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Ehrlich Petition Drive Challenges Early Voting
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It is the early voting measure that has most captured Ehrlich's attention, however. The day after the legislature adjourned, he pledged to fight the plan, saying he was considering a court challenge and a petition drive.
Both approaches have drawbacks, legal experts said yesterday. Chief among the impediments to a petition drive is an April 2005 state attorney general's opinion that says, "a referendum effort must occur immediately after the regular session at which the legislation was initially passed."
The author, Assistant Attorney General Robert A. Zarnoch, said that although he believes his opinion will withstand court scrutiny, it is not "a slam dunk."
"Frankly, the [Maryland] constitution isn't that clear on this point," he said.
The entire venture will be further complicated by the tangled connections among the candidates for governor and those who would be charged with resolving legal questions.
The responsibility for mounting a court challenge to the petition drive would fall to Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. (D), who is O'Malley's father-in-law. The decision on whether to accept the petition would fall to Secretary of State Mary D. Kane (R), who also would have the power to write any ensuing ballot language. Her husband, John Kane, chairs the Maryland Republican Party.
"Maryland is a very small state with a number of unfortunate interrelationships," said Paul S. Herrnson, a political science professor at the University of Maryland.
Democratic Party leaders met in Baltimore yesterday to decry Ehrlich's decision to challenge early voting. In interviews, O'Malley and Duncan also voiced disapproval.
Duncan said he was "surprised the Republicans are trying to limit the democratic process."
O'Malley called it "a shame."
"One of the hallmarks of Governor Ehrlich's four years in office is to thwart the rule of the majority, whether it's with vetoes or this," he said.
The women of the Rock Creek Republican club in Chevy Chase disagreed, saying they were deeply concerned that early voting would leave Maryland vulnerable to partisan dirty tricks at the polls.
"It's terrible," said Rosemary Pasek, club president. "We're going to ask everybody to sign this petition to help us prevent voter fraud."
Staff writer John Wagner contributed to this report.
