She said she bought a web domain, lined up a web designer to create a digital system for distributing petitions and is now looking for someone to take over the operation, which she calls Free State Petitions. “I will turn over the language to whoever wants to come and do this under the banner of Free State Petitions so that the citizens of the state can have a voice,” Payne said Friday.

Gov. Martin O'Malley plans to sign a law abolishing capital punishment in Maryland next week, though a referendum effort may be on the horizon. O'Malley's spokesman Raquel Guillory confirmed Thursday that the death penalty repeal law is scheduled to be signed on May 2. Maryland will become the sixth state in as many years to abandon state executions. Five men, all convicted of murders dating back to 1983, are on death row. O'Malley, who pushed for repeal, has said the men's fates will be considered on a case-by-case basis.  Maryland has had a de facto moratorium on executions since a 2006 court ruling overturned details in the process for carrying them out. The last execution in Maryland occurred by lethal injection in 2005.  After hours of impassioned debate in the General Assembly earlier this year, lawmakers voted 109-76 for repeal.

Opponents of Maryland's tough new gun-control law said Wednesday that they will not seek to petition it to referendum and instead will back a lawsuit planned by the National Rifle Association. "This is a constitutional right that should not go to the citizens to vote on," said Republican Del. Neil Parrott of Western Maryland, founder of the mdpetitions.com group that has successfully petitioned three other laws to referendum in the past two years. Flanked by representatives of the NRA, Maryland-based gun-rights groups, and other Republican lawmakers, Parrott announced the plans to a crowd of 70 at a Jessup fundraising event for mdpetitions.com.

Your recent editorial correctly pointed out that because Marylanders overwhelmingly support Gov. Martin O'Malley's gun legislation, voters almost certainly would approve it if it were petitioned to a referendum in 2014 ("Make our day," April 9). However, a successful referendum petition would delay the date when the law goes into effect by 15 months and thus postpone its life-saving impact by a similar period. We need to start as soon as possible implementing the law's fingerprinting and licensing requirements for handgun purchases, which is the state's most effective tool for reducing gun violence and saving lives.

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.

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.

I support the wish that the Sun's editorial staff has made ("Make our day," April 9) that Gov. Martin O'Malley's firearm legislation be sent to referendum, but for different reasons. First, it will give the law abiding citizens more time to buy the lawful guns. Second, it will give sufficient time for the supporters of the Second Amendment to educate the Maryland voting population that it is not the guns (or knives, poison, ropes, baseball bats, cars, etc.) that kill, it is the people (criminals, mental deranged people)

With Gov. Martin O'Malley's landmark gun control bill given final approval by the Senate on Friday and waiting only the governor's signature to be enacted into law, Democrats in Annapolis are likely hoping that the next step will be talk of the "R" word. And we don't mean Ruger, Remington, revolvers or repeating rifles. Would you believe referendum? Oh, gun control advocates won't necessarily be happy about the prospect of seeing the gun legislation taken to referendum - it would, after all, delay the effective date for at least 18 months while the matter is decided by voters in November 2014 - but you can bet a lot of people on the Democratic side of the aisle would be ecstatic.