Petition Fails to Derail Md. Early Voting

Election Board Says Drive Backed by Ehrlich Fell Short by 138 Signatures

A Republican-led petition drive to block legislation allowing early voting in Maryland elections for the first time this year has failed by fewer than 140 signatures, state officials said yesterday.

Democratic leaders hailed the news as a rebuke for Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R).

Ehrlich has led the campaign against early voting, charging that the legislation passed by the General Assembly lacks safeguards against fraud. After his veto of the state Senate bill was overturned by the Democrat-controlled General Assembly, Ehrlich's office helped sponsor a petition drive to overturn the law by referendum.

The Maryland State Board of Elections said yesterday that petition organizers had not collected enough valid signatures for a referendum. Though opponents submitted more than 20,000 signatures, election officials were able to validate those of only 16,924 registered voters, 138 short of the 17,062 threshold for challenging the law authorizing early elections. "They did not get enough signatures to move forward," Linda Lamone, administrator for the election board, said yesterday.

From the start, the issue has been charged with politics. The ruling further inflamed partisan tension.

Democrats have charged that Ehrlich's objections to early voting represent a cynical effort to hold down voter turnout in the fall election, when the governor is expected to face a tough bid for reelection. Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans in the state by a nearly 2 to 1 margin.

"Ehrlich's attempt at voter suppression is based on his fear of a high voter turnout, and he should be ashamed to have spearheaded the petition," Terry Lierman, chair of the Maryland Democratic Party, said yesterday.

The head of the organization leading the petition drive, Marylanders for Fair Elections, expressed outrage at the election board's finding and questioned its legitimacy. "I'm concerned and I'm indignant, and I just don't believe that it's true," Thomas Roskelly said.

Roskelly, who was asked to run the campaign by the governor's office, said his group submitted almost 21,000 signatures and was incredulous that approximately 4,000 were not counted. "All of a sudden we're 138 signatures short," he said. Roskelly said the group would seek a recount and, failing that, might pursue a legal challenge.

"This is not over by a long shot," Roskelly said.

David Paulson, spokesman for the Maryland Democratic Party, said it was not surprising that the petition fell short of the 17,062 threshold. "Everybody knows you should submit at least one-third extra. Some are not legible, some are duplicates, some are people who don't live here," Paulson said. "They failed. They failed despite intense efforts by Governor Ehrlich."

Lamone said the tally of 16,924 voters was based on the counts submitted by boards of elections across the state.

Barring a successful challenge of the decision, registered Maryland voters will be allowed to vote starting one week early in both the Sept. 12 primary and the November general election. "Ehrlich's mean-spirited campaign to suppress the vote has failed because voters want more flexibility and opportunity to vote," Lierman said.

"We are declining at this point to comment," Henry Fawell, an Ehrlich spokesman, said yesterday.

Opponents succeeded in collecting enough signatures on a petition drive challenging a second piece of legislation, a House bill passed this year that provides much of the mechanics for early voting. Should the petition drive meet a second threshold of 52,000 signatures at the end of this month, the proposed referendum question will be placed on the November ballot.

But because that House legislation was passed on an emergency basis, it cannot be overturned by the results of a referendum until after the November election. The law "is in effect regardless of whether they are successful," Lamone said.