Requests Hit Record For Absentee Ballots

Continued Delivery Delays Are Feared

A record 166,000 Maryland voters had requested absentee ballots as of yesterday, spurred in part by suggestions from the governor and other state officials to abandon electronic voting for the security of a paper ballot.

Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) and Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan (D), among others, urged voters to use absentee ballots in the wake of widespread voting problems during the Sept. 12 primary. The governor's running mate, Kristen Cox, voted by absentee ballot yesterday morning in Baltimore County, and Ehrlich has said he will vote absentee.

The crush of demand for absentee ballots has left local election officials overwhelmed and worried that late delivery of them will make it difficult for everyone to vote.

"The Democratic and Republican politicians are telling them that they should not trust the voting system," said Barbara L. Fisher, elections director for Anne Arundel County. "The whole scenario is ridiculous."

Yet despite widespread problems during the primary, a Washington Post survey shows that an overwhelming majority of Maryland voters are confident that their votes in the Nov. 7 election will be counted.

The poll of slightly more than 1,000 registered voters conducted last week found that 86 percent are confident -- 45 very confident and 41 somewhat confident -- that their votes will be counted.

Officials said the high demand for absentee ballots is also linked to a "no excuses" law passed in the spring that allows registered voters to request absentee ballots without giving a reason.

Whatever the cause, the number of ballots requested is well above the previous high of 137,953, recorded for the 2004 presidential election, according to State Board of Election officials. In the 2002 gubernatorial election, 65,824 voted absentee. The deadline for requesting an absentee ballot is today. Voters can still request absentee ballots in person at local election boards through 8 p.m. Election Day.

The high number of absentee ballots could delay election results in close races. The first count of absentee ballots will begin at 10 a.m. on the Thursday after the election. Each envelope containing a ballot will have to be examined to make sure it has been postmarked by Monday, Nov. 6.

Ballots that are postmarked by Nov. 6 will continue to be accepted until Nov. 17, 10 days after the election, to give ballots mailed from overseas time to arrive.

If previous rates for gubernatorial elections hold, about 1.6 million people -- 60 percent of Maryland's 3.1 million registered voters -- could cast ballots in the election. In previous elections, about 85 percent of those who requested absentee ballots used them. Absentee ballots could therefore make up about 10 percent of the total vote, according to election officials.

"It's absolute hysteria," said John Willis, a Democratic former secretary of state. He warned that chances are far greater that an absentee ballot, rather than one cast via machine, will not be counted because of issues ranging from mail delivery problems to the possibility that a vote will be disqualified because the ballot was not properly filled out. "It'd be amusing if it wasn't so serious," he said.