Voter Registration

In between his swearing-in and attending receptions, S. Saqib Ali was changing diapers and preparing baby bottles. For his first legislative session, the Democratic delegate from Montgomery County has moved his wife and 8-month- old daughter to Annapolis, and the 31-year-old software engineer said he thinks that being part of a young family can help him connect with many of his constituents. S. Saqib Ali But Ali's distinction as the first Muslim to serve in the General Assembly has garnered the most attention, somewhat to his chagrin.

Jamie Raskin Now he can show his students how it's done. Democratic Sen. Jamie Raskin, a constitutional law professor at American University, said yesterday he will bring them to Annapolis this session to see government in action. And if Raskin, a self-described "hands-on progressive," has any say in what that action includes, students will see lawmakers tackle the death penalty issue once and for all. "I hope this will be a session in which we consider seriously repealing the death penalty," said Raskin, who lives in Takoma Park.

Since the polls closed three years ago in one of the tightest gubernatorial races in Maryland history, Republicans have claimed almost three times as many new voters as Democrats, state election board figures show."

Maryland Republicans are continuing to make impressive gains in voter registration, putting more than twice as many voters on the books as Democrats in the past four years, the latest figures from the state election board show.At the same time, the number of voters who have declined to affiliate with either major party has skyrocketed 39 percent since July 1994, the registration numbers show."That's a staggering figure," said Tom Surock, the state election board's director of voter registration.

IT HAS come down to this: The winner of Tuesday's race for governor may depend on which candidate gets supporters out to vote.Turnout is critical. Gov. Parris N. Glendening has by far the bigger challenge: Energizing and organizing a massive outpouring among his backers in Baltimore City and Prince George's and Montgomery counties.It won't be easy. He's working in the city without crack voting-day organizers Larry Gibson and Julius Henson. His name will be missing from many sample ballots.

GEORGE WALLACE, the comedian (of no relation to the late governor), does a monologue based on the dumb things people say. One of his favorites is, "Don't kick a man when he's down." That's stupid, Wallace reasons. Why shouldn't you kick a man when he's down? After all, "your foot is closer to his head."This seems to sum up Bill Clinton's situation as he looks up at the big foot of impeachment hovering over his head.Day after day, Clinton's critics blame him for everything from Wall Street's woes to America's moral decay to government gridlock.

Democratic affiliation remains on the rise, still tops RepublicansThe March 15 article about voter registration in Maryland presented a very misleading portrait of what is happening in our state with respect to voter registration ("GOP adds more voters to rolls").Contrary to the article's headline and general impression, more Democrats than Republicans have registered and are continuing to register in Maryland. Every month during the period cited in the article, more Democrats than Republicans registered in Maryland.

A new class is offered for Democrats who have long dominated politics in Baltimore County: Call it "Running for Office 101."In an age when party loyalty no longer commands the electorate, the county's Democratic State Central Committee is sponsoring a workshop-rally Sept. 27 at University of Maryland, Baltimore County to recruit new candidates and teach them how to run a modern campaign.A brochure advertising the session -- formally titled "Forward in 1998" -- depicts a Democratic donkey kicking several GOP elephants through the air.The session is unusual and, some say, overdue.

ANNAPOLIS' Board of Elections wisely decided to allow three candidates for City Council to remain on the ballot even though they may not have met the technical qualifications for listing.The names of James M. Conley, a Democrat in Ward 7; Timothy T. Troutner, a Republican in Ward 5, and Michael Hay, a Ward 8 Republican, will appear on the Sept. 16 primary ballot. It will now be up to the voters or others to challenge their qualifications.For any candidate running for city office, the most important qualification is that they be residents of the city wards they wish to represent.

An attorney hired by the Annapolis law office has declared that Alderman Carl O. Snowden -- a front-runner in the race for mayor this year -- remains a legal resident of Ward 5, the district he was elected to represent in 1993.David M. Funk, a Baltimore attorney, wrote in a nonbinding opinion: "If Alderman Snowden's residency qualifications were challenged, based on the relevant facts known to us and recited in this opinion, we believe that he would likely prevail."Snowden requested the legal opinion after The Sun reported that it is unclear whether he lives in a rowhouse in Ward 5 or in a $96,000 home he owns in Ward 4."

A woman carrying a clipboard knocks on a door in Park Heights. Her pitch is direct: "I'm Michelle from ACORN. We're fighting for change in the neighborhood. I wanted to know what you want to see changed." The owner, who has lived in this well-worn rowhouse on Shirley Avenue for 50 years, lets her inside. Soon, Michelle Moore is talking rapid-fire about trash piles and abandoned properties and how elected officials would never allow this sort of thing to happen in stately Roland Park. "Do you want to be part of a group that's organizing to do something about this?"

Running for public office in a district where your party is a minority is always tough, but registered Democrats now enjoy a slight edge in Republican-dominated District 9a, covering western Howard County and Ellicott City. Republicans hold all the public offices in District 9a, but since the last state and local elections in 2006, registered Democrats have slipped past the Grand Old Party, 26,434 to 25,666 as of July 21. There are also 12,427 unaffiliated or other voters, including one registered Whig, according to election board records.

The Maryland Republican Party remains in upheaval after party leaders voted to express "no confidence" in James Pelura, the beleaguered chairman who has ignored calls for his resignation. Republicans are mulling the ramifications of the vote that took place at a meeting of the party's executive committee over the weekend, including whether a separate vote to call a special convention to oust Pelura is needed. Two-thirds of the committee, made up of 30 statewide and county officers, sided against the chairman.

By any reasonable standard, the U.S. does a terrible job of registering eligible citizens to vote. According to the most recent estimates, only about 68 percent of eligible voters age 18 and over are likely to be registered in 2010. A study of voter registration systems in other democracies around the world released last week by New York University's Brennan Center For Justice underscores this country's failure. France registers 91 percent of its eligible citizens. Germany and Britain do even better.

Too little attention to security of votes My voting experience on Tuesday gave me reason to be extremely concerned about the integrity of the Maryland voting results ("Making history," Nov. 5). When I arrived at the voting reception station in my local precinct in Severn, I extracted my voter registration card from my wallet and attempted to offer it to the reception clerk. The clerk would not take it but instead verbally asked for my name, address and date of birth. Thinking that this was a preliminary check to see if I was registered to vote, I quickly offered this information.

A record number of Marylanders are expected to vote today. Here are answers to some common questions and tips on how to zip in and out of the polls. Am I registered to vote? And if so, where am I registered? To find out, go to the Maryland State Board of Elections Web site: www.elections.state.md.us. Click on the "FIND OUT HERE" link at the top of the page. Then, click on "Name Search" and fill in your name, date of birth and ZIP code. If you're registered, your name, address and precinct information will appear.

The figures in the county Board of Elections final tally of voter registration before Tuesday's elections tell a story that buoys Democrats and discourages Republicans. Since the 2004 contest between George Bush and John Kerry, the number of registered GOP voters has dropped from 57,007 to 55,274. By contrast, Democrats have increased their numbers from 76,332 to 84,814, according to board figures totaled after the Oct. 14 registration deadline. Democrat Kerry won Howard by nearly 10 percentage points and 13,000 votes, with turnout at 81.6 percent.

Maryland officials are urging voters to double-check precinct locations so their ballots are counted on Election Day, when an exceptionally high turnout is expected. State elections administrator Linda H. Lamone said yesterday that nine out of 10 registered voters might turn out Nov. 4 in some parts of the state, and she expects a statewide participation rate of about 85 percent. That would eclipse the most recent high of 81 percent in 1992. Four years ago, 78 percent of registered voters went to the polls.

This newspaper saw fit this month to airily dismiss allegations of voter fraud against the national community group ACORN as being nothing more than partisan posturing by Republicans. In a lead editorial under the headline "Crying wolf?" The Baltimore Sun said, "ACORN's critics across the country accuse the group's workers of voter fraud, but the claims have the taint of hardball politics." "Real voter fraud - the intentional corruption of the electoral process by a voter - happens at the polls, not when new voters try to register," says The Sun. The implication, I suppose, is that those nasty Republicans and their spurious complaints shouldn't fool us, since the efforts to register new Democratic voters (because that's the real goal of ACORN's efforts, no matter that it's supposedly nonpartisan)

WASHINGTON - A day after John McCain charged that the liberal-leaning voter registration group ACORN "may be perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history," it was disclosed yesterday that the FBI is investigating whether the group coordinated the filing of phony applications. Details of the inquiry weren't readily available. McClatchy Newspapers confirmed an Associated Press report disclosing the investigation and learned that the FBI was attempting to determine whether ACORN systematically encouraged the creation of fake voter registrations in several states.