Voters

Advertisements praising Maryland's new gun control law will appear on Baltimore-area televisions soon after the measure is signed Thursday - the first volley in a two-pronged effort to defend the legislation and the politicians who voted for it. The gun control advocates behind the ads want to bolster support among Maryland voters in case there's a referendum next year. But they also want to counter a campaign to oust lawmakers who backed the bill in the General Assembly. "We know that the other side will be attacking the legislators who voted for it, and we want people to know those legislators were doing the right thing to save lives in Maryland," said Vincent DeMarco, president of Marylanders to Prevent Gun Violence.

This past November, I went to Florida to help mobilize voters to increase participation in communities of color and raise the voice of those often unheard. While there, I witnessed firsthand what we all have seen on TV - terrible voting lines that forced community members to wait hours to cast their ballots. However, these perpetual voting challenges are not isolated to Florida. Even here in Maryland, we have a long, long way to go to ensure that the right to vote for Marylanders is easy and accessible for all. Like in Florida, my friends and family here in Baltimore City also waited hours to vote.

In Saturday's front page story showing (so far) six people seeking to become Baltimore's next mayor, your reporter quotes a citizen saying she did not know there was going to be an election this year ("Mayoral contenders plan summer of campaigning," June 4). There is a problem in today's society about elections: Citizens do not read the newspapers anymore and many skip the news on television, opting for goofy shows. The coming election will not be decided by honest, knowledgeable voters but by "know nothings" who year after year hold the balance of elective power in government, and the rest have to suffer for it. Richard L. Lelonek, Baltimore

The Republican National Committee's approach to repairing the Republican Party will never succeed ("Diversify or die, Republican National Committee is told," April 13). Their attempt to be genuine with women and Latino voters cannot be achieved because anti-abortion and anti-immigration views are core values of their party. As far as addressing misconceptions, I know exactly what they stand for, so I don't see any misconceptions. They need to split the party if they want to get the American voters to show any interest.

As a victim of previous gerrymandering schemes in the Washington suburbs, I can only say that politicians and politics are out of control not only in Maryland but nationwide. Are state legislators and the governor completely blind to ethics as they toy with voters' districts, to their detriment? My suggestion to those who have been gerrymandered without consultation is to express their views at the next election and throw out the perpetrators of this political farce. Nelson Marans, Silver Spring

Editor: I wanted to take an opportunity to provide some comments in summary of the recent Town of Bel Air election. First, I must express my gratitude once again to the voters of Bel Air. This campaign was yet another rewarding experience for me as a candidate. I always enjoy knocking on doors and hearing feedback from voters; this truly is a great town in which we live. I am pleased to see two outstanding incumbents remain in office and am delighted that a very well qualified challenger is joining the board.

Dan Rodricks ("Hoping for the best, not expecting much," Sept. 6) is wrong to describe the discouragement of the electorate instead of fighting it. He should use his column to fire up the voters to deliver a Congress that shows a democracy can work. Electing the Congress is, of course, the voters' responsibility. Let every voter go to town hall meetings, write letters and e-mails to their different candidates and press them mercilessly to review their records: Were their actions designed to solve problems or to show party solidarity?

The time is now for the voters of Baltimore County to wake up and do their homework. We have an opportunity to restore the County Council to a more balanced entity whereby the interests of the public are considered wisely. The suggestion in The Sun's editorial ("Buying influence?" Sept. 8) that voters can "find out who is bankrolling the candidates seeking to represent them" is good advice, but the voters can and should do much more than checking the campaign finance section of http://www.

The picture in Wednesday's Sun ("Election draws lowest turnout in history," Sept. 14) illustrates my huge complaint and frustration about the lack of privacy while voting. If the machines were placed with the screens facing the wall instead of open to the public, our votes wouldn't be visible to anyone behind us. I don't accept any excuse. The Board of Election Supervisors has a duty to see that the screens are private and are wired so that each machine is shielded. Claudia R. Fielding

Voting is an important way to mark our democratic freedoms -- and today, it could save you a few bucks. The Daedalus Books outlet store, which lies between Baltimore and Washington, is offering a one-day, 10 percent discount to shoppers who wear an "I Voted" sticker. In Daedulus' words: Vote - Wear - Save. Another incentive for casting your ballot.  The outlet store is located at 9645 Gerwig Lane in Columbia. Phone: (410) 309-2730.  

Rebecca Rigger, a League of Women Voters activist who monitored the Baltimore County Planning Board, died of a heart attack March 25 at her Monkton home. She was 85. Born Rebecca Rogers in Big Island, Va., she was raised at an apple orchard in the Blue Ridge Mountains. She earned a bachelor's degree from what is now James Madison University, where she was editor of the college newspaper. As a young woman, she moved to eastern Baltimore County and taught at Middle River Junior High School.

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.

On Monday night, the Senate overwhelmingly approved the O'Malley administration's proposal to make it easier to cast a ballot in Maryland despite lingering criticism from some in the GOP that somehow early voting and same-day voter registration will lead to an outbreak of voter fraud. That is about as likely as Rep. Paul Ryan endorsing Amtrak, food stamps and an expansion of Obamacare in his next budget proposal. A far better criticism of the measure is that it doesn't go far enough, or perhaps that it imposes an expensive obligation on local government without providing for a funding source.

Members of the Harford County League of Women Voters participated in last week's Women's Suffrage March in Overlea. One hundred years ago this month, suffragettes marched from New York City to Washington, D.C., to petition the government for equal voting rights for women. They stopped in Overlea before continuing their journey. Turnout for the commemorative march was excellent. Pictured are Peg Hill and Elaine Borum representing the Harford County League of Women Voters.

The time has come, as it does as spring approaches, for people considering whether to run for office in Havre de Grace to decide to fish or cut bait. To date, a few candidates, including the incumbent mayor, have expressed interest in facing the voters again, which is a healthy thing from a civic perspective. In a representative democracy elections can never be held too frequently. People in elected office are supposed to be acting on behalf of the electorate and communicating with the general public, so those who cast ballots know the motivations behind particular public policy actions.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Republican Gov. Rick Scott was one of those tea party stars whom voters believed had the courage of his convictions when he promised, as recently as last summer, to block The Affordable Care Act in his state. But last week, writes the Orlando Sentinel, "Scott made an abrupt about-face, embracing a three-year expansion of Medicaid coverage for about 1 million low-income Floridians that will be paid for by the health care law. " Mr. Scott said, "I think this is a common-sense solution to dealing with this for the next three years where it will give us the time to think about how we can improve the system.

If one wants to find the root cause for our nation's problems, one has to look no further than the misinformed American voters. Alarms should be sounding to alert us that many voters — many voters — have no idea how this nation is run and only care about the numbers on their mailboxes. When I would ask my Democratic friends their opinions on what Rush Limbaugh or Sarah Palin said yesterday, the answer was unanimous: "I refuse to listen to that tripe!" Well then how do they know what is happening in the "street?"

I am genuinely puzzled by the bewilderment of people like Dan Rodricks who do not understand the anger of voters and the source of that anger ("At long last, it's time to cast our votes," Nov. 6). They are angry about the augmented intrusion of government into their lives at every level — national, state, municipal. It is an intrusion that, almost without exception, is expensive and ineffective in advancing any social or fiscal progress. It is not the bailout of Wall Street, the auto industry, and other TARP beneficiaries — although that bailout is an indicium.

Many Maryland politicians spritz on Eau de Hypocrisy at least occasionally. But Gov. Martin O'Malley and fellow Democrats bathed in it with their support for the inaccurately labeled Referendum Integrity Act, an effort to make it harder for citizens to petition a law to referendum. House Bill 493 (SB 673), sponsored by Del. Eric Luedtke, a Democrat from Montgomery County, should be called the "Voter Suppression Act," as that is its clear intent. Among its highlights: •It requires that each petition page contain language saying that the information is subject to public disclosure and requires each signer to include a birth date.

Last week, top Maryland Democrats announced their intention to make it more difficult to put statewide policy referenda on the ballot. The move is a clear response to Republicans' success last year in putting to referendum policy questions in the hope of achieving victories the GOP couldn't win in the legislature. The Republicans' ballot plans backfired, most notably the surprising approval by voters of same-sex marriage. But the Democrats, who dominate state politics thanks to large legislative majorities, took notice of the potential threat to their legislative monopoly.